Luc Buka Savoie

Luc "Buka" Savoie of Longueuil, Quebec earned his commercial pilot licence at Chicoutimi College in 1983.He then joined the Canadian Air Force and received his wings in 1986.After graduating from CF-18 training in 1987 he was one of the original pilots when 441 Tactical Fighter Squadron began CF-18 operations in Cold Lake, where he completed the Advanced Electronic Warfare course.

In 1989 Buka was transferred to 421 Tactical Fighter Squadron in Germany and later participated in Operation Desert Shield while deployed to Qatar.When the Canadian Air Division was repatriated in 1992, Buka was posted to the wing headquarters at Bagotville, Quebec as the Wing Standards Officer during which time he completed the Fighter Electronic Warfare and Advanced Radar course.In 1995 he began another operational tour with 433 Tactical Fighter Squadron until his retirement in 1998 with the rank of major.

Buka acquired over 2000 hours in the CF-18 through 11 years of continuous fighter operations and qualified as an air-to-air and air-to-ground 4-plane lead and Wing Tactical Evaluation standards pilot.He has participated repeatedly in large exercises such as Maple Flag, Copper Flag and Combat Archer, where he fired an AIM-7 Sparrow missile, as well as NATO's Tactical Leadership Program in Belgium.

Buka's civilian flying began in Montreal as a Challenger 601 and Lear 55 captain with Execaire before proceeding to Air Canada in 1999 where he flew the Bombardier Regional Jet and quickly upgraded to captain.In addition, Buka joined the Air Force Reserve in 1999 and became helicopter pilot with 438 Tactical Helicopter Squadron by training on the Bell 206 and later graduating on the Bell 412 Griffon, which he now flies regularly.

Currently on a leave of absence from Air Canada, Buka has accumulated over 5000 hours of flying experience and has been flying the Hunter since August 2003.