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Escarpment Magaz ine
fal l
2011
Steve’s enthusiasm for flying goes way back to
1954 when fresh out of high school he heard the
Royal Canadian Air Force was looking for pilots.
He applied and was accepted. First he went to Lon-
don and Centralia for pilot training then out west to
flight school. Upon completion he won the flight tro-
phy, then headed back to Ontario for instructors
training at Trenton. He worked as a flight instructor
in the air force until there was a reorganization and
he landed a desk job. Not being one to sit in an of-
fice for long, he retired from the air force and signed
on with Trans-Canada Airlines (now Air Canada)
to fly Viscounts across the country. Over the years
as an Air Canada pilot he flew everything form the
DC-8 to the huge 747-100. After 15 years he re-
tired, joined the air reserve where he learned to fly
helicopters.
It isn’t any miracle that his son Keith grew up with
the flying bug as well. His dad would take him up
in the Otter that he flew at the time and taught him
the fundamentals of flying and the joy of going up
to northern Ontario for a snack then flying home.
Keith joined the Air Cadets at 14, which gave him
an excellent background in military flight training
and conduct. He received two scholarships to at-
tend the Canadian Air Force flight school.
There, along with classmates Jeff Beckett, and as-
tronaut Chris Hadfield, he learned to fly Canadian
military fighter jets. His proudest moment was when
his father pinned on his wings at graduation. Upon
becoming a flight instructor, he relocated to B.C. to
fly combat support. Like his dad, he retired from the
military and took to flying commercial aircraft. He
joined Air Nova down east, but when Air Nova be-
came Air Canada Jazz he came back to Ontario
and currently flies Jazz (now renamed AC Express)
flights across North America.
I met the third member of the flying team, Jeff Beck-
ett the day I went aloft once agin to take the aerial
shots for this story. Jeff’s inspiration to a career in
the air came from reading a book about the Battle
of Britain as a boy. He flew missions with the air
force for twenty years, retired, flew for Air Canada
then became the Owen Sound airport manager for
a few years. Today Jeff is a pilot for Top Aces, which
is a private company that hires experienced pilots
to assist with training of Canadian Air Force flyers.
Jeff was also the instigator in getting Steve, Keith
and himself to start flying together, perform aero-
batic moves and formation flying routines.
!
Keith Esplen, Steve Esplen and Jeff Beckett in front of ‘Charlie-Foxtrot-Tango-Romeo-Sierra’, ready to go aloft.
Steve Esplen ready to fly for
the Royal Canadian
Air Force in 1954
FEATURE
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out of the blue