If you’ve ever been curious about flying, now might be the time to take off.
The Collingwood Flying Club currently has an equity membership share in the club available after the death of long-time member George Daniels, and club members are looking for an aviation-minded individual to join in on the windswept fun.
“It’s like a combination of arts and science. We all know how a plane flies. It’s a fundamental principle. When you are airborne, it’s a freedom feeling,” Neil Mellor, club president, told CollingwoodToday.ca last week in an interview. “You leave the ground and you’re fully responsible for everything. There is skill. It’s like controlled exhilaration. A pilot’s licence is a licence to learn.”
Mellor learned to fly in Red Deer, Alta. He grew up sailing with his family, a hobby he also still enjoys, and said he sees a lot of parallels between sailing and flying.
“I think every pilot remembers the first time they got in. I was 24. All of a sudden, the ground leaves you. It’s a magical moment,” he said. “When I moved up here about five-and-a-half years ago, I was renting planes. Then, I saw a share for sale.”
Jeff Parton is the last founding member of the Collingwood Flying Club who is still part of the club, and had a hand in the club’s formation in 1998.
“There were a bunch of us around the airport at the time. It was hard to rent airplanes back then,” he said. “One of us came up with the bright idea to buy an airplane.”
Thus, the idea for the Collingwood Flying Club was airborne.
The club was founded by 10 original members. The group purchased a Cessna Cardinal C-177 through a share model, which covers the plane cost, maintenance, insurance, fuel, operating expenses and the mortgage on the hangar at the Collingwood Regional Airport. Monthly fees for a share are $270, which includes two hours of flying that can be banked for four years or traded between members if unused.
Since starting up, the club has expanded to 12 members and over time purchased a newer Cessna Cardinal.
“It’s got more bells and whistles, and fewer (flying) hours,” said Parton.
Parton recalls that his own love of flying started early, as he would build model airplanes when he was as young as five or six years old.
“My parents hooked me in with what I would call a flying farmer, and he took me up for my first ride when I was 10 or 11. We flew up to Collingwood airport which, at that time, had a gravel runway,” said Parton. “That hooked me in terms of wanting to get a licence, which I did after my third year of university.”
While Parton said he wishes he could have made it as a career pilot, he instead sees it as a hobby. Working as a photographer for 30 years, he feels flying and photography are linked as being right-brained, artistic and creative.
“You feel very relaxed when you’re coming down. You get to see the world from a totally different perspective. It’s magnificent,” said Parton.
“I’ve also always had a travel bug which was instilled in me by my parents.”
Parton said after his flights, he will regularly stop in breakfast or lunch spots at different airports across Ontario.
“It’s rare that I’ve had a bad breakfast or lunch,” said Parton, citing Tailwinds at the Orillia-Ramara Airport or the Hungry Hangar in Wiarton as some of his go-tos.
Martha Ramage, the club’s only female member, agrees with Parton on flight-themed fare. She said Lindsay and Goderich have some of the best airport-adjacent breakfasts.
“Being part of the club is a great social part. The aviation community at the airport – everybody knows everybody and they tell their stories. It’s a great way to learn and make yourself a better pilot,” she said.
Ramage joined the club about 12 years ago.
“When I was growing up, I wanted to be a pilot. I was on the cusp of the generation where women weren’t really pilots yet commercially,” said Ramage, adding her guidance counsellors at the time talked her out of it.
“I still always had a love for aviation,” she said.
Ramage still managed to get her pilot licence so she could fly recreationally. She says the club is a great way to reduce the overall expense while tapping into a wealth of knowledge.
She works in television production, which also tends to be a male-dominated field.
“I’m used to being in male-dominated environments, and being outnumbered,” she said, with a laugh. “It’s never bothered me. I’m easy-going so I can always get along with everybody. I’ve been treated as an equal right from day one.”
“I had that flying bug ever since I was a young girl,” said Ramage. “It opens up your world.”
Peter Glen, treasurer of the club, says the Collingwood Regional Airport lunch spot – Jimmy’s Kitchen – is a favourite of local aviation enthusiasts. He said he regularly attends their Thursday lunches to exchange flying stories and enjoy a meal.
“Flying really is about passion,” said Glen. “There are a lot of people who maybe, like myself, flew a lot in their 20s and 30s, but then life gets in the way. At a certain point in time, you may still have that passion.”
Glen started flying in his younger years as both his father and stepfather served in the Royal Canadian Air Force and a love of flying was instilled in him from a young age.
“I remember in my first solo flight, singing the Star Wars theme to myself,” he said.
He moved to Collingwood full-time about three years ago and was looking to get back into flying then. Lucky for him, a share in the club had become available.
“I went and got my license renewed at Genesis (Flying School) next door and now I’m back flying, living my life again,” said Glen.
For more information on the Collingwood Flying Club or to inquire about shares, email Mellor at [email protected].