This Kelowna student is Canada's best pilot

“If you don’t come out of a flight simulator sweating after a flight exam, you weren’t in the flight simulator.”

So says Okanagan College Commercial Aviation student Harmeet Garg, who has been honoured with the Webster Memorial Trophy as Canada’s top amateur pilot.

Garg, a student from India who was injured when training to become a fighter pilot in the Indian navy, came out tops against several finalists from around the country in the summer. The college and various sponsors congratulated him at a special event at the Southern Interior Flight Centre at the Kelowna International Airport Friday afternoon.

It’s hoped having a trophy winner here in the Okanagan will help raise the college programs’ profile across Canada and beyond.

Garg is the first international recipient of the award which has been presented since 1932 and he hopes he can still follow his military dreams in Canada.

“I’m thinking of becoming an instructor for the Canadian Air Force cadets, although that’s still not confirmed,” he said.

For Garg, who will now move onto multi-engine aircraft as part of his training, flying is like therapy.

“It’s even better than therapy dogs,” he explained. “You go up, you forget everything else and just fly. I’ve never come out of a plane not smiling… except the first few training flights… they were hard.”

For the operations manager of the Southern Interior Flight Centre, Scott Campbell, to have Canada’s Top General Aviation Pilot come from the local program is a major feather in their cap.

“It’s fantastic exposure for our school. We already knew we were turning out great students but it’s confirmation of that, “he said, noting the effort Garg has put into his training and studying. “We’re not the biggest flight school in the country but we’ve got the biggest award.”

The Commercial Aviation Diploma at Okanagan College, graduates close to 20 new pilots into the aviation industry each year.