New flight simulator will help Yukon students get their wings

Alkan Air's flight school in Yukonhas a new state-of-the-artflight trainingsimulator to use, putting it on par with other flight schools across the country.

Alkan Air president Wendy Taylor says getting first-class training without having to leave the territory is essential for some students who wantto learn to fly.

"It allows us to really attract students coast-to-coast, and also provide any Yukon students the level of education that they would get in any flight school across the country," she said.

The simulator was purchased in partnership with Yukon College, which offers an aviation management diploma program. The cost was split between the Canadian Northern Economic Development Agency (CanNor) and the Yukon Government, both contributing $100,000 each. Alkan Air putin an additional $46,463.

Jenna Collee, a flight instructor with AlkanAir,says the company'sold flight simulator is outdated, and the new one is a big improvement.

"It is a partial motion simulator, so that when you are actually in the cockpit it feels like you are making turns and climbing and ascending. It gives you a realistic picture there."

She says it can also simulate emergencies, such asengine failures and electrical failures.Colleesays students can followthe process they would go through in an emergency,and have a realistic experiencewithout putting students or aircraft in any danger.

Helina Tenhoeve, whois taking the aviationmanagement programatYukon College, says the new simulator feels like a real plane.

"How do you describe the feeling when you pull up on the control column when the plane comes off the ground?" Tenhoeve asked. "I just love that feeling, and you feel it in the flight simulator."

Tenhoeve is afirst-year student inthe course, who moved to Yukonfrom Abbotsford, B.C.Shesays Yukon is now her home and she plans to be a commercial pilot.

Wendy Taylor of AlkanAir says there is a pilot shortage in Canada, and she hopes the new flight simulator will inspire more people to consider flying as a career.

"Quite literally, if you were to go through a two-year aviation diploma program or an eight-month intensive program today, at the end of it you would have a job as a commercial pilot," Taylor said.