A more personal flying experience: Discovery Air Aviation Academy keeps handson flying experience alive.

• Author: McKinley, Karen
• Position: Aviation

As the global demand for pilots grows, one Sudbury flight school is making sure potential flyers get a complete hands-on training experience.

Discovery Air Aviation Academy has been teaching people to fly, whether it's for recreation or a career, since 2011.

"If people want to learn to fly, say, a float plane, to get them to and from camp, or go for a fun flight somewhere, we can do that," said Matt Neumann, chief flight instructor and training coordinator. "We offer everything from recreational, where people fly alone, or take one passenger, to commercial, or even instruct."

The company offers all the different types of ratings and licences that Transport Canada allows. Because they are a licensing facility, the Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities oversees them. Neumann explained any business that offers training for a licence requires certification from the ministry. They are listed on the ministry's website as a private career college. They can have students from anywhere in the world come and train with them for licensing. If they had enough people apply, they could have an Ontario Student Assistance Program for financial assistance.

Most people seeking a commercial licence have working for an airline in mind. In the race to get there, he said they miss a lot of the fun and excitement, like spotting fires and learning to hand-fly an aircraft. With today's commercial airliners relying on autopilot, he said it can be a boring job sitting in a cockpit while the plane practically flies itself for most of the journey.

"Fifteen years ago, you needed a lot of hours before you could work for an airline. Now, with baby boomers retiring, getting to an airline is easier," he said. "They lose that diverse type of work, which is unfortunate. You miss the flying. It's very skilled, in a different way. You are dealing with elements like the wind and having to fly the plane until you get to the hangar."

The academy started when the parent company, Discovery Air Fire Services, would operate during the summer forest fire season and store the planes during the winter. Bradbury was a year-round base for fire season, with satellites in Kenora and Dryden and seasonal bases in Chapleau and Geraldton. There would be a year-round base, but only five employees based in the city in the off-season. The ministry saw an opportunity to expand and buy a few smaller airplanes to do training. It allowed the company to have full-time staff to help train and...