Aspiring pilot flies high through work experience

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"I've always wanted to be a pilot," says Ken Ruben, an Inuvialuit from Paulatuk, N.W.T.

Together, Ruben and his father saved enough money for him to attend the Lethbridge Flying Club for two years in 1992 and 1993. There he received his commercial licence, and his multi-engine and Instrument Flight Ratings. Last summer, he got a head start on his training by taking part in a new air photo internship program.

The air photo program was created by a consortium inspired by Aklak Air in Inuvik, N.W.T., and involved Geodesy Remote Sensing and Foto flight from Calgary, Alta. Geodesy and Foto Flight are both aerial photographic survey companies.

Aklak Air is owned by the Inuvialuit Development Corporation, representing the Inuvialuit in the Western Arctic. With headquarters sin Inuvik, DC encourages its southern partners to participate in providing employment and training opportunities for the Inuvialuit.

The internship involved one northern trainee who would receive exposure to all facets of air photo work during the summer season. The program was divided into two parts, Aircraft Operations and Laboratory Operations.

Ruben spent the first part of the program travelling with the photo aircraft and crew, and the second part in the processing labs of Foto flight and Geodesy.

The trainee position was designed to give a candidate the opportunity to learn about air photo operations. In Ruben's case it gave him the chance to gain some hands-on flying experience, and to improve his piloting skills.

During his training, Ruben was exposed to Northern flying and long cross-country flights. He leaned all aspects of flight planning and gained experience as a pilot navigator for photo survey missions. Patrick Gropp, the owner of Geodesy, is very excited about the development of this internship. He realizes the growing need for partnerships between companies such as his own and those of the north, like the Inuvialuit Development Corporation. Gropp would like to eventually keep a plane in the North, and to have it managed full-time by Northerners such as Ruben.

"Ruben expressed an interest in being involved again next year," says Gropp. "Depending on the success of my company, I would offer Ruben a job as a co-pilot survey navigator, now that he has had enough exposure this year with our photographer."

To attain his commercial license, Ruben needs a letter form a prospective employer saying that they would seriously consider hiring him once he was completed his training. While Gropp is aware that Ruben's long-term interests are not in photo-survey, he is wiling to sponsor Ruben, and to offer him as much encouragement as he can.

Describing this summer as a "win-win" situation, Ruben appreciates Gropp's help. He believes the internship gave him a lot of exposure and insight into new aspects of flying that he had not previously considered.

"I learned a lot more than what I had expected," he says.

Ruben was born in Paulatuk, where his father had good friends who were pilots. This gave him many opportunities from a young age to sit in the cockpit and watch the flying operations. But when he finished high school, Ruben couldn't afford flying lessons. He then worked until both he and his father could pool enough money together to send him to get his private license.

Ruben's private license does not allow him to fly for reward. To earn a living as

a pilot, he will first have to get his commercial license. Once he's completed the training and passed the test for this, he intends to pursue additional training for his Multi-Engine Rating and then for his Instrument Flight Rating.

Ruben aims to finish his next round of training in one year before hopefully going to work for any of the Northern airlines. Eventually, however, he would like to own his own plane with his father, and then to set up their own outfitting company. The two own a couple of cabins in Delease Lake, about 80 air miles southwest of Paulatuk. Ruben envisions turnng this setting into a camp for fishers or sport hunters.

"We probably would just break even doing something like that, but to own a plane and make my own income, that's what I would like to do," explains Ruben.