Sara Cameron (Canada)

Jan 2019 Sara Cameron (Canada)

in 'Pacific' Gals, Profile by Judy Birchler 0 Comments

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Sara Cameron is based at CYXY, Whitehorse/Erik Nielsen International Airport, Whitehorse, Yukon, Canada.

I learned to fly with my dad in his 170 out of Steamboat Springs Colorado where he gave me good mountain training as well as flying through the Idaho Backcountry to go camping with him, my sister and my mom. My dream wedding was always to have my dad fly my new husband and I away in the airplane out of Thomas Creek in Idaho with â€œJust Marriedâ€ on the windows and cans hanging off. Little did I know that someday not only would I be flying, but actually flying my husband and myself out of our fly-in wedding!

I moved to Idaho in 2011 after getting back from my second saga in Eastern Africa (Uganda, Sudan, Kenya). Moving to an airstrip was like moving back in time. Things slowed down and life there was peaceful and FUN!! Not to mention Idaho is where I would find out what floatplanes were all about.

I grew up with the love for fresh water and swimming and before I knew it I found that thereâ€™s an aircraft that combines both water and the sky! Idaho was also where I acquired my PPL and worked for a company manufacturing composite floats. Aerocet gave me lots of exposure to the industry and I was hooked. After working at an FBO for three years and after getting my license, I started selling and marketing for Aerocet. They brought me to many shows where I got to meet so many amazing people with whom aviation was a common bond.

Now, 2019 I currently live in Northern Canada, (where it is -30c today), with my husband Kyle. We own a 1957 C180A. We operate on Edo 2960â€™s in the summer and on wheels in the winter. We hope to install ski fittings in our shop when we finish all of our customerâ€™s work but that doesnâ€™t seem to happen 😉.

We run an aircraft maintenance shop here at Erik Nielsen Intl Airport in Whitehorse and maintain approximately 20 aircraft. The North is a hard life sometimes with the extreme cold and wind mixed with short hours of daylight in the winter, however itâ€™s not nearly as bad as people think it is.

As for the summer, you cannot beat flying in daylight at 2 am. In the middle of June, there are three weeks where there is no legal darkness… ! We are lucky to have such freedom and large amounts of water to hop from lake to lake without seeing another soul. Some of our favorite places to go are the glaciers, both twenty minutes to the west and about forty five minutes south, towards Juneau. There are friendâ€™s cabins tucked in the bush that myself, Kyle and our two dogs and cat, (cat LOvES the airplane) will go to for a few days to have some fun, hiking, moose hunting and just plain old R&R.

We also love renting an AirBnB in Juneau for a few bucks and go there for a couple days off with the 180. Juneau is a quick 1.2 hour hop over the Juneau Ice Fields. Every other year there is a wonderful float fly-in over in Yellowknife, Northwest Territories . We love going to that and enjoying the semi â€œwarmerâ€ water. I can now honestly say I have water skied at 3 am above the 60th parallel.

On Kyleâ€™s and my day off we find ourselves flying out to some new location to explore (like an old airplane wreck) or working on our many projects we have going on whether automotive or aircraft. I hope to someday make my way back to Africa and fly for a company over there doing either freight hauling or scenic air tours.

Thanks for reading!
Sara Cameron

Ratings:
PPL US/Canada
SES US/Canada

Aircraft Flown:
C172
Seabee
C180 on aerocet 3500
Aeronca Chief
Fleet Canuck
Helio Courier Allison conv
Helio Courier Geared engine
Quest KODIAK
PA-12
SC7 Skyvan
DHC-3 Otter
PA-18 on amphibs
PA-18 on straight floats
C170B
C180 on edo 2870s
C180 on 2960s
C170
C182
Cherokee 140
DHC-2 Beaver
Tecnam
Carbon Cub Amphib