Visitors swoop in for fly-in breakfast

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This article was published 22/07/2024 (654 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Saturday morning was a gear head’s dream at the Brandon Flight Centre.

Visitors had the chance to get an up-close look at the aircraft that call the centre home during its annual fly-in breakfast.

After filling up on pancakes, eggs, sausages and bacon, visitors had the chance to take short observation flights of the area with one of the centre’s trained pilots.

Members of Second Battalion, Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry out of CFB Shilo were also on hand with an LAV 6 infantry fighting vehicle, helping lift kids on top of the machine so they could take turns sitting in the cockpit.

Then, lined up next to the hangar were an array of classic and modern muscle and sports cars brought out by members of the Road Rebels car club. Just down the road, the Commonwealth Air Training Plan Museum was holding an open house.

When the Sun spoke with Flight Centre CEO David Creighton, he said around 250 people had come through so far and he was expecting a total attendance of around 300 when the event was finished.

“We do it for a number of reasons,” Creighton said of the event.

“It’s called a ‘fly-in breakfast’ because traditionally flying clubs everywhere would hold these at a different weekends throughout the summer months and it would give their members an opportunity to take their planes out, go exploring for a bit, fly into a different airport, sit and have breakfast, chat for a while and away they go.”

He said the events are less common nowadays, but the centre still holds theirs as an opportunity to let the community learn more about what goes on at the airport beyond the daily WestJet flight to Calgary.

The proceeds from the breakfast go to the centre’s training programs and commercial operations, said Jillian Borreson, the centre’s program co-ordinator.

“The sightseeing flights are a great way for us to raise awareness about what kind of training happens here in Brandon and hopefully spark some interest in discussions down the road and getting some students in flight school,” she said.

Sara Girard went up in one of those flights with her six-year-old daughter Amelia and her three-year-old daughter Ashlyn, for whom it was her first time on a plane.

“It’s beautiful,” Girard said after disembarking from her flight. “Right now, you can see a lot of the fields, the canola. Got a good view of Brandon. Amelia saw Walmart, so that excited her.”

The flight was good, but the kids were having a hard time picking between it and getting to play on the bouncy castle as their favourite part of the event.

One of the centre’s current students is 17-year-old Ashton Osudar, who also runs the organization’s social media accounts.

She started taking ground school last year before moving to flight lessons in December. Ground school involves learning about aviation laws, meteorology and some of the science behind flight as well as what to do if something goes wrong.

“I’m almost at my flight test,” Osudar said. “I have one more cross-country to go. Hopefully, that’s next week … I’m very nervous but I’m honestly excited.”

Her inspiration for starting lessons was her love of travel, she said.

“The airplane is always my favourite part,” she said. “Airports are one of my favourite places to be. I love the fact that at an airport, you have people from all over the world with different stories, different reasons why they’re there … you never know what you’re going to see.”

Also present on Sunday were representatives from the Civil Air Search and Rescue Association, known commonly by the acronym CASARA.

Bob McManus, the zone commander for CASARA’s zone two, said all planes are equipped with an emergency locator beacon. If a plane goes down, the beacon should signal a satellite connected to a joint rescue co-ordination centre.

The centre closest to Brandon is in Trenton, Ont. If the military doesn’t have a plane available to search for the downed craft, CASARA members are called upon.

“We’re all volunteers,” McManus said. “We have three members that own their own planes or pilots that work for us. We have navigators and spotters that fly in the plane with them and try to track down the (beacon).”

CASARA is just starting to use drones. McManus said they’re not certified yet, but they’re learning how to use them to search areas where they can’t access the ground.

He said CASARA was at the breakfast to spread the word about what they do, calling them “one of the best-kept secrets at the airport.”

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