News
Viking Air appoints Ken Copiak

Jan. 22, 2008, Victoria – Viking Air Limited has appointed Ken Copiak general manager of manufacturing at the company’s facility in Calgary Alberta, reporting to Dominique Spragg, vice-president, manufacturing.

Ken Copiak

Copiak will be responsible for overseeing all operations related to the final assembly of the new Twin Otter aircraft, which has its major components and structures manufactured by Viking in Victoria, British Columbia. Viking announced early last year the launch of Twin Otter Series 400 production program, after having acquired sufficient investment and customer orders.

Copiak was most recently employed as manufacturing manager with Kenn Borek Air ltd. in Calgary, which operates thirty-five heritage Twin Otters. At this position, he oversaw the control of detail aircraft part production, quality assurance, purchasing, and inventory control. Prior, he worked for more than six years at E.D.O. Canada Ltd. of Calgary and Bristol Aerospace Ltd. of Winnipeg, rising at both companies to the position of manufacturing planner in the advanced composites department. He was responsible for the comprehensive process planning of composite structures, including labor and material estimating for proposals, technical support during manufacturing and bill of material generation.

“I have confidence in Ken’s ability to perform exceptionally under the responsibilities of this position given his extensive experience and previous involvement with the largest operator of Twin Otter aircraft in the world: Kenn Borek Air”, says David Curtis, president & ceo of Viking. “Ken is a professional who has worked at all stages of manufacturing since the start of his career, and has acquired a solid know-how of all processes, from tooling to purchasing, quality control and planning. ”

Incorporated in 1970, Viking Air Limited has established itself in the aviation community as a high quality aerospace _manufacturer and aircraft modification, sales, leasing and repair facility. Customers include Bombardier _Aerospace, Bell Helicopter Textron, Middle River Aircraft Systems and numerous de Havilland heritage aircraft operators worldwide.

Viking owns the Type Certificates for the de Havilland Canada DHC-1
Chipmunk, DHC-2 Beaver, DHC-2T Turbo Beaver, DHC-3 Otter, DHC-4 Caribou, DHC-5 Buffalo, DHC-6 Twin Otter and DHC-7 DASH 7 and has been providing all product support functions for the fleet since May 2005. Viking is part of Westerkirk Capital Inc., a Canadian private investment firm with substantial holdings in the hospitality, aviation and real estate sectors.