Pilots:roar and soar in the mountains

THERE WAS THUNDER. And there was rain. Bui despite the moist weather,
ihe air show went on at the airport Sunday, July 23, giving the thousands pre-
sent plenty to cheer about. Overcast skies actually made it easier to view some
of the aerobatics. Clockwise, from top left: CF-18 pilot Capt. Scott "Frag"
Greenough climbs down from his jet after performing a series of aerobatic
manoeuvres; three-year-old Hannah Kirk was one of the spectators who had to
shield her ears as a CF-18 fighter jet roared by; parachutists from a Buifaio
search and rescue aircraft dropped in to say hello; the Snowbirds gave a daz-
zling 30th anniversary performance; Captains Jay “Dallas” Steele and John
“Streak” Waugh recline on the wing of their T-33 Shooting Star Jet.

savours the rush of riding the sky.

THIS IS where Matt Bar-
lee wants ta be.

About 100 feet off the
ocean, flying at about 300
knots an hour at his con-
sole in a long-range patrol
aircraft, tracking a sub-
marine below the surface.

“When the aircraft is
Shaking, going up and
down, you don’t need to
‘pay me to do that, It’s a
rush,” says Barlee, a cap-
tain in the Canadian air
force.

‘Barlee is a tactical co-
ordinator on an Aurora
long-range maritime patrol
aircraft based at Comox on
Vancouver Island.

“.He's the quarterback,
drawing together all of the
“information provided by a
variety of electronic and

Capt. Matt Barlee

other sensors on board the
Aurora.

There are five Auroras
at Comox, 18 altogether in

the air force, and they are
the country’s only long-
range maritime patrol air-
craft.

Built to track submar-
ines during the Cold War,
the Auroras now perform
seatch and rescue duties,
track illegal fishing activ-
ity far offshore, check for
pollution, do sovereignty
patrols and assist the
RCMP in anti-drug smug-
gling operations,

Last year, and again
this year, the Auroras also
look for migrant smuggling
vessels,

Their sensors, hi-tech
cameras and- powerful
searchlights make them
the ideal aircraft for such
an activity.

Just'31 years old, Bar-

lee has been in the air
force for more than 12
years.

He was one of several
Canadian Forces officers
on hand two weekends apo
at the Terrace-Kilimat air-
show. to give information
on the forces.

Born in Richmond and
raised in the Okanagan,
Barice has a degree in
physics and oceanography.

“[ have the best job in
the world,” he says. “They
paid me to go to university
and now they pay me to go
all over the world.”

“The armed forces is for

people who like adventure’

and travel, a challenge.”
"You'll have the uppor-

lunity to go places and do

all sorts of adventurous

things you don’t have a
chance to do in civilian
life.”

Barlee decided upon an
armed forces career after
graduating from high
school as the way to fulfil
his prime desire of flying.

His one piece of solid
advice for young people
considering a career in the
armed forces is to first stay
in’ high school and get
good marks.

That’s important for the
armed forces relies on spe-
cialized -equipment and
needs well-trained people
to accomplish its tasks,

For the past several
years, Barlee has been
stationed at Esquimalt,
where he co-ordinales the
various aircraft in the air

force on the west coast.

They're all based at
Comox and include the
Aurora, the Sea King heli-
copters based on naval fri-
pates and jets used in
combat training exercises.

Cumox is also the home
of the search and rescue
squadron flying Labrador
helicoplers and Buffalo
fixed-wing aircraft.

Barlee’s career has also
taken him to places out-
side of his tactical train-
ing.

‘In 1995 he was selected
as the team leader to
climb Gascherbrum, the
eighth-highest mountain in
the world’ in the Hima-
layas.

Ait a camp at 24,000
feet and with the summit

in reach, one of the team
developed altitude sick-
ness.

“It was a life-threaten-
ing situation,” reculls Bar-
lec. “He would have. died
within four or five hours.”

Although there was a
vicious storm outside, Bar-
lee carried the team mem-
ber back down the moun-
tain,

For that action, Jai
received the furced#ear
torious Service Medal.

Barlee never did reach
the summit. “It Il always
be there,” he says,

Barlee has: one more

-year in Esquimalt and will

return to the Auroras at
Comox, adding to- the
2,000-plus hours he has
spent in the aircraft.