Aviation family share a piece of history

This photo was taken before a trip to Nunavut with Mount Royal Aviation Diploma Alumni, Dwain Black, (left) and Ashley Black (right) It's a family favourite.

Earlier this spring Ashley Black’s name was called out at the Aviation Diploma year-end awards, her father knew just how she felt.

The P. W. A. Pilots Aviation Foundation Scholarship is given to a Mount Royal aviation student graduating with a tremendous combination of  academic results, flying ability and professional attitude.

Those traits seem to run, rather fly, in her family.

Her father, Dwain Black, who was in the crowd cheering heartily, won the P.W.A. scholarship in his graduating year in 1979.

“I wasn’t surprised by that,” says Dwain. “I know how hard she worked at her studies.”

High praise

When Ashley took Dwain and her grandfather up for a flight as an 85th-birthday present to the senior Black last September Dwain’s opinion of his daughter’s skills and character was reinforced.

“That was a very special flight,” says Dwain, currently flying for Air Canada out of Vancouver. “I think that made me realize how special she is. She really is a fantastic daughter and a great pilot who will be noticed and appreciated for her unique qualities as she progresses in her career.”

As Ashley embarks on her career with Calgary’s Kenn Borek Air, which flies charter flights and medivac flights in and out of Northern Canada and Antarctica, she looks back at her favourite moments with her father on an airplane, which inspired her passion for flying.

Family influence

“When I was young, my father took me on a flight to Lupin, a mining camp in Nunavut,” Ashley recalls. “I got to sit in the cockpit and watch my dad fly the plane which was pretty cool at the time.”

To this day the photo of her and her father outside the plane prior to take-off is one of her favourite pictures.

Another memory that stands out was during a Christmas flight to Toronto. Dwain brought Ashley into the cockpit and showed her where Santa Claus was on the RADAR. He explained that this was how Santa could fly around without getting hit by airplanes.

While she’s excited about her job with Kenn Borek Air, down the road Ashley hopes to follow in her father’s footsteps and eventually fly for a large airline, travelling the world.

“I am lucky to have someone to look up to and turn to when I need help with something,” says Ashley. “It really meant a lot to me to win the same award as my Dad. I know he worked really hard for it when he was in school too. I also know he worked really hard to get where he is today so I hope to follow that example as well. “

— Steven Noble, June 17, 2010