'He loved airplanes,' says sister of Canadian pilot who died in Panama plane crash
Former health minister remembers her brother, who was originally from Meadow Lake, Sask.

Ron Simard died doing what he loved.
Simard, the brother of former Saskatchewan health minister and MLA Louise Simard, was the pilot of a small plane that crashed in Panama City on Wednesday.
Originally from Meadow Lake, Sask., he had been living in Chame, in southwest Panama, with his wife. His two daughters and son live in Canada.
"He loved airplanes," Louise Simard told CBC. A former lawyer and politician, Simard served as an MLA with the Saskatchewan NDP from 1986 to 1995, and was the health minister for the latter four years. She also served as the president and CEO of the Saskatchewan Association of Health Organizations and later the Health Employers Association of British Columbia before returning to Regina, where she now works as a freelancer.
"That was a passion of his; he was doing what he really enjoyed…. As a kid, his ceiling at home was filled with model airplanes hanging from it. Ever since he was very young, he was working on model airplanes and then later on real ones."

Building planes longtime hobby
Ron Simard was an engineer and travelled the world for his work, his sister said. He had lived in Indonesia, England, France, Ireland and the U.S. before settling in Panama with his wife.
Most recently, he had been working as a racing technician with Red Bull Air Race, an international series of air races.
He had two speeds: fast and faster.- Louise Simard, sister of Ron Simard
"He had two speeds: fast and faster," his sister said.
Building airplanes was a longtime hobby. He built a Glasair, which he flew all over North America, she said.
"These are very light planes — very, very light and very fast. That thing would go 300 miles an hour [483 km/h]."
'A large personality'
The plane he was flying at the time of the crash was a Nemesis NXT, which she said is even faster than the Glasair.
"He was going all the time. He was a large personality and he loved life. We're going to miss him a lot."
The plane crashed shortly after takeoff from the Marcos A. Gelabert airport in Panama City. At the time of the crash, he had been flying an experimental plane that he had built, and had had it for about five years.
The investigation is ongoing.
With files from The Morning Edition