Chris Hadfield remembers his beginnings in the Belleville area

By Kate Shumakova

BELLEVILLE – The Quinte region evokes some special memories for Chris Hadfield.

It was here – at Trenton/Mountain View Airport – that the future world-famous astronaut made his very first flight as a pilot.

“I learned to fly as an air cadet in the summer of 1975, and every day we drove right by here, staying in what was a tent city … at that time; now they’re barracks. Drove on the bus, with all the young cadets – I was 15 – and driving down to Mountain View (in Prince Edward County). My very first solo was right here,” Hadfield told reporters in a press conference Thursday.

The former commander of the International Space Station was in Belleville for a speaking event at the Empire Theatre organized by the Quinte Human Resources Professional Association. The event was closed to the media.

Hadfield said he still remembers his flight instructor from those cadet days.

“My instructor was a great little Scottish guy … It was a real treat to show him where his teaching is taking me.”

Hadfield said he is proud of the space exploration done by Canadians as well as the way Canada has been developing its space industry.

“Canada has been among the world leaders in space exploration since the beginning. We were the third nation on Earth in space … We don’t build a huge launch infrastructure; we look for areas that are profitable and challenging for businesses and universities, and we then pursue those,” he said.

Canada has been in the space industry for almost 52 years, and the industry has received about $3.5 billion from government investments, Hadfield said.

“We did a really good job,” he added.