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Pete McLeod (born February 23, 1984 in Kapuskasing, Ontario) is a Canadian professional aerobatic pilot whose first competitive flight was as a rookie pilot in the Red Bull Air Race World Championship in 2009. Raised in Red Lake, a small town in Northwestern Ontario, Pete grew up playing hockey, hunting, fishing, snowmobiling, boating, and flying.〔 〕 ==Flying career== Truly a lifetime aviator, Pete received his first flight in the family plane at 6-weeks old.〔 〕 McLeod’s mother, Margaret, recalled how at the age of six Pete would sit on his father Dave’s lap, hands on the control column during flights to remote lakes. From that point on he learned to fly float and ski planes over Canada’s rugged north. McLeod qualified for his private pilot’s licence at 16, undergoing flight training at Harv's Air Service in Steinbach. Although he had yet to acquire a driver’s licence, flying was such a familiar experience by then that, while other students practised takeoffs and landings, he was off performing basic aerobatic maneuvers. He built up his flying hours over the next couple of years, earning his commercial licence and float endorsement at the age of 18. McLeod spent the summers flying fishermen to remote outpost camps.〔 Although earning his aerobatic-instructor rating when he was 18, it was not until Pete took delivery of his first high-performance aerobatic aircraft, a Pitts Special, that he began flying serious competition aerobatics. The next year, 2004, was Pete’s first full competitive season and he went on to fly undefeated; winning multiple awards in his class, a United States Regional Series Championship, and became the 2004 North American Collegiate Aerobatic Champion. With the completion of his Economics degree from the University of Western Ontario, Pete began his 2006 season with the decision to join the air show circuit and focus all his energy on professional aerobatics. Pete’s inaugural air show season exceeded expectations and paved the way for even greater results in 2007. His greatest accomplishment came at the end of the season with a 2nd place Advanced category finish at the United States National Aerobatic Championships. With his outstanding finish against both National and World team members, Pete cemented his position as Canada’s top ranked competition pilot and as one of the country’s top solo aerobatic performers. One of Pete’s biggest accomplishments in 2007 were earning his unrestricted surface level aerobatic waiver, thus allowing Pete to continue taking his flying to the next level. At only 24 years old, Pete is one of the youngest pilots in the world to hold such a waiver for high performance aerobatics. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Pete McLeod」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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