Like Father, Like Son – Erik Urquhart

Characters of BC Aviation – Chapter 3

By Michael Cooper

Steve stood in front of the mirror, looping his tie into a knot and tightening it up to his collar. His flight bag stood next to him at his feet, aircraft manuals and procedures stacked inside, visibly tucked underneath black leather folds and worn brass latches. He pulled his jacket over his shoulders and pulled down on his sleeves for fit. Three golden stripes wrapped around his wrists. The First Officer (Captain in waiting) was suiting up for another trip to the airport. His routine of departure from home almost complete. Steve watched his bedroom door push ajar in the reflection of the mirror. A set of eyes came into view. There stood his toddler son, Erik, holding a blue polo golf shirt. He walked towards his dad and offered him the blue polo, “dis dada dis, no go up.” As a young boy, Erik identified early that the white shirt meant his dad was going away.

The First Officer takes a photo of the Captain in command of the Queen, the Boeing 747.
Source: Steve Urquhart / Photo Credit: Greg Posehn

Aviation in the Urquhart family began in the late 1950’s, in the Canadian maritime province of New Brunswick. Two Urquhart brothers, both pilots, acquired two decommissioned surplus American built Fairchild PT-19 Cornell aircraft, retired training aircraft used in WWII. Between the two PT-19’s, one was made airworthy.

Aubrey Urquhart and his PT-19 Cornell in April 1959. The first aircraft to be acquired by the Urquhart family.

Source: Urquhart family archives

Steve Urquhart’s father, Aubrey, was one of those two brothers. His son, Steve, would inherit his passion for aviation. Steve found himself plotting a path to the flight deck early, in recreational flying with his dad and through visits to the Fredericton airport where his father was Station Manager for Air Canada. Decades later, a similar passing of the family torch and legacy would begin to transpire with the rise of Steve’s first-born son, Erik.

Erik was born in 2001, in Hong Kong, where his dad was based as a Cathay Pacific airline pilot flying the Boeing 747. The growing family were living simply on a boat in the Hong Kong harbour; a stark contrast to British Columbia’s interior, where the family would settle in Vernon, upon return to their Canadian roots in 2003. Steve, like his father before him, pursued flying recreationally outside his duties on the big jet at Cathay Pacific and became a member of the Vernon Flying Club. Accompanying his dad to the club, Erik too would fall in love with airplanes early in life. He was drawn to the wisdom of the club membership, listening to the stories recounted by other club members and pilots. He became a fixture at the club washing airplanes, mowing grass and giving back wherever he could find an opportunity to do so. All the while strengthening his place in the Vernon Flying Club community.

The Captain and his Cessna. Erik Urquhart, 14 years old.
Source: Erik Urquhart

In the spring of 2015, at the age of 14, Erik began his flight training under the flight instruction of Kathleen Poynton at Full Moon Air Services in Vernon. He would solo that July, evidently a quick study. Try to imagine yourself balancing your responsibilities as a teenage high school student with the thrill and excitement of learning to fly an airplane. I asked Erik what his friends thought of his flight training at the time. “Most of them didn’t understand what I was upto. My friends pictured me in the airplane with an instructor the whole time. It wasn’t until I got my recreational pilot permit when I was 16 and I started taking them up as passengers that they actually understood.” Erik recounted the astonishment of an English teacher, who at the beginning of the new school year, assigned her students an essay depicting the events of their summer holidays. Erik wrote about his advancement in flight training.

Kenn Borek Air pilot and flight instructor, Rhys Perraton (left) with his student, Erik Urquhart (right).
Source: Erik Urquhart

After he went solo, Erik switched flight instructors. Rhys Perraton stepped into Erik’s life as a teacher but would emerge as a mentor. A bush pilot with extensive experience flying the twin otter for Kenn Borek Air, Rhys took on Erik’s flight training as a free lance instructor in the Urquhart family Cessna 172. Beginning in 2015 and ending in 2020, Erik would receive his recreational pilot permit (RPP), private pilot licence (PPL) and commercial pilot licence (CPL) under the instruction and mentorship of Rhys.

In the Vernon Flying Club community, Erik earned respect and admiration. Well deserved, he was awarded several scholarships towards his flight training, including a float rating scholarship from the Canadian Owners and Pilots Association (COPA) which he completed with Air Hart Aviation in Kelowna. Demonstrating his ability to train quickly, the scholarship was awarded on a Wednesday, the money was transferred on Thursday and that Sunday, the money was spent and Erik had earned his float rating.

While managing his responsibilities in flight training and high school life; a true student of his time, with help from videos on YouTube, Erik discovered the thrilling aviation realm of short take-off and landing (STOL). Inspired by big name STOL pilots including Kevin Quinn, Trent Palmer and the Patey brothers, Mark and Mike; Erik began researching and applying STOL techniques and equipment to the family Cessna 172. His fat tires carried him into a new dimension of aviation. The backcountry airstrips and gravel bars of British Columbia became his playground. No more paved runways required. Erik had found himself.

Somewhere in British Columbia.
Source: Erik Urquhart

It should be noted that safety is of the highest importance to Erik and his brotherhood of STOL pilots. Frequently, Erik will walk a landing strip before he flies it, taking with him a measuring wheel to determine the exact length of his landing surface and proximity to obstacles. Carefully calculated weight and balance figures are precisely applied to ensure the airplane performance is at its best. Temperature is considered. Erik will often choose to fly early in the morning or in the fading hours of daylight to ensure the engine thrives and the airplane flies in the best conditions possible.

Through the reach of social media (follow him on Instagram @erik.urquhart), Erik found himself at the centre of his own Canadian STOL community. He found others with whom he could share his adventures. Each in their own airplane, Erik and his friends drift with the currents at altitude, exploring the far too often ignored or forgotten landscapes found deep in the wilderness, far from the reach of city towers and lights. Armed with tents, sleeping bags, iPads and ForeFlight, they are going where most of us never will. Chasing the horizon in airborne all terrain vehicles (ATV’s.). Erik recounted a few of these trips to me, my favourite being one with two of these friends, to a family cabin in Manitoba. The cabin is conveniently equipped with its own landing strip.

Somewhere else in British Columbia.
Source: Erik Urquhart

Erik passed his commercial pilot flight test in June 2020. His high school graduation occurring around the same time but in the background. His focus and his passion are in the sky. When we spoke by telephone in late November of 2020, Erik was in Cornwall, Ontario, at Cornwall Aviation, where he was completing his multi engine and instrument flight rules (IFR) training. His hunger to earn his place in aviation as a pilot is remarkable. Now, in January 2021, Erik has his ticket and is out looking for that first job. With determination, he is pursuing his dream.

Proud Dad.
Source: Steve Urquhart

Steve speaks with tremendous pride about his son. Proud most of all, he notes, “Erik has earned his way on his own. He has worked hard and it hasn’t come easy. Erik is charting his own path forward that he himself began and is pursuing.” He envisions his son flying his own airplane one day, something like a PA-18 Super Cub, leading the next generation of STOL pilots on adventures. I imagine Erik’s grandfather, Aubrey, is proudly smiling too.

Author’s note: This article is dedicated to the strong inspirational men in my own family; my grandfather, Michael, my dad, Alec, and my son, Ace, who was born on December 13, 2020.