VANDERHOOF – At the Vanderhoof Airport, there aren’t big commercial flights but there is a flight school, and one soaring in popularity.
The Vanderhoof Flying Club is running the program and attracting interest from across the province.
Amy Somers, Chief Instructor, says people as far north as Fort St. John, and as far south as Williams Lake have been coming to get their Private Pilots License.
“A lot of people have decided that this is the school to come to,” says Somers.
The number of students the club has been training has jumped up considerably in recent months, going from a handful to now over 30 total.
Somers says everybody draws to Vanderhoof to do training for many reasons, herself being one of them, but also the accessibility of the airport.
Somers is a former Air Canada pilot who was laid off due to the pandemic, and in the meantime decided to put her experience to work helping others.
Kemper Weightman from Kitimat is one of many who Somers has guided onto the runway for flight training.
“That first flight was so exciting,” says Weightman.
Not only does the flight school generate pilots for pleasure flying, and for industry, but also economic activity for Vanderhoof and the area.
