Proud of our airport training centres If Mr. Gaylor (Penticton Western News, May 19, annoyed by persistent low-flying aircraft) ever needs emergency air transport, surely he would want a well-trained pilot in the cockpit?
Yes, they do train here in Penticton. Perhaps before buying a home on the flight path, he should have noted the airport nearby and asked about air traffic if he finds it so annoying. It’s not like training hasn’t been going on here for decades, all the way back to the birth of Okanagan Helicopters, now morphed into HNZ.
As to this being HNZ’s “personal playground,” he apparently has little knowledge as to what this company does. A hint: just drive by and look at the different flags flying outside their building. International as well as Canadian service personnel train here, and for tasks that will happen outside the 9-to-5 workday (fighting forest fires is an obvious one).
This part of the Okanagan offers a variety of terrain and lake areas needed for such specialized training. And yes, HNZ pilots also will respond from dawn to dusk to calls from orchardists to “blow-dry” their trees and save their crops. I for one am proud of our airport and its training centres, and they can (and do) fly over my home any time of the day or night.
Lexy Shepherd
Kaleden