Whenever Joe Juneau takes the controls of his DeHavilland Beaver seaplane, he feels uneasy -- and that's a good feeling, said the former National Hockey League player.

"When you're a bush pilot, it's almost normal to be in situations where you feel uncomfortable," Juneau said yesterday. "As long as I feel that way I'll always take precautions."

Juneau is bush pilot for fun, not profit. He has a fishing cabin north of Quebec City and the only way to get there with family and friends is to fly. Now 38, the former Boston Bruins draft pick has had his pilot's licence for 15 years. He got it after graduating Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute as an aeronautical engineer and later built his own airplane with his father.

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Given the fact New York Yankees pitcher Cory Lidle crashed his small plane into a New York City apartment building on Wednesday, Juneau has been recalling the many hours he's spent in the air and his love of flying high.

"It's been proven many times that it's a lot more dangerous on the road than being up in the air in a plane," Juneau said. "I don't want to point fingers but often when accidents happen with little planes its personal mistakes. When you're around cities, you've got to know what you're doing."

Juneau, who said the Bruins never asked him not to fly, noted that piloting in the wilderness poses all kinds of challenges.

"You don't have a flight pattern. It's all up to you," he explained. "When you decide to land on the lake, you have to read the winds; if a mountain is nearby, there are down winds . . ."

Asked if he was ever afraid to fly, Juneau spoke of how much he enjoyed cruising in his DeHavilland. "One of Canada's top engineering marvels," but then said: "When the weather's not good I don't go.

"I don't take chances."