YELLOWKNIFE - Applications are now being accepted for the 2008 Aviation Career Development Program Scholarships.

They are being renamed the Willie Laserich Memorial Scholarship in memory of Adlair's founder, Willie Laserich.

A pioneer in Northern aviation, Laserich died in November 2007 of heart failure.

Adlair Aviation's contribution to the Career Development Program Scholarships are being renamed in honour of the late Willie Laserich, founder of Adlair Aviation. - photo courtesy of Paul Laserich

"Well I love my father, it's the only way to say it," said Willie's son Paul Laserich, the general manager of Adlair Aviation.

"My father passed away, and we believe in his legacy. My dad loved aviation, that was his passion. It's great to see someone else get a scholarship and maybe realize the passion that my father had.

"He was a visionary. He brought the Learjet into the Kitikmeot, where it cut the time down in half for getting to the communities, and he did the first work on the prototype of the turbo otter. My dad liked the Arctic because no one bothered you up there, there was all that open sky, that freedom."

Willie Laserich is thought to have logged between 40,000 and 45,000 flight hours during his 55 years of flying.

"Dad didn't do his log book after a while, but he's probably one of the highest time pilots around," said Laserich.

Six babies were born in his airplanes over the years and his own children flew on their father's lap from the time they were five or six years old.

According to Paul Laserich, his father had more than 40 years worth of journals, and Paul is hoping to have someone write a book about his dad, who instilled his love of flying in his children.

Indeed, the walls of Adlair Aviation are lined with paintings and photographs of planes and Willie Laserich himself.

Model planes cover every surface, as real ones take off outside the windows.

"Can you tell we like planes?" Paul Laserich asked.

"Things have really changed. The aviation industry, our company, Air Tindi, Arctic Sunwest, we're always looking for pilots," said Laserich.

The Aviation Career Development Program is designed to assist students entering aviation-related studies.

According to Earl Blacklock, manager of Public Affairs and Communication with the Department of Transportation, the Aviation Career Development Program has been running every year since 2001.

The initial partnership was between the Department of Transportation and Canadian North, but has since grown to include Adlair Aviation and Discovery Air.

Canadian North contributes $20,000, Adlair Aviation and Discovery Air contribute $5,000 each and the Department of Transportation matches these amounts.

There are 12 bursaries available every year, each worth $5,000. This year there are an additional four carried over from 2007.

"We expect to have stiffer competition this year," said Blacklock.

"Aviation is one of our most important industries, not only for connecting people, but for ensuring people receive supplies, including food. It's important that Northerners, as much as possible, fill those positions."