ßThe 48th and final Penhold Air Cadet Training Centre (PACTC) season is bittersweet for Sky Wings Aviation Academy owner Dennis Cooper.
“I was a cadet in the first PACTC from 1966 to 68,” said Cooper. “I was a young prairie boy from 563 Saltcoats Squadron who came with nine other boys to Penhold. It was my first trip to Central Alberta, and my world opened up. One of my cadet mates was Joel Ward, who became the president of Red Deer College.”
Cooper, the current mayor of Penhold, noted the cadet camp of 1966 was far different than it is today for the class of 2014.
“All 650 of us slept in Hangar 3, on metal bunk beds separated by painted squares on the floor,” said Cooper. “We were separated into flights, and every day we had to make sure our area was spotless, the floor was polished, and our kit was locked to the bed.”
The ex-cadet added their days were filled with activity starting with a 6 a.m. swim in the outdoor pool in Red Deer.
“They separated us into two groups, swimmers and non-swimmers,” said Cooper. “I was from Saskatchewan. I couldn't swim and that water was cold. We also were taken on field trips during our two-week stint in Penhold to an early heritage park, and Sylvan Lake. On Sunday mornings we would have Church Parade and there were two groups, the Protestants and Catholics.”
Cooper added that part of the early cadet experience was seeing the RCMP train on base as well for three years until they moved to Regina.
“When they moved, we got to use the present barracks, which were built in the 1950s,” said Cooper. “It got more comfortable for the cadets.”
He said that his three years put him through band camp, leadership training, bush survival (which he did survive), and gliding.
“Back in 1966, gliding was a fairly new program for cadets, and for a prairie boy to get into a glider and pop the glider free was so exciting. It was such a sense of freedom and a natural high for me,” said Cooper. “The plane would land, dust would fly up through the floorboards, and then someone else would take to the air. Today, the cadets who come through flight school are so much more prepared than we were.”
After 1968, Cooper joined the cadet program as an instructor from 1972 to 1973 and continues to teach cadets to this day at Sky Wings, 30 years later after he started.
“I want to give back to the program,” added Cooper. “I earned my ‘wings' as a cadet, and as they say, I want to pay-it-forward as long as I can.”
Cooper spoke of his Cold Lake experience during which he earned his private pilot's license in 1971. That put him into his present career course.
“Since that time, I've logged more than 12,000 hours of flight time but no longer have my license,” added Cooper. “I could qualify but I've had my time in the sky. I still look up and gauge the clouds and wind and think like a pilot.”
Cooper started Sky Wings Aviation Academy in 1983, and since then he has trained more than 3,000 private and commercial pilots as well as being part of the PACTC.
In 2014, Cooper's company is part of the air cadet training program for its last year at Springbrook, with 14 cadets taking flight training on scholarship.
“It is disappointing to see the PACTC disappear,” said Cooper. “Flight training has gone on here since 1942 for pilots, and that will not disappear. As economies tighten, cadets will still be trained at four facilities instead of five.
“We will be bidding on the flight contract but it will look different,” he added. “We won't be able to see cadets marching the grounds in uniform every day, or hear the sounds of outdoor band concerts.”
He added it will be a huge loss for the Central Alberta region, as well as for those kids like him who came from Saskatchewan and found doors open to new experiences.
“I made life-long friends here,” said Cooper. “If I hadn't stepped out as a cadet in 1966, I would not be here today as a pilot instructor. I first saw the base through the eyes of a cadet. Now I see it through the eyes of an older, more appreciative man. The legacy of CFB Penhold and cadet training centre will always live on.”
