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IKALUKTUTIAK/CAMBRIDGE BAY - Brothers Richard and Thomas Egotak of Cambridge Bay were flying high after a view from the pilot's seat.

Pilot Tahner Friedley took the boys to the airport one Saturday to give them a tour of Adlair hanger, including the medevac company's Lear Jet and Twin Otter that are used to serve the Kitikmeot region.

Brothers Richard, left, and Thomas Egotak spent part of their Saturday with pilot Tahner Friedley getting a tour of the Adlair hanger in Cambridge Bay where the medevac planes are kept. - photo courtesy of Renee Aldona Krucas

"It was good," said Richard, 12. "We should go again next Saturday!"

The boys' favourite part was pretending to fly the planes and talking to each other through the headsets.

"I want to fly a plane and go to Yellowknife," Richard announced after the tour was over.

Thomas, 8, agreed that he would like to be a pilot, too.

"It was really fun," he said.

For Friedley, the tour was a chance to give the boys an experience they wouldn't normally have.

"In Cambridge Bay, there's not a whole lot to do, so I thought it would be a good idea to take them up there and show them the planes," he said. "It's probably something they don't get to see all the time.

"They seemed pretty happy. They didn't really want to leave. They were having quite a bit of fun."

Friedley began his career as a medevac pilot five years ago. He said it's an opportunity to gain valuable experience as well as to do what he loves doing most. As a pilot for the Kitikmeot region, it is Friedley's job to pick up patients and bring them to Yellowknife or sometimes to Edmonton.

"Flying wise, it's good in terms of the experience we gain," he said. "There's lots of things that I like. It can be a cloudy day. You don't see the sun for three or four days, especially in this time of year, and then you go flying. You get above the clouds and it's nice and sunny. It's nice for that or just getting something done, like flying somewhere and helping picking up a medevac and getting them down to Yellowknife and finishing the job.

"That's pretty rewarding."