Alan Lees - Captain,

Air Canada

Alan came to the Welland Aero Center as a boy with a dream to fly float planes up north.  Training with WAC he completed his Private Pilot License and fell in love with flying.  He decided to pressure this love at Seneca College where he completed his Commercial training, Multi-Engine Rating, Instrument Rating and Instructor Rating returning to WAC as an instructor.  Alan eventually worked his way up to Chief Flight Instructor (CFI) and was with the company as an instructor for over ten years.  While he never did achieve his goal of flying float planes in northern Canada, Alan is now a Capitan with Air Canada and flying an Airbus all over the world. 

Larry Golja - Captain “Kojak”, Fighter Pilot,

Canadian Armed Forces

At age 15, Larry, an aviation addict, decided he needed to find a job and was fortunate enough to happen upon the Welland Aero Centre where he worked as line-crew and began flying lessons.  Training with Alan Lees, Larry quickly obtained his Private Pilot License even before he could legally drive himself to the airport.  In fact for his entire private training course, his grandfather would drive him to lessons and Larry obtained his Private License on his 16^th birthday.  He then began working on his Multi-Engine Rating.  In 1999 Larry was accepted to the Royal Military College’ as a potential pilot in Kingston and graduated with his Bachelor’s Degree.  Upon graduation, Larry was sent to Canadian Forces base Moose Jaw where he began his primary flight training on the CT-156 Havard 2.  In 2006 Capt. Golja was anointed as an official Canadian Fighter pilot with the moniker of “Kojak”.  Larry is currently flying a CF-18 Hornet and serving our country.

Marco DiSimoni – Co-Pilot,

Cargo Jet

Marco started his flight training in Welland enrolling in the Private Pilot Ground School Course.  He completed his Private License and immediately began working towards his Commercial License and Multi-Engine Rating.  Driving in from Hamilton every day and planning a wedding, Marco worked towards earning his Instrument and Instructor ratings, coming on board as an instructor with the company upon completion.  While instructing in Welland, Marco also began loading cargo for Cargo Jet in Hamilton, racing between the two jobs in his little white Jetta, he could drive between the two airports almost as quickly as he could fly!  All his hard work paid off, and Marco graduated from loading cargo to flying it all over the world as a Co-Pilot in a 767 for Cargo Jet.  The best part about the job, the passengers don’t get airsick and they don’t complain!

Mike Pupo – Co-Pilot

Mike came to Welland Aero Center when he was just in high school.  He started out with his Private Pilot License and quickly obtained his Multi-Engine Rating, flying all over Ontario whenever he could.  Working at the Beer Store and going to University, Mike realized his real passion was for flying.  He completed all this training with WAC including his Commercial License, Instrument and Instructor Ratings.  Mike then became a part time flight instructor with the school, flying all hours of the day to accommodate the varying schedules of WAC students.  This eventually lead to a full time position with the school and Mike instructed for over 5 years before moving on to flying air-ambulance as co-pilot on an MU2 and in 2011 moved to Air Canada Jazz.