Who am I? I am a career flight instructor with nearly 4 decades and 13,700 hours of experience. I am based in Salmon Arm, British Columbia and Whitehorse, Yukon. All of my experience is single engine VFR. I have provided flight training on over 50 types of aircraft. I am semi-retired and am currently working in a freelance capacity.
Being a freelance instructor means that I do not own or operate aircraft for flight training or testing, but I am available to provide training on your aircraft.
Here’s a short list of the types of training I can currently provide: type checks, tailwheel checkouts, recency training, reactivating an inactive license, insurance checkouts, rust removers, seminars etc.
Please note that I am currently unable to accept students for full licenses or ratings. My schedule does not allow me to commit to large chunks of time. The information in this website regarding training for PPL, CPL, Instructor Rating etc. is for information purposes only.
I am also a Transport Canada Pilot Examiner. I can do flight tests for recreational pilot permit, private pilot licence, commercial pilot licence and instructor rating (class 2, 3 and 4) in the Prairie and Northern Region and Pacific Region.
I recently added a page called Real World Flying Lessons. These are my thoughts and recommendations, based on plenty of experience, that I hope can improve some problematic maneuvers on flight tests and keep you out of trouble in your general flying. This section is NOT intended to replace the POH, FTM or FTG, but rather to address common issues I see in flight tests and flying in general. It is intended for students, instructors and licensed pilots. I’ll be adding new maneuvers from time to time.
You will see various images of a Boeing Stearman on these pages. This is because from 2018-2022 I had a summer position with Great River Air in Dawson City, Yukon, flying tours and rides in the lovely old biplane from June 1 to Labour Day from the Dawson City airport. 2022 was my last summer with Great River Air.
Many thanks to Peter Mather petermather.com for this amazing image, shot at Dawson City Airport.
One thing about the last few years is that flight schools are all quite busy and there is a severe shortage of pilots, instructors and examiners. This is likely to continue, or even get worse, for the foreseeable future. Please book your flight test well in advance. My dance card is almost full.
The following contact form occasionally stops working without my knowledge. If you don’t get a reply PDQ, then please email me directly, at: kelly collins aviation at gmail dot com (No spaces)
Thanks to Peter Mather petermather.com