Where are they now jetstream tv series code#
Where are they now jetstream tv series series#

I asked what it was like to go solo in the CF-18 for the first time? 'The most remarkable thing is not flying the aircraft but rather the quietness of the cockpit, gone is the voice of the instructor and you are all alone in a war plane of the Canadian Armed Forces'. Perhaps more stressful than the intercept was the aerial tanking part of the mission which took place at night and in turbulent air. It really does come back to the training. Colonel Erickson commented that after the initial excitement had worn off the mission proceeded just like any other training mission except this time with a foreign aircraft. This kind of intercept is not unusual but does get the heart racing as there is always the potential for trouble.

Where are they now jetstream tv series code#

Colonel Erickson was part of the Q(quick) reaction alert for NORAD (North American Defense Aerospace Command) up near the Arctic circle when she was ordered to intercept a Russia Tupolev Tu-95 code aircraft, a large four engine turboprop powered strategic bomber and missile platform. Colonel Erickson seeks to pass onto her students at 2 Wing.ДЄ few months after graduating from Fighter school Lt. We often learn more from failure than from success'. 'One of the fundamentals of success I believe is coming to terms with the possibility of failure. Colonel Erickson notes the worst thing that could have happened would been to fail the course, but life would have gone on.

Her fatherвЂ™s calm approach of everything will be alright and accepting the possibility of failure ultimately helped Erickson return to the cockpit and turn around her performance in the course. Riel recalls that she was quite close to dropping out of the fighter training course as she dealt with her own insecurities. The incident gave Riel and her instructors serious concern for her future as a fighter pilot. Her instructor call sign 'SpankyвЂќ took control and averted a disastrous situation. One of the hair raising experiences during her CF-18 training was a near miss while landing in formation with another CF-18. Colonel Erickson becoming a fighter was her uncle Major David Kendall who was a himself a CF-18 pilot and veteran of the Gulf War. Colonel Erickson has recently been promoted to command 2 Canadian Forces Flying School, home of CanadaвЂ™s principal training base in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan.

It was a thrill and privilege to talk to now Lt.

I reached out to the Canadian military to follow up on the career of Riel вЂњGunsвЂќ Erickson. The show and the participants have long lingered in my memory. Seven of the eight pilots graduated from the course with Riel вЂњGunsвЂќ Erickson winning the Top Gun Trophy for highest overall bombing and strafing scores and earning her 'Guns' callsign in the process. I was enthralled by the quality of the TV production and fascinated by the incredibly challenging task facing these novice fighter pilots.

Where are they now jetstream tv series series#

The 8 episode series followed the 2007 class of eight pilots of the Royal Canadian Air Force learning to fly the CF-18 Hornet tactical fighter jet at Canadian Forces base Cold Lake Alberta with 410 Tactical Fighter Training Squadron. I first became aware of Riel Erickson in 2008 when I watched a documentary film series called JetStream which was produced by a local Vancouver production company Paperny Films for Discovery Channel Canada.