I flew on a private jet… for nine whole minutes!
This short repositioning flight went basically from one side of Calgary to the other,
on board a Cessna Citation CJ3+ with AirSprint Private Aviation.
As you can imagine, there’s a bit of backstory to this.
First things first, AirSprint is Canada’s largest provider of fractional ownership
aircraft. What that means is, they allow customers the flexibility of flying private
but without the hassles that come with outright aircraft ownership.
Basically, individuals or companies can buy a share of one specific plane,
and then be able to use any plane of that type for a set number of hours per year,
while AirSprint handles the logistics.
It’s a model that’s historically been proven in the States, and AirSprint pioneered it
in Canada when they launched in 2000. Since then, they’ve grown considerably, especially
in the past couple of years and recently took delivery of their 31st aircraft in the fleet.
Those 31 planes (at the time of uploading) include Cessna Citation CJ2s and CJ3s,
along with several Embraer Legacy 450s, Legacy 500s, and Praetor 500s.
Headquartered right here in Calgary,
AirSprint has a pretty substantial operation that takes place out of Calgary International.
However, they do occasionally use Springbank Airport just west of the city. Springbank is
the primary flight training airport in the Calgary area, and is one of the busiest
general aviation airports in the country. It’s also slightly closer to the Rockies
and Banff National Park than YYC, so you can see the appeal of flying from here.
The longest runway at Springbank is 5,000 feet with an ILS on one end,
and AirSprint’s Legacies and Praetors are the biggest jets the airport usually sees.
With their facilities all being at the YYC though, a short flight is usually
needed to reposition the aircraft either to or from Springbank for its next trip.
So, back in December, a friend of mine who’s a pilot for AirSprint asked if
I’d like to join him on one of those empty repositioning flights. I very quickly left
home and drove out to Springbank on this frigid December evening and here we are!
Near the tower is a large main apron that’s for general use,
and this is where AirSprint usually stops since they don’t stay here for long.
Next to that is this little terminal slash waiting area,
which had basically a couple of seats, washrooms, and some airport authority office space. There’s
also a very appropriate selection of reading material, and surprisingly enough, free wifi!
Pretty soon, the Citation taking me from Calgary to… Calgary came into view arriving on runway 17,
this Cessna Citation CJ3+, registered as Charlie Foxtrot Alpha Sierra Yankee.
This plane was delivered new from Cessna, or rather,
Textron Aviation to AirSprint in 2016, where it’s been since.
Now, I do want to stress, this was a huge treat to be able to ride along on this flight.
The crew and plane had had a busy day of flying,
with this leg from Vancouver to Springbank being the last regular one with passengers on board.
Obviously, your average passenger is not gonna be flying from Springbank to YYC,
and so it’s only because the flight was empty that my coming along would be entertained at all.
But, as I’ve said before, flying on new airplane types in random scenarios
is exactly what I live for, so, I’m very grateful to everyone who made this possible!
Let’s go fly across Calgary!
This CJ3 seats 6 passengers in 3 rows, with the front two seats facing backwards.
I settled into the middle row which had plenty of space!
This is honestly pretty cozy, and I can certainly see the appeal of flying like this.
In addition to the 6 seats in the main cabin, there’s also a lavatory in the back.
I ended up moving to one of the rear facing seats for a better view of the flight deck,
as the crew briefed this very quick flight.
Up at the front, AirSprint had plenty of snacks in this commissary,
as well as a well-stocked supply of drinks.
Personally I’ve spent a good deal of time at Springbank over the past few
years flying piston-engined planes, so it’s kinda surreal to be here, sitting on a jet!.
Pretty soon, the engines were started, and here’s the departure from Springbank off of runway 35.
Today’s flight took us north from Springbank up to 7,000 feet initially, and then eastbound
to pick up the RNAV-Z approach for runway 17R at Calgary International.
And yes, from wheels up to wheels down, this did indeed take 9 minutes.
Although brief, we had these great views of Northwest Calgary all lit up,
as well as the city of Airdrie as we turned final.
Now if there’s one thing that’s cooler than flying on a private jet,
it might just be getting to watch everything happening in the flight deck too. As an
unapologetic aviation nerd, you bet I had a grin on my face the entire time!
All too soon, we were passing over Stoney Trail and back into Calgary city limits,
and here’s the landing onto runway 17R.
Well that was certainly a flight to remember! A huge thank you once again to my friend and
AirSprint for making that happen. This is a side of aviation I never thought I’d get to experience
for myself, and so I hope you enjoyed my 9 minute flight on a private jet just as much as I did.
Thank you so much for watching, and I’ll see you next time.