A little bit of rain was not going to be enough to deter a group of university students from getting an aerial perspective of the city.
Lakehead University students Peter Negru, Samuel Frisby, Matt Fotopoulos and Erin Spicer joined university president Dr. Brian Stevenson in a helicopter tour of the city on Saturday afternoon.
The tour was the grand prize from the Lakehead University Student Union’s orientation week activities, and provided the four students with a unique look at their new home.
“We thought the best prize would be a helicopter ride in which the students coming in for the first time to Thunder Bay and Lakehead University can get an aerial view of the city and a chance to fly with the president,” said Ayoub Ansari, LUSU vice president of finance, who accompanied the students on the tour.
The group was taken into the sky by Wisk Air, as they lifted off from the airport just shortly after 2 p.m. into a light rain and wind.
The flight was funded through various sponsorships by the student union, and Ansari said the president was enthusiastic about the idea.
Stevenson, who took the job in 2010, was most looking forward to getting a birds-eye view of his university and meeting some of the students.
“We hope to go over the campus because I’ve never seen the campus from the air so I’d love to do that,” Stevenson said.
“I do try to talk to the students quite a bit on campus, but this is going to be the first time I get to talk to them in the air over the campus.”
The students were excited about getting the opportunity to get an unobstructed view of one of the city’s most famous landmarks.
“I want to see the Sleeping Giant from an aerial view,” Nergu said. “So many people have told me about it.”
While it was the first time in a helicopter for many of the students, they were fairly calm.
As Negru put it, the flight would probably be safer than their drive to the airport.
“There are so many safety precautions these days I feel more endangered driving on the road,” he said.
With three of the four students being from outside the Thunder Bay area, Stevenson feels the adventure is a great way for them to get to know their new community from a different vantage point.
“I think it’s going to be interesting for all of us to see Thunder Bay from the sky,” he said. “
"It’s such a beautiful city and surrounded by such beautiful nature that it’s going to be great to see.”
