The Northwestern Ontario Air Search and Rescue Association (NOASARA) is always looking for volunteers. If you are at least 18 years of age, there are four "streams" of activities to consider, depending on your interests and qualifications:
(1) As a Pilot/Navigator. If you have a pilot's licence and meet the minimum level of qualifications, your first assigment will be as a trainee navigator. Through the mentorship of several experienced members, you will learn how to plan various types of search assignments and how to safely and accurately manage the progress of a search flight. The pilotage and dead reckoning skills you learned during basic flight training will be given a thorough work-out. Your first few flights will be conducted one-on-one with an experienced pilot, and soon after you will participate in organized search exercises (SAREXes) that involve four or five planes flying simultaneously under the direction of a search coordination team at the operations base. As part of the training you will learn to use electronic direction finding equipment to locate emergency locator transmitters (ELTs). NOASARA's primary search plane is a Cessna 182, which is equipped with a four-person crew (pilot, navigator, and two spotters). Other planes available to the unit include a Piper Seneca II, three Cessna 172s, and a Piper Cherokee.
(2) As a Spotter. If you do not have a pilot's licence but want to get involved as an airborne spotter, you will first go through a ground school teaching you how to conduct yourself safely around small planes and how to search for visual clues from a moving airplane. This ground school, which is a prerequisite for flying, is conducted four times a year. Once approved for flying, you will be assigned to the crew of a small plane and given the task of searching for predefined visual targets on a search exercise. Once you see a target, your job is to "call the plane around", that is, to tell the pilot where the target is in relation to the plane's position and how to turn the plane to keep the target in sight. As the "eyes in the sky", spotters are key members of the flying crew and learn to work effectively with the pilot and navigator conducting the flight. For flight safety, some weight restrictions apply to light plane spotters.
NOASARA also provides trained spotters to fly on military SAR aircraft, primarily the CC-130 Hercules. Military spotter training is conducted approximately twice a year. After an on-board performance evaluation by the military, qualified spotters are declared "operational" and may be asked to volunteer to serve on military aircraft during actual search operations. Note: there are no height or weight restrictions to serve on the Hercules!
(3) As a Ground Team Member. The most common tasking our unit receives is to track and locate signals from emergency radio beacons. These beacons may be on board aircraft or ships, or carried by people travelling in remote areas. Search and rescue satellites are usually the first to pick up these emergency signals, with aircraft and ground teams tasked to investigate further. NOASARA teams use vehicle-mounted homing units to travel as quickly as possible to the area where the signal is originating, but most "hunting" is done at closer range using hand-held equipment. False alarms are very common, and you may in fact find yourself standing beside a safely parked airplane at 3:00 a.m. But when a beacon is signalling urgent help for an aircraft, boat, or hiker in distress, your skills and training can help make a difference -- day or night.
If you are fit, patient, enjoy the outdoors, and have an aptitude for map reading, compass use, and basic radio theory, being a Ground Team Member might be for you. As a Ground Team Member, you will be trained in the use of homing equipment, and will participate in ground schools and practical sessions on map and compass techniques, bush survival, and emergency scene management. If you do not already have a licence to use an aeronautical radio, a free one-day licensing course is arranged by NOASARA. Once a year NOASARA also subsidizes a special St. John's Ambulance Standard First Aid course for its members.
(4) As a Support Team Member. If you do not want to be directly involved in search operations, there are other jobs you can take on. Fund raising is an important part of our operations, and volunteers are always needed to work our two Bingos each month. Grass mowing and snow clearing around the Paterson hangar are always needed, as well as preparing meals during search exercises, helping with hangar cleaning and maintenance, and keeping the office paperwork in order.
The Paterson Hangar is open most Thursdays between 1930 and 2130h local time. You are invited to drop in and meet some of the people. Take a look at the planned events list for the dates of training programs and other activities.
We would be happy to answer any questions you may have. For contact information, click here