Yellowknife (Jun 09/06) - A first year aviation student in Yellowknife placed second at a national competition against apprentices with much more experience in the field.

Royce Schaff, who is specializing in aircraft maintenance, attends the Buffalo School of Aviation. He competed at the National Skills Competition in Halifax against students in their third and fourth year of training.

Royce Schaff won second place in the National Skills competition in Halifax for his trade as an airplane technician. Here he fixes the instrument panel in a Buffalo waterbomber at the Buffalo School of Aviation. - Emily Watkins/NNSL photo

"I've always been interested in aviation," Schaff says.

"I was a little nervous about the competition at first, but as soon as it started, I was OK."

Schaff lost the first-place spot by a very small margin.

"We don't know what the final percentage points are," Schaff says.

"We are waiting for them to e-mail the final results to us, but we have heard that it was a fraction of a percentage point."

There were six events that Schaff had to compete in.

"My favourite event was the sheet metal competition," he says.

"We had to basically splice a plane's body open and fix it."

Competitors had two hours to complete each event and they were observed during their maintenance of different parts of the plane.

Schaff says after they were finished, their work was inspected to see if it matched the criteria set for a finished product and points were awarded.

Schaff has been interested in aviation since he was a kid. His dad owned a small plane, which he flew and worked on with him, and his uncle also owned a parts shop for planes.

Self-described as not the best high school student, Schaff never thought he'd get to this point.

Every other aviation school he attempted to apply for before Buffalo wanted him to upgrade for a year before agreeing to accept him.

"My uncle told me about (Buffalo), and I searched out on the Internet and then applied. I got in no problem."

His chief instructor, Chad Bruce, says Schaff is doing very well there.

"He now has a 90 per cent average," Bruce says.

"For someone who didn't do well in high school, he's doing really, really well."

The National Skills competition took place in Halifax May 22-27. It's held every year and is intended to promote skills and trades across Canada.

The students who Schaff competed against had all finished aviation school and were already working in their trade as apprentices, Bruce says.

He will spend two years at the Buffalo, then another five years of apprenticeship before he is a fully certified airplane technician.

"I expect Schaff to do even better at the competition next year.

"He will probably win first place," says Bruce.