About US!

Our story begins in 1981 with owners Brent Lange and Larry McDonald. In 2000 Larry left the business to pursue other interests. After 5 years of being a manager at Wetaskiwin Aerial, Corey has become the owner, along with his partner Hope in February 2019. 

Corey has been aerial spraying for 19 years and is a commercial fixed and rotary wing pilot with an M1/M2 Aircraft Maintenance Engineer license. He has spent time flying in BC and Yukon mountains and has flown across Canada. Corey is also a certified spray analyst. Hope has a diploma in Occupational Health and Safety and spent time working North of Fort McMurray with Bird Construction. Since 2016, Hope has been working at Wetaskiwin Aerial in the office, as well as mixing and loading. With Corey's passion for flying and Hope's enjoyment for office work, we are definitely one another's better half and make up for others weaknesses accordingly. We both bring a different, yet crucial, skillset to the operation. 

We now have three small children (Genevieve, Jack and Sienna), so Hope has taken a back seat for the time being! She will continue bookkeeping, but will not be in the office on a daily basis. 

WE ARE CHANGING OUR NAME! With the expansion of our helicopter department we have decided to implement a name change. We will still be operating as Wetaskiwin Aerial Applicators, but will be utilizing the name "X3 Aviation" as we go forward. You might wonder why X3? Well we started in Wetaskiwin and that is our home. Wetaskiwin Airport has the identifier of CEX3 and therefore we chose a name that represents and ties back to our home as we continue to expand into new geographic areas and different work. 

We hope you love it as much as we do. Welcome to the new name, X3 AVIATION! 

Fixed Wing Crew:

Bruce Gair has been piloting with us for over 34 years and has since retired in 2019. Andrew Brown has been spraying for well over a decade and has a passion for training and teaching. Harry Evans has been flying with us since 2021 and you can find him in Thailand over the winter flying skydivers around or designing specialized aircraft tooling! James Keating is from down under, we has been spraying with us since 2024. Joshua DeGoeij has come back home to roost and now flys one of our 504's. Josh is a local to Wetaskiwin, but spent a few years in Australia flying aerial application. Randy Liebel is coming on for his 3rd season as lead ground crew and just finished his private pilot licence! Congrats Randy! 

Helicopter Crew:

Owen Dodson is a helicopter pilot from New Zealand that ran his own spray business for over 18 years and recently decided to come to Canada. He is on his 3rd season with us and brings a pile of knowledge, skill and passion to our crew! Brian has been with us since 2023 as a mixer/loader and has recently taken on a full time pilot role flying the longline around on tree planting and spray support. He is also apprenticing as a helicopter mechanic. Jamie Bonis is a Kiwi that has time doing aerial application and utility work in New Zealand and Australia. Jamie is taking on his 2nd season with us. Corey is a full time heli pilot too and is trying to tackle some diversified work this year. 

Maintenance Crew:

Steven Wood started with us in 2019 and can be found wrenching on airplanes in the winter and mixing/loading in the summer. He has now taken the role of General Manager and is key to our ag spray operations with dispatch and logistics. Mike Murchie's aircraft maintenance knowledge is unmatched with his years of experience! He has been on our team since 2023. Eric Nelson has been helping us with maintenance through the winters for a few years now, and as of 2024 is full time. Eric will be transitioning to a flying position this year in a 504. 

Office Crew:

Sophie Green has gone back to New Zealand, so we now have a new face in the office! Haleigh Wood has joined our team in 2024. Haleigh manages the office fully now and is the voice on the phone when you call! 

We have expanded our operation and therefore many new additions to our team came in recent years. We are truly blessed to have such an amazing and talented team of people at Wetaskiwin Aerial. Every single person on our team is a valued member, and crucial to our operations success. Not only do we enjoy working together; we have also created lifelong friends in the process!

Who we are

From Left to Right: Jack, Corey, Genevieve, Hope, Randy, Andrew, Harry, Josh, Owen, Steve, Jamie, James, Dan, Eric, Brian, Derek and Haleigh!