On June 22 and 23, eight cadets of our 858 Skookumchuk Squadron had the opportunity to go familiarization flying at the Sechelt Airport. On June 22, they were only able to do a circuit flight owing to the windy weather however on the second day, June 23, they flew from Sechelt to Powell River and return! This is when the air cadets get “familiarized” with flying, including understanding pre trip and post trip checks, fueling the plane, stowing the plane and of course going flying.
What is unique this time around is that their W01 cadet of the squadron, W01 Kayla Evenson, was the pilot took them flying! W01 Evenson earned her pilot wings last August by being selected to attend an air cadet camp last summer. This is called the power aviation scholarship, which has a rigorous selection process (pass a written ground school examination, participate in an interview with a panel of six people) and competing with cadets across Canada for limited spaces. She passed in the top third all her aviation tests. This entire program was funded by the Department of National Defence.
Since graduating from this program, W01 Evenson has been working diligently on getting her “pilot in command” hours such that she will be able to get clearance from RCSU air operations to allow her to fly air cadets in her squadron. In order to achieve this requirement, she joined the local Elphinstone Aeroclub last year. The Elphinstone Aeroclub has been a significant support to W01 Evenson. She has been mentored by two senior pilots, Dave Boisvert and Kris Reynolds who have essentially taken her “under their wing!” W01 Evenson has been renting the Aeroclub’s plane to build her pilot in charge hours. As soon as she built sufficient hours, she completed the necessary paperwork to get the approval from RCSU Air Operations.
Once she received clearance, familiarization flying was sponsored by the Sponsoring Committee to allow her to fly eight cadets.
This is a huge accomplishment for our squadron as this is the first time in 25 years that we have had one of our own air cadets being able to offer familiarization flying for our own squadron! W01 Evenson will soon age out from our squadron and she is now pursuing paperwork to become either civilian volunteer or a civilian instructor such that she can continue offering familiarization flying when she returns from her schooling.
W01 Evenson will be going to Mount Royal University this September 2024 to pursue her aviation career as a commercial pilot. The squadron is very proud of her and she is a wonderful example of how much a cadet can get from the program.
If you are aged 12 to 18 years and are interested in joining our squadron, we meet weekly at West Sechelt Elementary School on Wednesday evenings from 6 to 8:30 p.m. We have finished activities for this calendar year and will resume meeting early September 2024. We are also interested in finding more pilots willing to offer familiarization flying for our air cadets. If you would like more information, feel free to email us at [email protected].
