QWIK MEDIA - Key Persons
Job Titles:
- Flight Instructor / Charter Pilot
Blair is the newest addition to our team in 2024, bringing with him some exceptional skills and enthusiasm for flight training. Blair started his flight training journey in Owen Sound completing his Private Pilot Licence and Night Rating. Because OSFS did not offer the CPL course at the time, Blair finished his studies at Conestoga College, completing the Commercial Pilot Licence with Multi Engine and Instrument Ratings. Blair returned to Owen Sound to complete the Flight Instructor Rating and we're so excited to have him on board with us having come full circle.
Now in his early twenties, Blair is doing what he was born to do and loving it. When you fly with Blair you will see that his passion for aviation is contagious.
His extensive flying experience began in 1985 and he became a flight instructor in 1987. Dan is a Class 1 instructor, and has taught more than 100 students to be commercial pilots and over 50 commercial pilots to be instructors. For over 10 years Dan was a Flight Test Examiner for Transport Canada, which gave him unparalleled insight into what it takes to be a pilot.
Job Titles:
- Chief Flight Instructor
- Owner of Owen Sound Flight Services
Dave Kalistchuk is the Owner of Owen Sound Flight Services, as well as the Operations Manager and Chief Pilot of Charter Operations, and Chief Flight Instructor for Flight Training. He began his flight training in Owen Sound 25 years ago in March '95 when his uncle Dan Vachon took him on his first flight.
David Lye got his first flying experience in 1970, in a Slingsby T.21 glider, with the Air Cadets in England. He won an RAF flying scholarship which led to a PPL in 1973 (at a very young age). He then flew with the Bristol University Air Squadron (part of the RAF) while attending university to study aeronautical engineering. In 1981 he moved to Canada to work as an engineer for de Havilland Canada (DHC) at Downsview, and in the flying club there he earned his CPL and Flight Instructor Rating. He's been instructing part-time since 1987, and still enjoys teaching students how to fly. He has a glider pilot licence, and a seaplane rating, and has flown taildraggers (including a few years of glider towing). In 2016 he moved to Grey County, and is now semi-retired, but still working part-time for DHC, from home. In 2023 he joined the OSFS team, as a part-time instructor.
Job Titles:
- Assistant Chief Flight Instructor
Mark grew up in the Grey-Bruce area and has always had a fascination with aviation. He started flying in 1992 at the Hanover airport when he was 15. He became a Flight Instructor there in 2002 where he worked his way up the ranks to Chief Flight Instructor. He now assists with CFI duties in Owen Sound, as we utilize his years of experience to continue to grow the school through advancement in our training programs.
In addition to Flight Training, Mark is highly involved in Drone Training, where he teaches the required course material for aspiring private and commercial drone operators. Mark brings a passion to flying and teaching that is second to none.
Peter took his first flight at the age of 10 in Algonquin Park in a de Havilland Beaver, and has been driven by his passion for aviation ever since. After becoming a Commercial Pilot in the early 80's he was working as a Flight Instructor and Charter Pilot flying Single and Multi Engine airplanes for over 6 years. Transitions in life led him down the path of the corporate aviation world where he worked on financing aircraft for the last 3 decades before returning to his original passion for teaching flying.
Peter returned to flying as a Charter Pilot for OSFS in the summer of 2017, and renewed his Flight Instructor Rating in May, 2018 where he is now back in the right seat imparting his knowledge of aviation to the next generation of pilots. When asked what brought him back to flying he responded; "it's the pursuit for precision combined with the ultimate freedom found in piloting your own small airplane…it has a way of sparking the imagination that few other pursuits we may have can do". We're fortunate and excited to have him on our team!