A new flight school hopes to get underway this fall with a home base at the Okotoks Air Ranch Airport. Tim Ulmer founded the Calgary-Okotoks Flying School and plans to be up and running in October. Right now he’s waiting on Transport Canada to issue a licence for a flight school. “We’re set up, we have the airport, we’re doing renovations right now, we’ve got planes,” said Ulmer. “We’re just waiting for our licence from the government.” Though it isn’t operational yet, the Calgary-Okotoks Flying School is nearly full for its first session. The school will have only 15 students registered at a time, and intends to run three or four groups per year. “Our approach is to work with those 15, plan it into their schedule and our schedule so we get them done as quickly as possible with as few hours as are required so they can then move on with their careers,” said Ulmer. Ideally pilots will have their licence within three or four months in Okotoks, he said. Ulmer, a relatively new pilot himself, saw a problem with many flight schools and thought there had to be a more efficient way to get people in the air and taking off with their careers. The government requires pilots have 45 hours of training time, which includes time with the instructor and solo time, he said. Right now in Canada, the average is about 87 hours to get a licence, he said. “There’s no reason we shouldn’t be able to have students done in that 45 to 50 hours,” said Ulmer. “That’s our goal and our training guarantee.” Calgary-Okotoks Flying School charges $15,500, which includes licensing and testing fees, courses, airplane time and instruction time, he said. It’s a flat fee, so if a student isn’t qualified to take the test within 45 to 50 hours, training will continue and no extra cost, he said. The only thing not included is the mandatory Transport Canada medical exam, which must be done by a certified aviation doctor through the government, he said. The exam typically costs $75-100. He said choosing Okotoks Airport should make it easier to achieve the flight school’s goal of having pilots licensed in fewer hours than the average 87. It is one of three choices in the Calgary area, including Springbank, which is the sixth-busiest airport in the country, he said. There, half of every hour of flight time is consumed by waiting to take off and getting out of Calgary air space to be able to practice manoeuvres, he said. “In Okotoks, below 8,000 feet we’re already out of Calgary air space. And when you take off out of Okotoks there’s no traffic, so in two minutes you’re up in the air and you’re in the practice area,” Ulmer said. Students will have the chance to fly both Cessna 172 and 150, a four-seater and two-seater respectively, he said. There are also plans to acquire Pipers for the school, he said. The difference is in the wings. Cessnas are high-winged, with the wings of the plane above the pilot, whereas Pipers are low-winged and more akin to the large commercial planes, he said. “It gives students the option and it makes them comfortable with both, so they can get out and fly a Cessna or they can fly a Piper and have fun in both kinds of aircraft,” said Ulmer. They’ll have options after they’re licensed as well, he said. It’s something that was very important to Ulmer, who saw people putting out the money to be licensed but then not being able to use their pilot’s licence regularly if they don’t continue training with commercial airlines, he said. “If you want to do it for fun, you have to buy your own plane or have lots of money to rent them,” said Ulmer. Small planes are available to rent for recreational pilots but often come with a minimum of three to five hours per day. If someone is flying four hours to somewhere like Regina, staying for a week and then returning home, they would be required to log 25 to 35 hours in that time, which would cost close to $4,000, he said. “Our goal is, if you train with our school you become basically a lifetime member, then we’re going to have planes you can rent for basically cost, so that same trip might cost $800 instead,” said Ulmer.
