Natasha Maor
Saskatoon, Sask.-One Cote First Nations young woman in Saskatoon has soared to new heights-literally. Twenty-year-old Natasha Moar is not only a pilot, but a flight instructor for Millenium Aviation. Yes, before most students are even out of college, Natasha has already put in the training hours and launched on her career.
Moar fell in love with flying sometime around her first flight. The adventurous twelve year old was supposed to be in a glider with her air cadet crew, but because of bad weather a couple of the crew ended up riding in the plane that pulled the gliders.
Her companion turned down the invitation to ride in the cockpit, but not Natasha-she jumped at the chance to be in the flight deck. And when given the opportunity to take the yoke, she eagerly agreed.
And it was love at first flight.
For her thirteenth birthday, her parents paid for an introductory flight for her at Millenium Aviation.
"During the trip, I got to fly the plane and do more. After that I knew it was what I wanted to do for a career choice," Natasha told a reporter from APTNnews.
When you want something badly enough, you work for it, and so Natasha got busy. Besides her normal school schedule, she worked at a job to earn money for flying, and went to ground school, training, as a teen, to become a commercial pilot.
Two-hundred hours of flying later, she received her commercial license. And now she's wrapping her first year as an insructor at the school where she learned, helping students of all ages make their dreams and goals come true.
Natasha loves the variety of each flight, she says. "Every day you're up there, it is going to be different," she says. "The wind when you're taking off and landing, or what you are going to encounter in your flight."
She also enjoys the variety of people, including connecting with other First Nations fliers-and being the first First Nations instructor some of them encounter.
As far as her future in flight, that's still a bit up in the air. "I'm not too sure what the long-term goal is," she told APTNnews. "I am just seeing where it takes me."
But with such a great start, she's sure to soar.
