okay, we're ready for departure here at the Pilot Project Podcast, your best source for stories and advice from the pilots of the RCAF. I'm your host, Bryan Morrison. In this podcast, I'll sit down each week with a pilot from the RCAF to hear their stories, learn about their aircraft, and hear their tips on how you can succeed and thrive as an Air Force pilot and beyond. In today's episode, I'll be introducing both the show and myself.

But before we get into that, I'd like to get a disclaimer out of the way. This show is not in any way affiliated with the RCAF. Officially, while all my guests and myself are current or former pilots of the RCAF, the podcast is not sanctioned or affiliated with the RCAF. All of the experiences, opinions, and statements are those of the individual and are not those of the organization.

Now that that's out of the way, let's take some time to get to know each other. My name is Bryan Morrison, and I was born in Cambridge, Ontario. I've been in the Royal Canadian Air Force for about 16 years. Usually, I ask each guest how they got into aviation, so I'm going to tell you that about myself as well. As a kid, some of my earliest memories are going to air shows with my dad and my cousins. You know, some of my fondest memories are camping with my dad at the London International Air Show in London, Ontario. When I was 14 years old, my cousin Tim got me to join Air Cadets. One of the best decisions I've ever made. Over the next few years, I earned my glider pilot license, My private pilot license. I eventually instructed on gliders, and I accomplished all that thanks to the patience of a man named Jim O'Connor. And Jim has instructed several, Royal Canadian Air Force pilots and helped them get their start. After that, I attended the University of Western Ontario. I earned my degree in Commercial Aviation Management as well as a commercial mult IFR license. And I was lucky enough to get in under the ROTP program, which is the military essentially paid for my schooling. So because of that, I was able to afford to keep flying and go to school as well as join the military. Once I was in the military, I was able to skip basic flight training, or Phase one, because I already had a commercial mult IFR license. So I went straight to phase two flight training in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan flying the Harvard Two. I would still consider this to be some of the most fun flying I have ever done. Next, I attended phase three multi engine flight training here in Portage La Prairie, Manitoba, at 3CFFTS , where I earned my wings in 2012. I was posted to 405 long range patrol squadron in Greenwood, Nova Scotia, flying the CP 140 Aurora. On the Aurora, we mainly did anti submarine warfare, but we also did intelligence surveillance, reconnaissance work or ISR in the Middle East. Eventually, I upgraded to crew commander, and I got about 1800 hours. After my time on the Aurora, I was posted to 3CFFTS as an instructor, but due to medical reasons, I am currently not flying.

Now that I've introduced myself, I'd like to talk a little bit about what the goals of the show are. My first and biggest goal is to reach out, to aspiring pilots, whether those are kids in air cadets or people in the general public. I want to help you learn about what it's like to fly in the RCAF and what you can do to succeed.

The other people that I really hope connect with this show is anyone in the military flight training system right now. I hope that you have a chance to listen to this, to learn something about how to succeed, and also to learn about the aircraft that you might want to fly down the road. I remember that when I was going through training, sometimes it was difficult to pin someone down who had flown the aircraft that I was interested in. And sometimes maybe there was no instructor posted in who had flown this aircraft. So this should give you an opportunity to learn from pilots from each airframe whether or not you have the opportunity to connect with them in person.

Of course, I also want the general public to take an interest in this show. I want those people who are interested in aviation to have a chance to ask questions and to learn about what life is like on the flight deck in the RCAF.

I'd also like to throw out a few thank yous. First of all, thank you so much to my friends and family that have supported me throughout the last year while I got this project rolling. Your support means so much, and the interest you've taken in the project has been very moving. I'd also like to thank my former squadronates and crewmates. Thanks to all of you, I learned about leadership, mentorship and professionalism, not to mention the growth I experienced as a pilot. The last thing I'd like to say to my comrades is that while this show is about how to succeed and what it takes to do that, I ask you to bear with me. I've learned from my successes and my failures, and I try to be candid about both.

As we bring this to a close, I just want to tell you guys how excited I am for this season. I guarantee we have some stories coming down the pipe that you have not heard before. And a list of guests we have are just absolutely amazing people to talk to. Next week, we'll be releasing the first of our five part series on the training system. The first guest is the legendary Don Macauley. She was the Phase One Grob Flight Commander. She flew the Cormorant in search and rescue, and she has a ton of interesting stuff to say. I can't wait to get into it with you.

I want to remind you all that you can always reach out by email to ask any questions in general or for a specific pilot. You can email us at thepilotprojectpodcast@gmail.com. We are also on all social media platforms at @Podpilotproject. If you are aircrew and you have some sweet photos or videos you'd like to share, please send them to our email with a short explanation as well as any accounts you'd like tagged, and we will share those. And with that, I'll be signing off of the first episode of the Pilot Project podcast. Thank you for listening. Keep the blue side up. See you!