Nce giving you the time you need to land safely. In a missions darkest moment trust mid continent instruments. Now, for the first time on tv. The stories and reports of the people who fly and the aircraft they fly. And you are invited in an exciting housepumping new Television Series designed for everyone who has ever gazed skywards and dreamt of slipping the bonds of earth. The aviators. This week on the aviators we take a look at charter aviation. We check out some of the newest and coolest affordable helicopters. We get an inside look at the 2009 cross canada century flight. Everyone is so terrifically excited about this. And we get to meet Legendary Air show pilot julie clark. Im gonna show you an engine that youll probably never see again. From the boundary bay airport, this is the aviators. Corporate and charter aviation are among the fastestgrowing segments of the aviation industry, and will be drawing heavily from the pilot pool over the next decade. Chartright air group is one company thats on the leading edge of this growing market. With over 25 corporate jets in their fleet, chartright has offices in toronto, vancouver, and moscow. Chartright ceo adam keller, spoke to us at chartrights toronto headquarters. Chartright was started in 1987. Originally, it was a Management Company for a single private aircraft. But as the fleet grew and more and more people started to fly the charter machines, chartright became a commercial operation. Growing through the 1990s, more and more aircraft were added. And we got to our position where we are today with 25 airplanes. There are two sides to our business. The one side is for the owner of the aircraft. We will take care of his asset, ensure that it complies with a we will make sure its operated safely and that its available for him when he needs it. When he is not using the aircraft, well put it into the Charter Marketplace. And well put the aircraft out for rent, basically to anyone who would need it. Chartrights fleet of corporate jets ranges from very light or entrylevel jets to larger aircraft, such as the challenger 300. The challenger 300 is a new aircraft, so its got all the latest amenities. Its a beautiful machine to ride on. And its a very roomy cabin. They call it a super midsize. And we have a lot of people moving from midsize cabins to super midsize. The life of a corporate pilot is very different from that of an airline captain. Sara rependa talks to chief pilot wayne shea from the flight deck of the challenger. What made you decide to become a corporate pilot instead of an Airline Pilot . Corporate aviation for me was sort of a natural segue from the ground job i did as a ground handle or ramp rat, as we used to call ourselves. And i was introduced to a number of different Corporate Aviation divisions at that time. And its just a natural progression for me to go into corporate as opposed to airline. The entry level pilot time requirements for chartright is a thousand hours. But for adam and wayne, this is just one of the many things they look for in a potential pilot. Virtually all pilots can fly an aircraft. So when somebody comes in the door, what were looking for is the ability to manage the aircraft. As a Corporate Aviation flight department, you dont have the resources on the ground at every station you fly into that an airline would have. So, for instance, when air canada flies to st. Johns newfoundland, they have a station at st. Johns newfoundland with support with engineers and ground staff, et cetera. We fly to newfoundland, we rely on a thirdparty handler to do our handling. So youve got to be thinking on your feet. Todays flight is a perfect example is the weather. Here in toronto right now were experiencing the largest snowstorm weve had this winter. We had to go through central deice facilities. So well incur a few delays that we wouldnt normally have, say, on a nice, clear summer day. Private jets can be an efficient business tool. Or th can be the supreme status symbol. Seating anywhere from six in a learjet to 36 passengers in a corporateconfigured, Mcdonnell Douglas md87. Who can afford this airborne luxury . According to adam, chartright gets the usual suspects, such as movie stars, professional athletes, and rock stars. Even groups of golfers who have pooled their money to head for their favorite golf course, have booked with chartright. Regardless of who the client is, all these bookings start the same way. So you would call in to our Customer Service department, give them the details of the flight that you would like to go on. They will ask questions with regard to how many people, the size of aircraft that you would like. Once they have that information, theyll prepare a quote for you. And if thats an acceptable number, youll get transferred into flight operations. Generally we receive a call from our Operations Department indicating that we have a flight, whether its the next day or, in some cases, it can be as quick as two hours from now. And the first thing we do, of course, is start doing our homework by checking weather, checking the runway lengths, and available resources at the particular airport were flying into. And, generally two hours prior to the flight, we come in, make sure our paperwork is in order, check the weather again, check the airport, denote times, et cetera. Do the walk around of the airplane. And once the airplane is on the ramp and completed our walk around, we make sure our caterings on board, fuels on board, and all the any other sort of requests that our passengers may have. Checking in for a charter flight couldnt be easier. This, says adam, is the number one benefit of flying with chartright. Checking in is a fiveminute process, as opposed to the airlines being sometimes two hours and more. Other benefits include a working environment, safety and security, and simply convenience. The cost of convenience is not cheap. Charter bookings can cost anywhere from 2,000 to 10,000 an hour depending on the aircraft. Not the most economical option when compared to an airline, however charter flights go where they want when they want. This is something pilots appreciate as much as the clients. What is your favorite part of being a corporate pilot . I think the the going to the destinations thats unknown. We go to so many different destinations and theres no set schedule. So unlike a scheduled airline where you know well in advance what your schedule is and where youre going, for us its a phone call a day or two ahead in some cases, two hours ahead and we have no idea where were going. An example would be getting a call 6 00 in the morning and by 6 00 that evening were sitting in nice, france. Having dinner on the beach. The Charter Market is extremely competitive with 4,000 corporate jets available to the market in north america on any given day. Despite this, adam does not see chartrights competition as their biggest challenge. I think we have two primary challenges in operating this type of business. The first of which is finding the right staff who understand the service that were in and are able to meet the demands of the client. And weve been very, very fortunate, were just chockablock full of good people and theyre giving good service. The second challenge is e cent. Anding the service they dont necessarily articulate that in a way thats easily understood. When those clients are onboard our aircraft the cameras off and most people have a tendency to relax and be themselves so the human side of these personalities come out when theyre on their aircraft cause theyre out of the lime light, they get a chance to relax, and theyre in their own space. And we as professionals obviously give them that space. Our single greatest success factor is our ability to understand what our clients want and to deliver them the service that they need. Its why they use corporate airplanes. One of the Fastest Growing segments of the amateur built Aircraft Movement is the homebuilt helicopter segment. These aircraft represent fantastic value when compared to their factory counterparts. For between 30125,000 you can build and learn to fly your own personal helicopter. Helicopters can be an affordable way to get in the air. With their ability to hover and dart, theyre far more maneuverable than their fixedwing counterparts. And rotor wing aircraft allow the pilot to see and go places few can imagine. While the range may be limited compared to a fixed wing aircraft vertical take off and landing allow these little flying machines to squeeze in and out of some tight quarters. You can buy these small helicopters either fully assembled or in kits that you assemble yourself. Either way, this segment of private aviation has one outstanding characteristic, they are very inexpensive to buy. This model is a mosquito. It was built by its owner in about six months at a cost of 31,000 this aircraft fits within the ultralight category which means you dont need either a license or registration to fly it. Its 65 horsepower engine will keep it in the air for about one hour on five gallons worth of gas. Being an ultralight the mosquitos speed and range are limited, at only 80 Miles Per Hour for the speed, and 60 miles for the range. The idea with an ultralight helicopter like this is not to go far but to enjoy the thrill of the flight. Going low and slow, the mosquito allows you to buzz around an airfield while feeling the elements whip through the open cockpit. The mosquitos modest windshield does provide some protection and could be considered luxurious when compared to other ultralights such as homebuilt gyroplanes. Homebuilt gyroplanes are popular experimental craft. On a gyroplane the t r is unpowered. A rear facing propeller provides thrust resulting in lift and causing the top rotor to autorotate. This unique way of flying allows gyroplanes to do some dramatic touch and gos. Unfortunately, with both the mosquito and most homebuilt gyros theres no space for passengers. So while you may get to enjoy the earth in a unique way, you do so alone. For those looking to enjoy helicopters outside the ultralight market there are other homebuilts that also accommodate passengers. B. J. Schramm founded the homebuilt Helicopter Movement when he started Rotorway International in 1967. The companys latest offering, this slick e600 talon is sold in kit form and includes everything you need to get in the air, including the engine and the engine instruments. This particular helicopter will carry two people at 100 miles an hour while burning eight gallons of fuel per hour. One of the things unique to rotorway is not only do they sell aircraft kits theyll also teach you how to fly your helicopter and how to maintain an e600 talon. While rotorway is the oldest of the homebuilt helicopter Kit Companies their is no shortage of upandcoming kit builders. Canadian home rotors offers this helicopter kit called a safari. Al rulton won grand champion rotorcraft at airventure in 2008 with his machine. Al tell us about some of the features that come from certified helicopters that are used in this homebuilt machine. Well, certainly the most important thing would be the engine. Its a certified engine whether its a lycoming or a superior engine. This is also the 360, so 180 horsepower, so theres lots of extra power in there. Its shaft driven, everythings theres no belts, the slippage, anything like that. Its very reliable, very safe, very easy to maintain and inspect which is hugely important. Quick walk around and you can see everything, theres nothing nothing hidden, nothing to be removed. Were all very happy with it so far. Excellent. So lets take a tour of what were looking at here. Weve got the engine. Yes, correct. And then up above that . Well, this is the clutch. Basically, as you as you spool up the engine the blades will slowly engage. Its got a fan system that blows downall the air down through and cools off the engine. Thats obviously the transmission sitting up top. To, toeverythings solid. Its a very well built rotorhead system, very strong. Its handling anything we need it to do very, very nicely. Very nice. The beauty of a homebuilt aircraft is that you can customize it in ways not possible with a factory aircraft, from Custom Interiors to chromed fuel tanks. No two safaris look alike. Building your own helicopter can be a significant investment in time, however. Now you won an award because you did a great job putting this helicopter together. Whats it like to build a helicopter . And how long does it take . It waswell, i was a little under three years when i built it the first time. Some guys are able to build them in under a year. If you built one before, its much quicker. But its not that overwhelming. Its just one piece at a time. Mine took a little longer because i got a few more bells and whistles on it than maybe someone else might put on. But most of them are just blingbling. Theyre still the basic helicopter when you put em side by side. Now this helicopter has two seats so how do you use it . Strictly in a recreational standpoint. I fly with buddies. I fly with family members. We go to small airports around where i live, and visit other people and other helicopter people and its just a lot of fun that way. Ive got about two hours range so i can get quite far if i need to. An average speed, it cruises between 7080 miles an hour very comfortably all day long you can do that. Very easy to control, im very happy with with the performance of it. The safari with its large front bubble has fantastic visibility allowing the pilot and passengers to see everything around them. Al gave us a closer look inside this bubble and the safaris rugged controls. So we can see the controstick, the cyclic stick. Yeah. The collective and the antitorque. You wanna explain how those work when you fly . Okay. This is your cyclic, and this is would be i want to go forward, i push forward. I want to go back, iback. And to turn the helicopter, i just move the controls either way right or left. If want to go up or down this is what changes the pitchlength. As i pull up it increases the pitch of the blades and i go up. This is my throttle. As i give it more pitch, i have to give it more gas, just like a car. You want to go faster, you have to put in the gas. These are my antitorque pedals. The only reason theyre there is take away the torque that your main blade as it goes one way if those blades werent there your helicopter would continue turn. So they put the tail rotor blades on and it helps bring it around so you can control it, basically like a rudder on an air,plane then what really makes a helicopter so maneuverable close to the ground. Thats fantastic. Now if a viewer was interested in learning to fly a helicopter how would they go about that . Local airport, i personally took the training on the r22. I find its the closest performancewise. Wesame engine, same horsepower, so thats my recommendation. Its a much smaller helicopter so when youre in this its quite a surprise how much room you have when youre in this one. But its by far the best one to take your training on, i found personally. Well thanks very much, al, for showing us around your helicopter. Okay. We cant wait to see what it looks like flying. All right. Very good. Thank you. July 2009 marked the 100th anniversary of flight in canada. To commemorate the event a group of pilots attempted the largest north american transcontinental flight by civilian aircraft. Over 100 airplanes made up of over 50 different aircraft types departed the boundary bay airport in delta, british columbia, bound for baddeck, nova scotia, the birthplace of flight in canada. The flight was led by celebrity pilot John Lovelace known for his ten years of hosting the wings over canada tv series. Ah, i tell you, it is its really getting exciting. We really have a sense that everyone is so terrifically excited about this and i just hope we can keep this up. Well im a bit of a new pilot, low time hours. And so theres a lot of unknowns and new experiences. Both my wife and i have worked real hard to be prepared from a knowledge standpoint as well as from the equipment on the aircraft. We just purchased this aircraft last fall and so its kind of an opportunity to really get to know it real well. And share some exciting time with my new wife. A team of 18 flight marshals and coordinators were drawn from both private and Airline Pilots as well as air traffic control. Just relaying johns message here to peter to get to everybody else to stay on the ground until the weather improves for the entire flight. A Ground Support command center accompanied the flight which required three drivers driving all night to keep up with the flight. And, so weve been sleeping in shifts but the jobs got to be done. Well be there, crack of dawn. Consisting of eight legs and covering eight provinces the flight crossed the rocky mountains, the prairies, and the wilderness forests of northern ontario before flying through the congested air traffic areas in the toronto montreal corridor. [radio in french] aircraft ranged from a tiger moth biplane to a modern jetpowered vodochody l39 albatros. This aircraft was made in 1983, in czechoslovakia and it was delivered to the Romanian Air Force the same year. The Romanian Air Force flew this aircraft until 1989 when the cold war ended. Following the cold war, the airplane was basically parked for 12 years in someplace in romania. Theres an organization in the us that made a business of finding these airplanes, overhauling them, repainting them, putting north American Electronics into them and selling them. A true canian classic made an appearance during the flight, the noorduyn norseman. I think the airplane first flew november 1935. This is a 1944 model. Virtually the same, there was very few modifications to this airplane right from the start. It was built for the canadian bush pilots. They had an input into it. cause they designed in canada, right in offices in montreal. And it was also designed for the bush back then which was aviation. But it was you know, the High Technology of the day. Thing is with this airplane too the aircraft is actually a fabric, eh. Theres a little bit of metal under the engine here and up to about here, and the rest is all fabric covered. The wings spar, main strength of the wing is wood. Most of the flight was conduct