Langley Flying School

Langley Flying School, Inc. is a privately owned flying school operating at Langley Regional Airport in Langley, British Columbia, Canada. The school was founded in September, of 1993, and became operational as a certified Canadian Flight Training Unit in January 1994. On December 6, 2001, Langley Flying School received Accreditation status from the Ministry of Advanced Education, and students became eligible for government student loans and bursaries.

Langley Flying School owns and operates a fleet of eight aircraft, including five Piper Cherokee Cruisers, a Cessna 150, and a Cessna 152, used for initial training, as well as a Piper Seneca used for advanced multi-engine and instrument training. Langley Flying School also operates a multi-crew Elite Flight Simulator, which is actively incorporated in all programs. The Elite Simulator provides both single-engine and multi-engine simulation, and is the primary training device for Langley Flying School’s Multi-crew Standard Operating Procedures training program. During its existence, Langley Flying School has conducted over 20,000 hours of flight training and has produced hundreds of graduates in its Private Pilot and Professional Pilot Programs; the estimated asset value of the school is claimed to be $600,000, derived largely from its aircraft ownership

Since 2002, numerous Langley Flying School Graduates have been recipients of British Columbia Aviation Council (BCAC) Student Achievement awards. The BCAC's Anne and Rudi Bauer Memorial Bursary for top Private Pilot Student was won by Tim Sawatsky in 2002, Charles Blackburn in 2003, and Marney Godkin in 2004, while the BCAC's Jack Ross Memorial Bursary for top Commercial Pilot Student was won by Luke Howard in 2002, Seung Ha Lee in 2003, and Philip Craig in 2004. Cory Thicket won the BCAC's Al Michaud Memorial Bursary for top Commercial Pilot Student in 2005.

The school employs 13 flight instructors, who conduct the ground school lectures, in addition to flight training operations: Chief Flying Instructor and Operations Manager David Parry, Associate Chief Flying Instructor Rita Methorst, Senior Instructor Peter Waddington, and Staff Instructors Philip Craig, Brandon Hunsicker, , Rod Giesbrecht, Naomi Jones, Darren Ferguson, Ryan Gahanand Hoowan Nam.

Former flight instructors from the school have done well in the aviation industry. Former Flight Instructor Heather Wolf began flying the Boeing 747 for EVA Airways in 2005, while Sheldon Pohl is a Boeing 737 pilot with WestJet. Nick van Empel, formally a Dash 7 pilot with Voyageur Airways, was picked up by Air Canada in the summer of 2007. Additionally, Corey Dyer is a King Air pilot with Little Red Air Service, Patrice Gagnon flies a King Air with Transwest Air, David Woollam is a Twin Otter Captain with Kenn Borek Air, and Ryan Gahan and Ben Orlowski fly the Saab 340 with Pacific Coastal Airlines. Cullen Worth was also hired by Kenn Borek Air as a Twin Otter pilot earlier in 2007.

Commercial Pilot graduates of the school continue to progress in aviation careers throughout the world. Graduates include Feras Aboulhosn, who flies for Air Canada Jazz, Mehesh Kaushik and Manish Marwah, who fly the Airbus A340 for Jet Airways in India, Mansi Bhatnagar, who is an Airbus A310 pilot with Air India, Glen Gorrie, who is a Twin Otter pilot with Winair in the Caribbean, Dana Speers, who is a Twin Otter pilot with Westcoast Air in Vancouver, Austen Brand is a Beech 1900 Captain with Central Mountain Airways, and Michael Holmes, who is a Canadair Region Jet CRJ900 pilot with US Airways.

Langley Flying School has had one flying accident since it began flight training operations in 1993. In 2003 student Samuel Ruiz fatally crashed a Cherokee into an open field during a training flight; an investigation into the accident could not find reason as to cause, but radar tapes recorded the aircraft descending from a wide circling pattern just before impact and did not indicate any attempt by pilot to recovery from the dive. The school created the Samuel Ruize Private Pilot Award in memory of this student, which is awarded to Private Pilot students who demonstrate exceptional achievement on their qualifying written examination.

Two other awards also exist at the school, one in memory of former Flight Instructor Adam Katagiri, who was killed in 2004 during a flying accident in Jordan, and another in memory of Commercial Pilot graduate Edward Huggett, who was killed when the engine of the Cessna Caravan in which he was Captain, failed during a flight over mountainous terrain in 2006. The Adam Katagiri Commercial Pilot Award is provided to Commercial Pilot Students, and the Ed Huggett Instrument Pilot Award is provided to Instrument Rating Pilot Students, both for exceptional achievement in their equivalent qualifying written examinations.

The founder and Chief Flying Instructor of Langley Flying School, David Parry, is the author of numerous publications used by students at the school. Parry is a graduate of the University of Calgary (B.A.) and York University (M.A.). Born in Langley, Parry was raised in Calgary, and learned to fly in High River. His former Flight Instructors include Gordon Jones, a former Instructor Pilot with the Canadian Air Force, and Lenora Crane, who is now an Inspector with Transport Canada. Parry received his Instrument Rating while a student with Morgan Air Services in Calgary.

External links

* [http://www.langleyflyingschool.com Langley Flying School]