Isabel Fredet was 14 when she decided she wanted to become a pilot.
She was a passenger with her father, a pilot who practiced touch and landing maneuvers through straits, which is a limited waterway.
“[The water] it was kind of glass, which is when the water is just perfect glass, it has a real reflection, “said now 18-year-old Fredet.
“At that point, I just knew I was going to be a pilot and that was going to happen.”
“Just looking at my father and seeing things from above – I just love it. And I felt like I should be able to do that.
The Sudbury woman recently passed all the necessary requirements and received her license to be a commercial pilot. She was 16 when she received her private flight license.
“Commercial just means you can get paid for rent, you can get a job flying,” Fredet said.
The base for True North Airways, a private charter airline, is on Lake Whitewater in Azilda. He has seven commercial pilots. (Angela Cemil / CBC)
She is the newest pilot for True North Airlines, a private charter airline based at Lake Whitewater in Azilda.
Co-owner Michelle Hayden said she did not hesitate to hire Fredet.
She is always very self-guided and takes care of things from start to finish and has really in-depth knowledge of airplanes, airplanes and flying, so it’s really nice to have someone so confident to take care of things, especially if I’m not here for the day, ”she said.
Fredet will mainly deliver supplies and check on guests staying at remote fishing resorts north of Sudbury. However, it can also provide training to other ambitious pilots who need hours of flight time.
“I think her 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 that inspires more people to enter a field that is not usually for super super young women,” she added.
This is the Cessna floating plane that Isabel Fredet will fly to True North Airlines this summer. The 18-year-old is the newest and youngest commercial pilot to fly for the company. (Angela Cemil / CBC)
For Fredet, there was a lot of hard work and effort that went into getting her pilot’s license.
She had to maintain high grades during the primary school, which is the educational part. This requires a written exam through Transport Canada.
“There is flight training and you have to spend so much time with an instructor, and then a certain amount of cross-country and distance.”
“For advertising [licence] it’s almost the same as the private one [licence], just the limits of error are much stricter. Which makes sense, you want everyone to be super experienced. “
She was only 16 years old when she met all the requirements for her private pilot’s license.
“But you can’t have a license at 16, so they gave me a vacation permit, which is … more restrictions.” She received her private pilot’s license when she was 17 years old. After turning 18, she completed everything required for a commercial pilot’s license.
This is actually Fredet’s third summer working at True North Airways since she was a dock before being hired as a pilot.
During the first summer working there, she still didn’t have a driver’s license, so I flew my father’s plane to go to work.
“I’ve been flying to work all summer,” Fredet said.
Licensed to fly
Fredet’s summer training also allows her to land planes on wheels.
“I actually went to Billy Bishop’s [Airport in downtown Toronto]
“Flying around CN Tower is kind of cool.”
Fredet said that it was during this flight that she clearly realized the difference between Toronto airspace and Sudbury airspace.
“Everything is controlled there and you should be aware of that,” she said.
“It’s worth it when you start flying”
Her dream flight will be to Alaska on “bush wheels”, which are large tundra tires that you can land on sandy beaches.
“It looks like a really great adventure.”
And she has advice for anyone thinking of becoming a pilot.
“You will have to get to work. The learning part is not fun at all. I can guarantee. It’s dry and boring, “said Fredet.
“But it’s all worth it when you start flying”
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