A local aviator and business owner says his view of the world has forever changed after a flight across the North Atlantic.

The One Life Project chronicles Chris Unrau's flight over the North Atlantic in a Cessna with his flight instructor Luke Penner and son Adam.

His greatest epiphany has been the uniqueness of the Pembina Valley. After leaving the region, he says the view from the air is never the same, "there's no place on Earth that is so flat, so vast, so agriculturally rich... I haven't found it yet."

Even after flying throughout North America and to Europe and back, nothing resembles Southern Manitoba, he says. "This is really a treasure we're sitting on."

His second epiphany was the vast emptiness of Canada's North.

"You fly for hours and hours and hours... and there's nothing there. It is so enormous."

A third epiphany was the geopolitical reality that is obscured by the maps taught in school. Flying across the top of the world has revealed, "if Russia ever wants to get to the U.S, they're coming through Canada. That's a perspective you gain," he says.

World War II history also came into clearer focus after seeing firsthand the proximity of the Dunkirk beach in France and Dover, and the anxiety England must've felt as their enemies advanced. "It's like you can reach out and touch it. All of a sudden all sorts of things from high school history class start to make sense."



Now that he's returned, he's sharing his experience with friends, family and the world.

Unrau's wife Charlotte says watching a loved one take an epic trip was exciting and nervewracking. "I knew he was heading into a huge adventure so I was excited for him," she says.

When the idea was first broached she says it took some time to process, "I can't always say yes right away," adding she breathed a sigh of relief to see the plane landing back in Winkler. In the end, Charlotte says she's proud of what her husband has accomplished.

"People will stop me and talk about the videos and how it's impacted their life... people are inspired and hopefully their lives are better for it too."

The latest episodes can be found here. 

Unrau (far right) with flight instructor Luke Penner and son Adam.