Royce Schaff has been around planes all his life and when the BID group of companies offered an aviation repair job in Vanderhoof, BC, Royce took up the offer. Royce has worked on all forms of aircraft maintenance and repair, with specialization in the disappearing art of aerial fabric repair and soon the call for his services was growing. “The business just grew too big for a small hangar and I needed a larger space of my own.”
Royce approached Community Futures Stuart Nechako (CFSN) in the summer of 2016, with the vision of a larger hangar to accommodate the greater work load. CFSN appreciated the fact that he needed help to bring his vision to fruition and that the community needed the service. “I found Community Futures to be very open minded and had more ideas than conventional banks.” says Schaff. And with that RDS Aviation was born.
Today RDS Aviation employs two people full time with two part time apprentices. Royce works very closely with the Nechako Valley Secondary School’s aviation program, which supplies a unique opportunity for high school students in School District 91 to earn their first steps towards a career in aviation. RDS Aviation covers a territory from Watson Lake to Kelowna, Prince Rupert to McBride.
Watch RDS Aviation’s Success Story video below:
