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Pilots fly in to show support for new club

Humboldt Flying Club
Flying club
Aircraft descended upon Humboldt on June 17 for the Humboldt Flying Club’s first fly-in pancake breakfast, hosted at the Humboldt Airport. Twenty-five aircraft made the trip to Humboldt, including a plane from British Columbia. The club served 175 breakfasts, far exceeding the new club’s expectations. Photos courtesy of Doug Warwick

When looking into the sky, do you ever see the trail left by a jet and wonder where it came from?

The answer could be Humboldt.

After watching the old Humboldt Flying Club fizzle out many years ago, the club is back.

The new Humboldt Flying Club was formed in 2017, and currently features approximately ten members from Humboldt, and the Rural Municipalities of St. Peter’s and Humboldt.

“Our main goal basically is just to raise awareness for aviation and aviation in the community and help people realize the importance of these smaller airports around,” noted club president Blair Thiemann.

Thiemann noted they also have a pair of instructors available for anyone looking to obtain a pilot’s licence.

“They have limited time to instruct right now, but we’re looking to give people the opportunity to get their licence in Humboldt,” he said.

Thiemann said the club is looking to add another instructor.

“Right now the aviation business is booming. There’s a pilot shortage. They’re looking for pilots. If you’re looking to be a pilot now’s the time to get into the industry.”

Currently pilots can be licensed up to the commercial level in Humboldt, said Thiemann. To go further, pilots must continue their education in a larger centre where they can obtain rating and experience.

Pilots benefit from joining flying clubs, said Thiemann, because it can provide incentives like cheaper fuel refills.

While the Humboldt club generally serves private aircraft, having the airport in Humboldt is important, says Thiemann, because it also serves STARS and other health aircraft.

“STARS does have a landing pad at the hospital, but they have stopped here for fuel before so anytime they’re going out east their helicopters don’t have the range as much as a plane does.”

Thiemann said that with the airport being important to many health aircraft, and the club having little money, they hope to work with the city in the coming year to apply for some funding, which would see the airport potentially receiving a 50-50 provincial municipal funding grant.

“Lots of these smaller airports have been forgotten about and the infrastructure’s crumbling and money has to be put into them to keep them up and running. And it’s very important, especially with the recent tragedy that we had in Humboldt here and the air response that was required up in Tisdale and Nipawin.”

New members are welcome, say both Thiemann, and club treasurer Doug Warwick, with both noting that members do not need to be a plane owner to join the club.

“You don’t have to be a pilot. It’s just a love of aviation,” noted Warwick.

Thiemann added that if anyone is interested in joining the club all they need to do is contact a member of the board.

“We meet regularly the first Monday of every month, come out to the airport here and sign up a membership form.”

To help raise awareness for the club, they hosted their first official event as a group welcoming people from all over to their fly-in breakfast.

Over the course of the morning on June 17, the club served 175 breakfasts, while seeing 25 planes fly in from as far as British Columbia.

“We were real excited with what happened… We flew all over the province and some in Alberta putting up posters at the different clubs like this just hoping that some people would come and show support,” noted Warwick.

While the club was hosting a pancake breakfast, they also welcomed the Civil Air Search and Rescue Association (CASARA), who were on hand to provide information, showcase their equipment, and host some demonstrations including CRP, First Aid, and First on-scene.

Humboldt is part of CASARA zone 6, which runs north to south from Archerwill to Indian head, and east to west from the Manitoba boarder to Colonsay.

Currently zone 6 is home to 25 CASARA members, with five being pilots and the remaining members serving as spotters and navigators, noted Thiemann.

“The organization is supported and funded by the department of national defense and we work in conjunction with air search and rescue efforts. So let’s say they’re busy on a search or something and they can’t get the Hercules out here, they’ll dispatch us to do a primary search.”

Along with having CASARA there, the club also noticed a large number of children in attendance, a key piece if the club hopes to continue into the future, says Thiemann.

“That’s one of the main things that we need to do is get and keep young people interested in aviation.”

With the club’s first pancake breakfast going better than expected, Thiemann says they plan on hosting once again next year.

While the club is still working through what next year’s breakfast will look like, Thiemann says any organization interested in joining or anyone who has any ideas are encouraged to call any of the board of directors.