Norm “DQ” Dequier has been flying professionally for over 30 years. He began his flying career when he joined the Royal Canadian Air Force, which accepted him directly out of high school into their flying training program. He completed his training tying for first on his course for flying proficiency and was selected to enter the training program as a flight instructor on the CT-114 Tutor in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan.
After serving his first tour as an instructor Norm, was sent to 414 Squadron where he flew the T-33 Silver Star in Comox, British Columbia in a combat support role. During this tour he applied to try out for the Canadian Military Air Demonstration team, the Snowbirds (414 Squadron), and was selected to be part of the team for their 1994 and 1995 show seasons. Norm flew in the number 9 slot, making him the opposing solo in 1994 and lead solo for the 1995 season.
After finishing his 2 year tour with the Snowbirds, Norm left the Royal Canadian Air Force to join the Northern Lights Aerobatic Team, where he flew the Extra 300 in preparation for the 1996 airshow season. He subsequently joined Canadair, which was contracted to deliver ab initio training to Royal Canadian Air Force students on the T-67B Slingsby.
Norm then returned to the Royal Canadian Air Force as a FIS Instructor training pilots to become instructors on the CT-114 before returning to 414 Squadron, the Snowbirds, for the 1999 season in the number 3 position. He then returned to FIS and trained on the CT-156 Harvard II to instruct on that platform. During his tenure at FIS, Norm achieved the Royal Canadian Air Force A1 Instructor rating, their highest instruction classification.
At this stage, Norm left Canada to take up employment with BAE Systems working under contract to deliver flying training to cadets in the Royal Saudi Air Force. He spent a total of 15 years in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia delivery training on the Pilatus PC-9 to Saudi pilot, Weapon System Operator and navigator cadets. Norm spent six years in Riyadh serving as the Head of Flying and Chief of Flying Standards for the King Faisal Air Academy as the Academy transitioned to modern Cirrus SR-22 and Pilatus PC-21 training fleets.
Norm has over 6,200 hours of flight time, 3,500 of which were conducting military flying training in Canada and Saudi Arabia to students from multiple nations.
