The Life of a Pilot ~ Bush Planes and Water Bombers by Glen G. Goobie

Written in a relaxed conversational style, The Life of a Pilot: Bush Planes and Water Bombers is simply one man's narrative account of living life from the cockpit. This coming of age memoir follows the life path of author Glen G. Goobie and his journey from adolescence to retirement. The memoir is detailed, thrill seeking, and adventurous and is sure to appeal to readers with similar aspirations of living their best life, on their own terms. 

At the tender age of 15, Goobie's father had suddenly passed away and the small town boy from Queen's Cove found himself thrust into apartment living with his mother in St. John's.   After graduating from high school in 1961, Goobie secured a job with the provincial Department of Highways survey team and flew to many remote Newfoundland towns in the belly of water bombers. Within a few years, Goobie found himself in the cockpit of a de Havilland Beaver bush plane working with the Churchill Falls Hydro project in Labrador. This piqued the interest of the young, twenty-something-year-old Trinity Bay native and the rest they say, is history. Goobie trained as a commercial pilot at the Moncton Flying Club in New Brunswick and then began a summer job with a Newfoundland construction company. After a summer of  logging flight hours while transporting workers and parts to job sites, it was time for Goobie to look for new employment forcing him to head west to Northern Ontario.

Goobie's two year adventure at Little Beaver Lodge was not without incident and certainly the place where Goobie cut his teeth on bush flying. Even on the best of days, every trip was an adventure, and Goobie's prowess as a flight pilot was constantly tested and challenged. From mechanical failures to unpredictable weather, interesting passengers (including one flight with the mafia) and encounters with wild animals, Goobie's courage was challenged while he problem solved, rescued and utilized great psychological maneuvering to survive the harsh environment. 

One thing is for sure, if you are a bush pilot, something will go wrong from time to time in a place where no maintenance is available, and you'll have to figure out on your own a way to improvise, and if you are lucky, you might get home that night.   

Goobie eventually returned to Newfoundland and began working with Air Transport, Gander Aviation and the province's water bombers. Though he was now an "experienced" pilot, the adventures continued. Hauling fuel through Labrador, tasked to fly 'strange but true' medevacs, and assigned to ferry a single engine aircraft, without a radio and only a "bare-bones instrument panel",  from Texas to Montreal in the middle of winter......Goobie's stories are both entertaining and nonstop! They also include tremendous detail about the planes he flew and the many interesting characters and wonderful people he met and worked with along the way. One such opportunity that turned out to be a new, unforgettable experience for Goobie was to captain a charter to do the seal patrol and an opportunity to view the large seal population from the cockpit of a Widgeon aircraft with officers from the Department of Fisheries and Oceans.

It was a beautiful day in March with light winds, and the visibility was so good, it looked as if one could see Ireland if you could climb high enough. My enthusiasm was not premature, because when we approached the seal herd, there were thousands of them with their newborn pups, sunning themselves on the large ice pans. Among the ice pans and calm open water, which was a vivid blue, were many icebergs, some of which towered what looked to be about a hundred feet above the surface. Without doubt it was a sight that many "southerners" would pay a lot of money to see. 

The day went by too fast, and just as the sun edged down toward the horizon, I reluctantly had to tell the officers that we would have to call it a day because we only had enough fuel to get us back to Gander. 

The Life of a Pilot is a story of great historical value. Along with pictures, poetry and a flying timeline spanning 40 years and two countries, this memoir is a sneak peak into the not so ordinary life of a rather "ordinary" outport adventurer. It reminds us that opportunities present themselves at the most inopportune time. The Life of a Pilot ~ Bush Planes and Water Bombers by Glen G. Goobie is a Flanker Press publication.

The crystal-clear sky revealed a crop of bright stars, which was another sight a city dweller doesn't often get to see. After landing back in Deer Lake, I thought it would only be fitting to drop by one of my favourite haunts , the Deer Lake Motel, for a couple of beers and a nice meal to top off my great day. I said to myself as I was sipping on my beer, "Imagine, we even get paid to do this."