Combining Aviation Security, Communications, and Photography!

I went to the famous Abbotsford Air Show in 1979 in Abbotsford, B.C. when I was 12 and that same year a man in my Church introduced me to short wave radio and CBs and I loved talking on Walkie-Talkies at school with friends so at an early age I was interested in aviation and communications.

I would later become interested in air force fighter planes and enjoyed the Shearwater Air Show many times and going to aviation museums and between 1989 and 1995 worked for Rock, Eagle, and Pinkerton's Security Companies working at sites all over Metro Halifax and returned to security in November 11, 2010 working at Cole Harbour Place (CHP) recreational facility and have worked there ever since.

In September, 2011 I enrolled in an Introductory Ham Radio course and really enjoyed it but never wrote the Final Exam because I started working 5 back shifts a week (Midnight-8:00 AM) at CHP but now in the summer of 2017 I am buying the updated Ham Radio Manual and preparing for the Final Exam.

In December, 2015 I joined the Halifax Stanfield International Airport Airport Watch Group where Brian, Craig and I have the unique opportunity to combine aviation security, communications, and photography.

First we provide extra eyes and ears to airport security. Craig and I reported a FOD (Foreign Object Debris) on the runway and it turned out to be a plastic bag stuck on the beacon or lights on the runway. We also reported a man jogging in an unauthorized area and the three of us are on the lookout for any suspicious activity.

Second, Brian and Craig and I listen to various radio frequencies on scanners that allow us to hear real-time conversations between the Air Traffic Control Tower and the pilots about runways, approaches, landings, takeoffs, and weather conditions and this allows us to go to the right runway and see the airplanes.

Third, the communications allow us to take pictures of the airplanes when they land and takeoff and just hover or sit there and I am learning a new field of aviation photography.

The journey of combining aviation security, communications, and photography has just begun!