I was taught to ride a Honda CRF 80F at around 12 years old, and did so as much as I could until I was old enough to get my motorcycle license, at which point I started riding a
Kawasaki ZZR 250 (the Canadian equivalent of the Ninja 250), and a few years and few joy rides later on my fathers Honda RC51, I am now riding a Honda CBR 600RR and loving every moment on it.
My father (on the RC51) and I (CBR 600RR) performing a 260 km/h (160 mph) runway inspection.
I am a fourth generation formation biplane pilot. My great-grandfather and his brother, John and Philip Boyd, flew in WWI, Philip dieing at the
hands of Richtofen, the "Red Baron" in 1917. My grandfather, Philip "Tim" Boyd,
in the Royal Canadian Air Force, flew the F-86 Sabre, was a test pilot and instructor on the
CF-104, and was the first pilot to demonstrate the
aircraft's capability as an all weather low-altitude nuclear bomber. My father, Andrew Boyd, holds both Canadian and American Air Line Transport Pilots Licenses/Certificates, is a Class One Flight Instructor,
Class One Aerobatic Instructor, a check pilot on the L-39 Albatross fighter jet, and is the only pilot endorsed to fly aerobatics in
the PT-22 Ryan at airshows. Furthermore, my father is one of a handful of pilots in North America who can fly formation in an inverted attitude/under negative G forces.
I logged my first hour of dual instruction at six months of age, with my father as my instructor, in the family owned Maule.
I soloed it (flying as the sole occupant) at fourteen years of age, then a Citabria
at 15, and various warbirds and the family owned Pitts's at 16, which I believe makes me the youngest person to solo the Pitts.
Since then, I've been passionate mostly on the disciplines of formation and
formation aerobatics. My first passenger was Dr. David St. Jacques - an astronaut for the Canada Space Agency.
Flying in formation during that flight was Capt. Jeremy Hansen, also an astronaut in the Canada Space Agency. The first time my grandfather, father and I took up the three Pitts's in a
formation, we set two simultaneous world records - the worlds first act of three generation (grandfather, father and son) formation aerobatics, and the
youngest pilot (myself at 16) ever being a part of three ship formation aerobatics. Along the way, my tailwheel and high performance aircraft experience has lead to
being a pilot for the warbird outfits Classic Wings of Canada, and The Tiger Boys.
View my full selection of videos on YouTube.
