As a young boy I dreamed of flying. Every year as a kid at USAFB Goose Bay on July 4th, I always wanted to sit in any plane seat – especially the B-52, and the C141 – but I also loved the F-104 and the F-4. My dad has dozens of pictures with me in nearly every military aircraft from the 70's - with a big cheese eating grin in seat or cockpit of the Phantom,104, C-5, C-141, B-52, F-106, and the CF-101 Voodoo. It helped to live in a large airforce and NATO base.
So I set off to become a military pilot as a kid and teeneager. In Canada, if you join the air cadets, and do your glider and then power school, if your vision is also good, pass both well, and you weren’t a moron, it almost guaranteed a ticket into direct entry officer for military pilot school.
So I joined the air cadets in 1982, carrot dragging me – well, I was dragging the carrot stick along because I wanted to be a pilot so bad. Accumulated almost 10 hours right seat in a 172. Couple hours in gliders. Life was looking up!
Then forking Top forking Gun came out. (FORK YOU TOM FORKING CRUIZE!) And the competition for the flying seats skyrocketed as every tom dick and harry suddenly wanted to be a fighter pilot (groan) and hook up with the blond flight instructor. Instead of a typical school competition of 5 or 6 cadets, I had 32. Just for glider.
Still managed finished 3rd overall, but we were only allocated 2 seats at glider school. And those two tards were the "TOP GUN" fans (groan). My sister was also a glider pilot instructor at the school (a good one) and they still had hope for a cancellation. She helped me out - just in case of a late cancellation, I did some post-exam tests, threw me up in gliders with instructors. I was a natural they said - passion showed in my flying and stick handling.. It was looking good if someone dropped out. Got 4 more hours in student seat, and several more in a 172.
They had me do my medical to get my gliders permit just in case...
Strong protan colour blindness. I didn’t even know I was colour blind or what it even meant. What the hell is ‘protan’. Turns out, I can’t tell the difference between low colour greens and reds. Fork. My dad took me in for my medical. He said I looked like it was a combination I found out at age 4 that Santa Clause didn’t exist and I was adopted all in one when they said I was colorblind. I did a ‘lantern’ test – it meant I could still fly gliders and small single engine airplanes VFR, but my chance a career as a pilot in any capacity was essentially zero. (sigh) Received my gliders permit – but the flying balloons had all popped.
Even when I joined the military as army signals 2 years later, I was helped out on my colour test. Tester gave me a break and passed me anyways. 10 years army sigspig was still a great experience
Now, with over 20’000 hours of flight simulation on dozens of combat flight simulators, give me a C-47 I’ll put it on a turning carrier any day. One eye closed. In my pajamas.
