Cadet Flight Sergeant (F/Sgt) Amanda Nielsen started in a summer job as Cadet Aircraft Mechanic for Comox Cadet Flying Training Centre (CCFTC) this week, working under the supervision of qualified Aircraft Maintenance Engineers.
Cadet F/Sgt Nielsen (17) took the Aircraft Maintenance Course offered by Air Cadet League of Canada and fell in love with aircraft engines. She is a member of 386 Komox Royal Canadian Air Cadet Squadron so when she heard that she could spend her summer as an apprentice at CCFTC, she jumped at the chance. This will be her second summer in this position.
The passion shines out of Amanda’s eyes as she says, “I am doing something I love while helping others do what they love. Pilots love to fly! It is a lot on your shoulders. The plane has to fly properly and land safely. When you do it right … it feels good.”
Amanda, a recent graduate of G.P. Vanier Secondary School, is known around the province for her battery charging invention. The chargers kept on breaking so she was asked to come up with a new idea that was so successful that it is used in all the Cadet Gliding centres to enable the electronics in a glider to function.
Cadet Nielsen joined Air Cadets when she heard from her sister that they learned to shoot air rifles. She stayed for different experiences. “You get a lot from it,” she says, that you can’t get any other way”.
The Royal Canadian Air Cadets is a national co-educational youth organization sponsored by the Canadian Forces in partnership with the civilian Air Cadet League of Canada. In British Columbia there are approximately 3,700 Air Cadets enrolled in 57 Squadrons. The BC Ministry of Education, Skills and Training recognizes the cadet program as a “ministry- accepted External Course” for which students may receive graduation credit.
More than 3,400 Sea, Army and Air Cadets are participating in summer training activities across B.C. this summer. Other cadets have had the opportunity to travel across the country and even overseas. To find out more about the Cadet Program visit www.cadets.ca or follow us on Twitter @BC_Cadets.