Canadian Forces pilot makes special visit to hometown Dawson Creek

Actually, it was more like four fly-bys over the Dawson Creek Airport in a Boeing C-17 Globemaster III, one of the largest military aircraft in the world. Mark Taylor, 30, is a pilot for the Royal Canadian Air Force based in Trenton, Ontario, and recently received special permission to take the aircraft to his hometown to pay a visit to his family and friends.

“He was basically doing a training flight today,” said Lori. “He had taken passengers to Lethbridge (Alta.) for Remembrance Day services tomorrow, and he had some hours of training to do, so he requested permission to fly over Dawson Creek, his home.”
She said her son has served in the military for the past seven years and has flown in excess of 80 missions in and out of Afghanistan.

“He normally transports equipment and troops in and out of Afghanistan, that’s what he’s been doing for the past several years. He takes all the heavy equipment – tanks, other planes, helicopters – anything that needs to be brought in and out.”

Lori said Mark’s love for flying came as a bit of surprise because he was enrolled in university in a completely different field, but dropped those studies in his second year to pursue becoming a pilot. She said he was a commercial pilot in Edmonton briefly, and then for an ambulance service, before joining the military.

“I am proud of what he is doing, but I am happy when he is back on Canadian soil, though he tells me he has one of the safest jobs in the military,” she said.