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Former Langley Flying School
Flight Instructor and Graduate
Nick van Empel has been
signed by Air Canada. The
news came late July, and he
has been called up to begin
pilot Groundschool training in
August. “This news is
remarkable,” say Langley
Flying School Chief Flying
Instructor Dave Parry, “as
it has only taken Nick five
years to go from flight
instruction to flying with a
larger Canadian air carrier.”
While many of Langley
Flying School graduates have
moved quickly to employment
with major air carriers overseas
—especially in aviation growth
markets such as India—Nick is
the first Langley Flying School graduate to land a job with Air Canada. “Our graduates are now entering the phase of their careers where they are starting to accumulate enough flying experience to be drawn into the large Canadian airlines,” says Parry. while “. . we started flight training fourteen years ago, our guys are transitioning through air taxi and commuter flying, and are now starting to appear in large jet transport operations.” Another former Langley Flying School Flight Instructor and Graduate, Sheldon Pohl (see New Archives) , was picked up by WestJet in the summer of 2006.
“For those of you who are getting started in professional flying,” say van Empel, “it is important to know that getting to where I am now—looking forward to my prospects with Air Canada—comes with serious commitment and some serious sacrifice.” “The secret to my success—no doubt—is that I have enjoyed every step of the way and learned from my mistakes. I never had to hop into an aircraft and didn’t like it.”
For Nick's full coments, see Writers' Corner
Nick began his Instructor Rating at Langley Flying School at the end of 1997. “I have always loved flying and I found that my true love for flying, given the right tools, was easily translated to my students,” says van Empel, “I have countless and unforgettable moments from this period—the many First Solo Flights I supervised, the trips for the famous Chilliwack pie, and I especially remember getting stranded in a foggy Abbotsford with Tom Larkin (now Flight Instructor)—man, did we have a good laugh.” After leaving Langley Flying School in 2001 to work as the Chief Flying Instructor of Canadian Flight Centre in Boundary Bay Airport, Nick left flight training in 2002 to work as Captain and Chief Pilot with an air taxi service out of Vancouver Airport, flying the Fairchild Metroliner turboprop. “It meant long days with hard work,” says van Empel, “the learning curve was steep and unforgiving.” From Vancouver, Nick went to work with Voyageur Airways, based in North Bay, Ontario, hired initially as a First Officer on the King Air, and was later promoted to Captain on the Dash 7. The Dash 7 work included low-level survey flying in northern Canada., as well as UN operational flying in Africa. Nick describes his career development as a tough grind, but he has no regrets: “No way! I would do it all over again because—as all professional pilots know—it is the absolute best job in the world. The flying bug is in your blood and you can’t help it. I still want to open the cockpit door and tell my passengers: ‘Can you believe I’m getting paid for this?!!’,” say Nick.
Posted August 25, 2007
