7998

 

7998 L.T. (Leagh) Farrell

College of Entry: Collège militaire royal de Saint-Jean

Review 1969 

       

 Le Défilé 1967
                    

Academic Accomplishments

            RMC - BEng (Civil)

            UNSTPS - completed academic portion for Engineering Science with major in Aerospace Engineering degree

Canadian Armed Forces

            With many thanks to the then Paul Hellier, Minister of National Defence, I spent my whole military career flying with the Air Force despite wearing a Navy cap badge and being paid by the Navy.  I was sent to a senior air force billet while almost all of my fellow air force pilot trainees went to Navy postings.

Chronology

            1969-1970: CAF Pilot Training in Moose Jaw and Gimli

1970-1974: Member of 435(T) Squadron flying C-130 Hercules.  Operations consisted of tactical and logistical support for various Canadian Missions and Military exercises around the world.  The C-130 also provided a significant SAR function with much time being spent in the Canadian Arctic.

1975-1978:  After my extended tour on 435(T) Squadron, my career mangler threatened to send me to sea on SeaKing Helicopters.   Consequently I left the CAF, joined Transport Canada and probably saved our marriage.

1979-1980:  Trained at the United States Navy Test Pilot School, USNTPS to become an Engineering and Experimental Test Pilot

1981-1998:    Represented Transport Canada Civil Aviation participating  in many Canadian and foreign aircraft and aircraft systems development and certification.  Conducted in-flight evaluations of many single and multi engine aircraft types from the largest to the smallest including those on skis, floats, amphibians and gliders

1998-2002    Joined Canada 3000 Airlines and flew the A320 and A330 Airbus into Europe and the South Pacific (The Airline eventually went bankrupt and stranded some of us in Brisbane, Australia to find our own way home.)

2002-2004:   Acted in several different capacities including President  working to build Canada West Airlines to fill the vacuum left when  Canada 3000 went bankrupt. It was, concurrently, the best and worst of times to start an airline.  I spent much time keeping the investors  onboard as we reorganized to counter the effects of SARS, BSE, rising oil prices etc.  In the end we failed

2004-2006:  Rejoined Transport Canada as an Aviation Inspector until retirement. Ironically I became the Principal Operating Inspector, whose task it is to monitor the operational aspects of an airline, of the very airline that beat Canada West Airlines into being a reality.  Such is life!

Most Eventful Year

            Without a doubt the most demanding, stressful year was the one spent at USNTPS at the Naval Air Station in Patuxent River, Maryland.  In the midst of the flight training, conducting flight evaluations on 13 different aircraft, ranging from supersonic fighter jets, long range patrol aircraft, Apache gunships, gliders, float planes and the academic workload , our family dealt with several crisis.  A runaway car crashed through our rental house.  Sandy was the victim of a Peeping Tom at the base PX and was required to testify at a military court martial the same day I was having surgery for a cancerous tumor.  Shortly after all that, Sandy and I were summoned to our children’s school only to be lectured after our six-year old son had taken my penknife letter opener to school without our knowledge.  Finally, at year end we struggled home during the big gasoline crisis.  We could only put gas in one of our two vehicles on alternate days

 Collaboration

             As the project test pilot on the Bombardier Regional Jet, I was asked to organize and lead an international team of Regulatory Authority experts from various countries.  This came about due to new commercial aircraft Head Up Guidance technology that was being  developed and incorporated into the Regional Jet. This airliner was to be marketed in numerous countries. Therefore a uniform set of certification criteria was imperative. This was a very rewarding experience over four years

Memberships

            The most notable is as a full member of SETP (Society of Experimental Test Pilots)

Career Low Point

            After the failure of Canada 3000, there was a lot of people out of work including me.  Eventually, I got a union job driving cars off of the Vehicle Transport Ships arriving from Japan.  Needless to say I was way out of my element.  However, over the 13 months that I worked I met some of the nicest and roughest people you could imagine.  I even received a pension for life without ever having to contribute.  Not bad!




                                               Waterton Lakes National Park in 2022.


                              Waterton Lakes National Park in 2022.


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