While many people are familiar with the current air service options to Sable Island, most are unaware of some of the more unusual aircraft happenings on the island. The history of aircraft landing on Sable goes back to World War II, when amphibious aircraft (“flying boats”) conducting U-boat patrols landed on the now defunct Lake Wallace to refuel and continue their mission. As Lake Wallace shrunk over the years, exposing more of the broad south beach, larger and varied aircraft began landing there, sometimes with interesting results! Join me as I explore the stories told (and sometimes denied) by pilots as aviation grew and spread to even this tiny sandbar in the north Atlantic.
SI2023 – B-2 – 8 Decades of Aviation on Sable Island – Debbie Brekelmans
Debbie Brekelmans began flying in 1988, and currently runs Sable Aviation 44 60 Inc. as the Operations Manager and Chief Pilot. After flying Navajos and King Airs on commercial air service for a number of years, she started flying a BN2A Britten-Norman Islander to Sable Island in 2006. She has made almost 900 flights to Sable since then, and enjoys the fun of landing the aircraft on the sandy expanse of the south beach.
