Keith Bjorndhal with his Cessna 182.
Photograph by: Bryan Schlosser, QC
Keith Bjorndhal has gone to great heights to follow his passion for aviation.
As
a kid in Moose Jaw, he was dazzled by the Snowbirds. By the time he was
19, he had his pilot’s license.
Today, the busy IT specialist at
Viterra enjoys taking friends and family for rides in his own
single-engine airplane. He’s a volunteer with Civil Air Search and
Rescue Association (CASARA) and is a gliding instructor at the Regina
Gliding and Soaring Club. When he retires, he just might continue his
training and become a commercial pilot and work as a flying instructor.
Lofty goals, indeed.
Q: When did you become interested in aviation?
A:
I can remember living in Moose Jaw and we would sit in the front yard
and listen to the scanner and listen to the Snowbird pilots talk to each
other.
Q: When did you start studying to become a pilot?
A:
When I completed my private pilot’s licence, I was 19. Then I got
introduced to soaring — some people refer to it as gliding — at the
Regina Gliding and Soaring Club. When I was 22, I was trained how to fly
the tow planes. I later progressed and became a gliding instructor.
After that, I became a volunteer with the Civil Air Search and Rescue
Association as a spotter. That’s the person who sits in the back and
looks for the things that we’re trying to find. It was just something I
wanted to do because it got me involved in aviation. One day, when I
showed up for training with CASARA, the navigator was ill, so all of a
sudden, I was a navigator. So that was a bit of a trial by fire. In
2003, I became a CASARA search and rescue pilot.
Q: When did you buy your plane?
A: In 2007. I finally saved enough money to buy an airplane. I bought a Cessna 182. It was built in 1964.
Q: How much did you pay for it?
A:
I paid $78,000. That was a good deal. It was a pretty clean airplane
that was ready to go. I got it in Airdrie, Alberta. It was a company
plane that was used by a trucking company. They used it to get to job
sites.
Q: Does it go fast?
A: It is a 260 horsepower plane that was upgraded from 230 horse power. It flies about 260 kilometres per hour.
Q: What sort of upgrades have been done since you bought it?
A:
It was a very good, well-maintained airplane. It’s just that the
instrumentation was original. So it was a matter of adding things like
autopilot, which is something that didn’t exist back then. I added GPS
and I also added a glass display, so that meant I was replacing some of
the old instruments with computerized displays.
Q: Are you able to make your own repairs?
A:
I can replace spark plugs, change the oil and put air in the tires.
That’s it. There is a very defined list of things that I’m allowed to
do.
Q: How high do you normally fly?
A: I’m allowed to fly
up to 18,000 feet in some areas of Saskatchewan. And 12,500 feet in
others. For instance, if I were to fly to Saskatoon, I’d fly at about
7,000 or 8,000 feet.
Q: Can you make money by taking people on trips?
A:
As a private pilot, I can’t fly for hire or reward. So I can’t get paid
to fly. To do that, you need to become a commercial pilot.
Q: Where do you typically fly?
A:
My flights in the summer usually include flying out to the gliding club
and back, which is usually about 20 minutes each way. It’s just south
of Indian Head. Also, there are events called fly-in breakfasts where
pilots will meet for breakfasts and fly into different airports for
bacon and eggs. There is a very popular one in Russell, Manitoba. Also,
there are some groups in the Winnipeg area that host various events. For
instance, last year, a group was just taking people for rides. So we
had about 18 or so airplanes and they were taking people on plane rides.
It was an event designed to encourage women to get interested in
aviation.
Q: How much does it cost to operate your plane?
A:
The plane burns about 15 gallons of fuel an hour. It’s about $90 an
hour for fuel. And there’s insurance and costs for a hangar.
Q: Have you ever been in a crash?
A: Nope.
Q: Where else have you been?
A:
My wife and I took the plane to Las Vegas last summer. In the first
year we had the plane, we took it to Sydney, Nova Scotia. That was a lot
of fun. Every year since 2008, I’ve gone on a side trip with friends
from the flying club. We’ve been to San Diego, Key West and Houston.
Q: During long trips, how often do you stop?
A:
A long day is a 10-hour day, the same sort of thing for driving a car.
We typically stop for fuel every two-and-a-half to three hours. It’s
good to stretch the legs.
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