About Allan Cram

Born and raised in northern Ontario, Allan calls Chapleau his hometown. At five years old, unable to see over the dash or reach the rudder pedals, his father taught him to fly—the quintessential performing child act. Even though he later developed a passion for stories, he flew a floatplane for a living when he was 19.

In 1977, Allan learned to fly helicopters and worked in remote (and mosquito infested) areas across Canada. Five years later he attended the University of Victoria, flew summer contracts to pay tuition and moved on to post-graduate studies at the University of British Columbia in 1988.

Allan eked out a living as a freelance writer for a year then worked as Chief Editor/Education Office with a branch of the provincial government. About five years later he returned to aviation and has worked in six (not five) of the seven continents flying for the United Nations and/or offshore oil exploration.

He has been an editorial contributor to Helicopters in Canada magazine since 1986, and has published stories and articles in Prism international, The Canadian Forum, Agriculture BC, Vertical Magazine, Aviation Safety Australia and Australia Aviation.

He currently lives in Brentwood Bay, British Columbia with his wife and two children, as well as two parakeets, two finches, one canary, one hamster and two guinea pigs.