Isabel Fredette was 14 when she decided she wanted to be a pilot.
She was a passenger with her pilot father, who practiced touch and landing landing maneuvers, which is a restricted waterway.
“[The water] It was a bit of glass, that is, when water is a perfect glass, there is a direct reflection, “said Fredette, now 18.
“At that moment I knew I would become a pilot and that would happen.”
“Just seeing my dad and seeing things from above, I love that. And I felt like I needed to be able to do it.”
The Sudbury woman has recently passed all the required requirements and has obtained her commercial pilot license. He was 16 when he got his private license to fly.
“Commercial just means you can get a rent, you can get a flying job,” Fredette said.
The base of True North Airways, a private charter airline, is located on Whitewater Lake in Azilda. It has seven commercial pilots. (Angela Gemmill / CBC)
He is the newest pilot of True North Airlines, a private airline based on Whitewater Lake in Azilda.
Co-owner Michelle Hayden said she did not hesitate to hire Fredette.
“She’s always very self-taught and takes care of things from start to finish, and she has a very in-depth knowledge of airplanes, planes and flight, so it’s really nice to have someone so confident to take care of things, especially if I’m I’m not here for the day, “he said.
Fredette will mainly deliver supplies and check on guests staying at remote fishing centers in North Sudbury. However, it can also provide training to other aspiring pilots who need flight hours.
“I think their skills will speak for themselves,” Hayden said, adding that some of the older generation may find it harder to convince a teenager to fly their plane.
“I hope people look at Isabel and the achievements she has at such a young age and I hope this inspires more people to enter a field that is generally not for super super young women,” she added.
This is the Cessna seaplane that Isabel Fredette will fly this summer for True North Airlines. The 18-year-old is the youngest and youngest commercial pilot to fly for the company. (Angela Gemmill / CBC)
For Fredette it took a lot of work and effort to get her pilot’s license.
I had to keep high grades during elementary school, which is the study part. This requires a written exam through Transport Canada.
“There’s flight training and you have to do a lot of time with an instructor and then sun and a certain amount of countries across and distance.”
“For commercial [licence] it is practically the same as the private one [licence], only the margins of error are much tighter. That makes sense, you want everyone to be very competent. “
When he finished all the requirements for his private pilot’s license he was only 16 years old.
“But you can’t have a license at 16, so they gave me a recreation permit which is … more restrictions.” He was given a private pilot’s license when he was 17 years old. Once he was 18 he completed what he needed for the commercial pilot license.
This is actually Fredette’s third summer working at True North Airways, as she was docked before being hired as a pilot.
That first summer he worked there he still didn’t have a driver’s license, so he flew his father’s plane to work.
“I was flying to work all summer,” Fredette said.
Authorization to fly
Fredette’s flight training also allows her to land planes with wheels on the ground.
“In fact, I went to Billy Bishop [Airport in downtown Toronto]
“Flying around the CN Tower is great.”
Fredette said it was during that flight that she became very aware of the difference between airspace in Toronto and airspace in Sudbury.
“Everything is under control there and you have to be aware of that,” he said.
“Worth it when you get to fly”
Your dream flight would be to Alaska with forest wheels, which are big tundra tires that you can land on sandbanks.
“This seems like a really amazing adventure.”
And it has tips for anyone thinking of becoming a pilot.
“You have to work. The study part isn’t fun at all. I can vouch for it. It’s dry and boring,” Fredette said.
“But it’s all worth it when you get to fly”