“If you have 10,000 flying hours, raise your hand!”
News Article / June 16, 2016
By Lieutenant Guy Bernard
Only one hand went up in response to the call from Lieutenant-Colonel Gilbert McCauley, Commanding Officer of 438 Tactical Helicopter Squadron “Ville de Montréal” on May 12, 2016, at the base in St-Hubert, Quebec. The hand belonged to Major Sylvain Bélanger, who had just passed the mythical 10,000-hour mark in flying time with the Royal Canadian Air Force.
That accomplishment might lead one to believe the pilot had spent more time in the air than on the ground over the past 36 years, but that is far from true. On a busy day at 438 Squadron when, as usual, he had 1,001 things to take care of, Major Bélanger sat down for a few moments to look back on the career that led to his 10,000-hour milestone.
The native of Les Escoumins, Quebec, enrolled in the Royal Canadian Air Force in 1980. After his recruit course at Chilliwack, British Columbia, he took his pilot training on three different aircraft - the CT-134 Musketeer, the CH-139 Jetranger at Portage la Prairie, Manitoba, and the CT-114 Tutor at Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan - before receiving his pilot’s wings in 1983.
His first posting was with 430 Squadron at Valcartier, Quebec, from 1983 to 1986. After that, he served with 444 Squadron in Lahr, Germany, until 1990. That period, which coincided with the end of the Cold War, left a strong impression on him.
“We were starting to see a few East Germans crossing over to the West, but some experts didn’t think the Berlin Wall would come down for another 10 years!” he recalled.
Back in Canada, he became a CH-136 Kiowa instructor with 403 Squadron at Gagetown, New Brunswick. After three years, he was transferred to St-Hubert in 1993 to join the legendary 10 Tactical Aviation Group (the predecessor of 1 Wing) as Standards Officer. He served there until 1996, when he was transferred to 438 Tactical Helicopter Squadron to qualify on the CH-146 Griffon.
He was promoted major in 2001 and returned to Valcartier as Flying Flight Leader. He transferred to the Air Force Reserve in 2003 and continued at 438 Squadron at the rank of captain before being promoted to major again in 2008. He then served as Operations Officer until he was appointed Deputy Commanding Officer of the squadron on May 16, 2016.
Among his many postings, some of the highlights for him were exercises in support of the Army; his two deployments in Bosnia in 1998 and 2001; his deployment to Haiti in 2004 on Operation Halo; and the dozens of domestic ops he has participated in, including Op Podium, Op Lentus, and two operations in the high Arctic, Op Hurricane and Op Nevus.
When asked how it felt to reach his 10,000 flying hours, Major Bélanger - a man of few words - paused, then answered briefly. What he really wanted to talk about was his gratitude to his wife for her constant support through 33 years of marriage, and his pride in his son, Marc-Olivier, who is serving in the RCAF as an avionics systems technician in 430 Squadron. Like father, like son! All the “Wildcats” of 438 Squadron congratulate Major Sylvain Bélanger, the squadron’s Deputy Commanding Officer, for his achievement. Next up: 10,000 hours of flying time in tactical aviation (he has fewer than 270 hours to go)!