Carl Hiebert

Carl Hiebert has his roots in a Mennonite farming community in Port Rowan in Southern Ontario. It was an unlikely beginning for a man who has become an adventurer, author entrepreneur, photographer and aviator. In 1981, Hiebert’s life took a drastic turn when he broke his back in a hang-gliding accident. Dealing with that tragedy became his biggest challenge ever.

Within two years, Hiebert opened a flight school and became Canada’s first paraplegic flight instructor. In 1986, he fulfilled an ambitious dream when he became the first person to fly across Canada in an open-cockpit ultralight aircraft. For fifty-eight days, his plane’s 47 horsepower engine pushed him westward. Despite riding out head-winds, storms and an engine failure, he took over 14,000 pictures en-route. He had honed a knack for photography years earlier when he worked as a reporter and photographer at a small weekly newspaper in Grimsby, Ontario. His epic flight, conducted on behalf of the Canadian Paraplegic Association, raised over $100,000 for the organization and drew national media attention.

Hiebert is a dynamic and enthusiastic speaker who motivates by example. From association dinners to national sales conferences, he has spoken to hundreds of audiences across Canada, the USA, and England.

Hiebert is the author of the best selling book Gift of Wings: An Aerial Celebration of Canada based on his flight across Canada. He is the recipient of numerous awards including the Vanier Award, Paul Harris Fellow and an Honourary Law degree from Wilfrid Laurier University for his historic flight, and his contributions to Canada.

His photographs have appeared in Photo Life, Canadian Geographic, en Route and many other publications. Additional books include Where Light Speaks, celebrating the people of Haiti, and This Land I Love: Waterloo County and The Grand River: An Aerial Journey.

Hiebert has set a new goal for himself. Before he dies, he wants his photographs and projects to raise one million dollars for charity; he has already raised $800,000.

Hiebert, who lives in Linwood, presently divides his time between motivational speaking and volunteering as a photographer in developing countries.