Captain Yanick ‘CRANK’ Gregoire -- 2007 CF-18 Demonstration Pilot

Captain Yanick “Crank” Gregoire, 33, was born and raised in Toronto, Ontario.  In 1997, after graduating from Toronto’s Seneca College with an Aviation and Flight Technology diploma, he enrolled in the Canadian forces under the Direct Entry Officer Plan (DEO).

Captain Gregoire received his military wings in 2000 and was selected for fighter pilot training.  Following his fighter lead-in training at 419 Tactical Fighter Training Squadron (419 Tac F(T)Sqn) and Operational training at 410 Tactical Fighter (Operational Training) Squadron (410 Tac F(OT)Sqn), Captain Gregoire was posted to 416 Tactical Fighter Squadron (TFS) in Cold Lake, Alberta.  While at 416 TFS he was the Squadron’s NORAD (North American Aerospace Defense) Officer.  He participated in numerous NORAD and NATO exercises in both North America and Europe following the events of September 11^th, 2001 and has flown many hours of Air Sovereignty and defence of Canada missions.

Following the disbandment of 416 TFS in June 2006, Captain Gregoire was posted to 410 Tac F(OT)Sqn as a CF-18 Instructor Pilot in Cold Lake, Alberta where he currently resides with his wife, former Jennifer Marino of St. Catharines, Ontario.  He has over 1300 hrs of high performance military jet experience and has more than 800 hours in the CF-18 Hornet.