People at school call me York. I started my aviation training in early 30’s. I am a dad of two kids but also a commercial pilot now. I didn’t start my training at Acadia College. I had started at another school nearby. I needed to change schools for many reasons and ended up finding Acadia College. It was the best choice I have made for my educational and professional career. I want to end my journey here and eventually become an Instructor at the school. I not only enjoy the training here, but I also love the atmosphere and the fact that everyone here is like one big family. We all truly care about each other and want to see each other succeed. We help each other all the time to ensure we are all on the same page, and most importantly we share the love.Choosing Acadia was the best choice I made and thank every single person and instructor who were a big contribution to my success. I have always dreamt of being a pilot since I was a young boy, and now my dream has come true. I cannot say enough how appreciative I am of the staff and the school.

My journey as a student pilot hasn’t been an easy one. Acadia College was my 4th school, searching for a fair and honest school that was genuinely interested in my success and not focused solely on money. I am so happy that I decided to attend Acadia College for my commercial pilot licence training. It wasn’t an easy decision as Acadia College was not located in my home province. I am pleased that I made the decision to move and attend this school. They genuinely care about me, my success, and my education.Back at the school I attended for my private pilot licence, I had completed86 hours of flying in 10 months. Whereas at Acadia, I was able to fly a total of 60 hours in 2 months! With high aircraft availability, I was allowed to book 2 flights per day to speed up my education. Which, in all honesty, was my main priority at the time.The instructor I was paired with was knowledgeable and caring. I had a hard time with a specific air maneuver due to a personal life experience that made me fearful of performing it. My instructor was there for me every step of the way. He went above and beyond in ensuring that I get over my fear and succeed at accomplishing the maneuver. He is the reason I graduated from the Commercial Pilot program.I am now working towards my Instructor rating to become a flight instructor. I want to be the reason my students succeed, just as my instructor was the reason for my success.Acadia truly feels like a family. Everyone helps each other succeed. You don’t need to pay for extra tutoring; simply come to school to study. All the students who are there that day and who are more advanced than you will all help you understand the material at hand. If the instructors aren’t busy, they will even offer help as you work on your ground school.Thank you to all of the Acadia Team for ensuring I succeed in this new chapter of my life.

I started with Acadia right as flight schools were allowed to open back up after the first COVID-19 lockdown. I was searching for a school that would be able to help me finish my private license as soon as I possibly could as I had applications in to aviation post-secondary institutions that required the completion of my license by the September start date.I am so fortunate that they were the first ones to return my call back in May. I was immediately paired up with the most amazing instructor and got started with my license at the pace I needed for my required completion date. I was able to fly however many times I needed, sometimes even multiple times per day. I was taught everything I needed to know thoroughly and well, the instructors at my new school have even commented that my “PPL was excellently taught”. Langley is an excellent airport to train at, it’s not too busy such as some of the other training airports in the lower mainland yet you still get the experience of practicing with ATC and following airspace protocols. It is also close to the practice areas so you don’t have to spend too much time in transit to get to the area you need to be during your lessons.Another thing that I loved about Acadia is that you’re not just a number, the staff genuinely want to see you achieve your goals. An example of this is when the C152 I trained on went in for its scheduled maintenance right as I was supposed to complete my flight test. This maintenance was supposed to ground the aircraft until basically the day my deadline of completion was required. The staff and maintenance crew at Acadia knew this may have hurt my chances of acceptance so they worked on the aircraft on their days off to ensure I was able to send in my successful completion of my license in time.Because of Acadia, I am now completing my commercial license at Mount Royal University in Calgary, AB! I am forever grateful to have found Acadia, I wouldn’t be where I am today if I hadn’t found them.