Logan Reid once stood clinging onto the fence outside the Comox Air Show waiting in anticipation to enter with his dad.
Now, the captain in the Canadian Air Force is standing on the other side of the fence – the airfield to be exact – as he begins his first season as Snowbird 8 in the opposing solo position with the Snowbirds team.
“My first memory of an aviation event was at the Comox Air Show. My dad and I were in Duncan and he drove me up in 1994 – we had our Pontiac station wagon with the wood side paneling,” he said with a laugh.
“I remember waiting for hours in the line up to get in and that was my first memory. I got to meet the Snowbirds, I got to see the jets flying overhead. So the Comox Air Show is near and dear to my heart – we went up every other year we could and then when we moved to Victoria, I found myself taking the ferry more often to the Abbotsford Air Show.
RELATED: Snowbirds arrive in Comox for annual spring training
Reid was born in Duncan but grew up in Victoria, which is where he earned his private pilot’s licence.
He credits his dad’s passion for aviation – which he inherited – for wanting to become a pilot.
He went through the air cadet program near his home in Sidney, and received his licence through the Victoria Flying Club based out of the Victoria International Airport.
“I flew up a few times to Campbell River, and to Chilliwack. I was always intimidated with the military air space in Comox so I tried to stay away – I was 18,” he noted. “This is my home territory so I love flying around here – the Island is the most beautiful flying in my opinion.”
Reid joined the military in 2008 and graduated from the Royal Military College in Kingston in 2012. He was assigned as a flight instructor and a few years later applied for the Snowbirds team.
“It just feels like a big full circle moment. Being able to come to the Comox Air Show when I was a young guy and see the Snowbirds and get inspired by the Snowbirds and now we’re here training at the airfield … is really, really special so I’m looking forward to doing that for other young kids as well,” he said.
Reid noted his family is planning to visit the Valley to watch some of the practices, and he’s excited to show him his plane for the first time.
“Now I’m wearing the red suit so I’m looking forward to giving (my dad) a big old hug and showing (them) the jet and they haven’t done that yet,” he explained.
“(We) just got the suits on and this is the first time we’re on the West Coast and we’ve been in the prairies the whole time, so they’re driving up this weekend so it’ll be pretty special.”
erin.haluschak@comoxvalleyrecord.comLike us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter
