Editor-In-Chief
Lisa Gordon has been an aviation enthusiast since the early 90s, when she was a part-time dispatcher at a flight training school in Hamilton, Ont. She went on to work at two other flying schools while pursuing a journalism degree at Ryerson University in Toronto. Lisa worked at FlightSafety Canada and was the editor of the COPA Flight newspaper before joining Naylor Publications, a firm dedicated to producing custom publications for more than 500 associations in Canada and the U.S. After a decade as Managing Editor at Naylor, Lisa is happy to be back in the industry and excited to be part of the team launching Canada's premier aviation magazine, Canadian Skies.
Contributor Bios
James Careless has covered the aerospace industry for magazines such as Vertical, Avionics, Aviation Maintenance, AMT, Defence Helicopter, Helicopters, Rotor & Wing, Rotorhub and Wings. His credits also include The Globe and Mail, National Post, Montreal Gazette, Toronto Star, and Business Week; plus NBC-TV and CBC Radio/TV.
Andy Cline has been an avid aviation photographer and correspondent for over 20 years. His work has appeared in over 50 aviation magazine and journal titles worldwide, as well as numerous books, calendars and websites. He is a regular contributor to Air International, Airliner World, AirForces Monthly and Airways. His day job is purchasing manager with Aviation World in Toronto. He is also one of the founders and the administrator of YYZ Airport Watch, the largest Airport Watch chapter in North America. He can be reached at andrew.cline@sympatico.ca .
Garth Eichel is a Victoria B.C.-based freelance photojournalist and publisher who has edited several aviation magazines, including Canadian Aviator and Vertical. Before turning his hand to publishing, Eichel attended the Aviation-Flight Management Program at Confederation College in Thunder Bay, Ont., and then spent 10 years flying in the Canadian North, logging over 4,000 hours on wheels, floats and skis. Eichel made the switch from cockpit to quill when living out of a suitcase eventually lost its appeal. His work-life balance is now a mishmash of lifestyle writing, contract publishing, sommelier studies, gardening, scuba diving, sailing and fishing. Indeed, the West Coast
has made him soft. Scheduled for marriage in July 2012, Eichel lives with his son, Rowan, his long-suffering partner, Heather Lawson, and their two dogs,
Otis and Stella.
has made him soft. Scheduled for marriage in July 2012, Eichel lives with his son, Rowan, his long-suffering partner, Heather Lawson, and their two dogs,
Otis and Stella.
Rob Erdos is a graduate of the US Naval Test Pilot School and an Experimental Test Pilot licensed for fixed-wing and rotary-wing aircraft. He is an engineering graduate of the Royal Military College, a former Air Force Search and Rescue pilot, and has a Masters degree in Aviation Systems Research. He is an avid airplane builder and a passionate flyer of historical aircraft for Vintage Wings of Canada, where he flies aircraft such as the Spitfire and the Hurricane.
Brent Jang, who has covered the airline industry for The Globe and Mail for eight years, is a National Newspaper Award winner. Over the years, he has staffed the Farnborough International Airshow and boarded an Airbus A380 jumbo jet for a test flight from Montreal to Paris.
Graham Lavery is a seasoned fixed-wing and helicopter pilot who has flown a variety of missions in unique locales throughout the U.S., Canada's Arctic regions, Central America and the Caribbean. He currently flies long line, mountain, forestry, construction and charter work in B.C. and the Yukon; and can be reached at graham@grahamlavery.com.
Stuart McAulay has been in the aircraft maintenance industry for 25 years. Most of his time has been spent in the flight training environment as a Technician, Quality Manager and Director of Maintenance. Stuart also works closely with the AME Association of Ontario and has experience with the development of maintenance QA programs and company manuals. He is currently the Maintenance Manager with the Brantford Flying Club and enjoys writing on various topics within general aviation.
Fredrick Petrie is a lifelong aviator and a bit of a star-gazer. From an Air Force family, he began as an Argus navigator hunting submarines over the North Atlantic. As navigators were being replaced by black boxes, he finished a commerce degree for a career in management that has included airlines, travel, airports and consulting, where he specialized in economic development for small airports. He also held senior policy posts at both Transport Canada and Manitoba Transportation and Infrastructure. Before retiring he ran a small cargo airline serving remote communities in central and northern Canada. He has been contributing features to aviation magazines for 30 years.
Jason Pineau developed a passion for aviation as a teenage Air Cadet. Around the same time, he also discovered a love of photography. Since then he has earned his commercial pilot's licence and has focused his lens on thousands of aircraft. Jason now finds himself flying in the right seat of a Twin Otter in Yellowknife, NT, where there is no shortage of aircraft to photograph. In his words: "I made it my mission to try to capture the uniqueness of flying in the north: Boeing 737s operating off gravel runways or floatplanes buzzing around all summer; or the aircraft big and small landing on the ice, or sitting silent under the northern lights. I would have to say that for photos, my favourite time of year is winter. The extreme cold can produce some great effects, and the all-day sunset light gives great colours. It's definitely worth freezing my fingers for!"
Having never finished an engineering degree ("probably a service to aviation," he says), Ken Pole has had a lifelong passion for things with wings. The longest-serving continuous member of the Parliamentary Press Gallery in Ottawa, Ont., he has written about aerospace in all its aspects for more than 30 years. When not writing, Ken is an avid sailor, diver and photographer.
Michael Power is an IFR pilot examiner, and works with Professional Flight Centre in Delta, B.C., as the Manager of IFR Operations. He also works as a pilot for a regional carrier and currently flies the Canadair CL65 Regional Jet. Michael can be reached via email at mike@proifr.com.
Ken Swartz is an award-winning helicopter industry photojournalist who has covered the Canadian aviation scene since the mid-1970s. He has spent most of his career in international marketing and media relations in the regional airline, helicopter, aircraft manufacturing and health-care sectors. He helped develop trans-border regional airline services early in his career and was a member of the hugely successful US marketing team for the Bombardier CRJ regional jet during the 1990s. Post 9/11, he managed global media relations for Bombardier's commercial aircraft division before expanding his horizons in the health-care sector. A life-long aviation historian, Ken has documented the history of several of Canada's leading aerospace companies including Bell Helicopter,
de Havilland, CAE and P&WC. Since 2002 he has also served on the Board of Directors of the Canadian Air & Space Museum (formerly the Toronto Aerospace Museum)
located at Downsview Airport. He runs Aeromedia Communications, a marketing and
PR agency, and can be reached at kennethswartz@me.com.
de Havilland, CAE and P&WC. Since 2002 he has also served on the Board of Directors of the Canadian Air & Space Museum (formerly the Toronto Aerospace Museum)
located at Downsview Airport. He runs Aeromedia Communications, a marketing and
PR agency, and can be reached at kennethswartz@me.com.
Blair Watson has written aviation articles and news reports for publishers and media companies in Canada, the U.S. and Britain since 2005. His work has been syndicated to MSNBC, Yahoo! News and FOX News and read by millions of people. His 22-year aviation career includes commercial flying, air traffic control training, airport operations and project management, technical writing, and airline instructional design.
Gary Watson started his aviation maintenance career in the RCAF. The first aircraft he worked on was Canada's fastest aircraft, the CF-104 Starfighter. The experience instilled in him a lifelong interest in aviation. The civilian world beckoned and he left the military to join a new charter company in Calgary operating Lockheed Electras into Canada's high north. As an avionics technician, then department head, he worked on a variety of fixed wing and rotary wing aircraft including most GA, corporate and commercial aircraft. He then joined the large aviation department of an oil company specializing in Arctic oil exploration with a fleet of offshore helicopters and corporate aircraft. He received one of the first AME avionics licences in Canada, which he has since upgraded to the M1 and M2 ratings. During this time, Gary started writing for magazines to keep abreast of new aviation technologies. His first article, in 1983, was about the retirement of the CF-104 at 417 Squadron Cold Lake. After short stints as a marketing manager for an AMO and an industry consultant, Gary joined SAIT Polytechnic as an instructor teaching avionics, human factors and other aircraft maintenance courses. Retired last year from SAIT, he is spending more time with his second career as an aviation journalist and
as a volunteer Director of the Air Force Museum of Alberta. He can be reached atgary@skiesmag.com.
as a volunteer Director of the Air Force Museum of Alberta. He can be reached atgary@skiesmag.com.
Did you know?
There are five million aircraft takeoffs and landings every year, and nearly 400,000 take place at Toronto's Lester B. Pearson International Airport.
Source: www.canadiangeographic.ca
