Museum Newsletter
No. 15 CANADIAN MUSEUM OF FLIGHT AND TRANSPORTATION January, 1982
MINUTES OF GENERAL MEETING
CANADIAN MUSEUM OF FLIGHT AND TRANSPORTATION November 18, 1981 Richmond Arts Centre, Richmond, B.C.
Opening: 39 people including 2 new members and 4 guests.
Minutes and Treasurer’s Report: Posted.
REPORTS
Public Relations: Channel 10 TV Nov. 25, 10:30. Bill Thompson interview.
Newspapers: Want to do story on zoning problems. Declined.
PAM Amalgamation: Now have final papers requiring signatures of PAM directors.
PB4Y2: On the way to Michigan Museum.
Shop Building: Waiting for floor. Drywall, more wiring, heat next.
Work Bees: Sundays designated until material moved. No Saturday bees.
NEW BUSINESS
Newsletter Advertising: Members asked to solicit $10 business cards.
WCB: CMFT not eligible for coverage on volunteers.
Pilot Roster: Members to send in experience data.
Thrill of a Lifetime TV Program: Monday, Nov. 23, 8:30 p.m. (Waco).
Flights in CMFT Aircraft: Discussed. Possible donations to CMFT in exchange for rides. Effort to reduce insurance costs by volume. Will be investigated further.
Brian Weeks: Donated 3 framed photos of Hurricane.
Boly: Small silver maple leaf discovered by Wayne Cromie and Rob Kennedy in process of cleaning out Boly on start of restoration on the nose section. Invitation extended to visit. Call Wayne at 277-3394.
Chapter 85, EAA: Donated a Pou de Ciel (Flying Flea) to CMFT. Will attempt to get copy of home movie showing its only flight.
Paul Stock: Died of cancer in June. Paul donated Seafire instrument panel, uniform, other materials.
14 Project: Discussed. Members to get opportunity to fly it based on number of volunteer hours worked, and depending on insurance Coverage, etc.
Seabee: Donated by Jerry Olson.
Jackets: Gordon Dann showed his “Wonder Jacket”. Rose to find out prices, delivery. Several members interested.
Door Prizes: Snowbirds poster, key chain, poster of High Flight.
Slide Presentation: Gordon Peters showed slides of various European museums visited this summer, including an interesting helicopter museum.
Next General Meeting: Jan. 20, 1982, Richmond Arts Centre.
Adjournment: 21:35.
How Do You Like Us So Far?
This issue of Museum Newsletter is the third to be type-set by CMFT.
As in any new venture, a few bugs have crept in along the way, and for these, we apologize. Hopefully, as we go along, the newsletter will, like a good wine, improve with age.
The article entitled “Bush Pilot” was submitted by Ron Keith of CPAir and is a good example of the kind of stories and pictures we would like you, our members, to send in for publication. As has been stated previously, all photos would be handled with extreme care and returned immediately after publication. Only through our members can the newsletter survive.
Our aim in future issues is to print at least one interesting article, along with Van Isle happenings and general museum news. With this will go minutes of meetings and as many pictures as can be accommodated.
Comments and suggestions on how to improve the newsletter will be received by the editors.
RECENT DONATIONS
Sunken Seabee Superbly Salvaged
A 1947 Republic Seabee, RC-3 CF-DYJ, has been donated to CMFT by Jerry Olsen and associates. This airplane was sunk in a lake near Prince George as a result of a wheels-down water landing 25 years ago. (See pictures on following pages).
Over the years, many dreams of salvaging it have come to nothing, but the sophisticated equipment and expert knowledge and much hard work by Jerry and his team accomplished the job last fall.
The airplane is in surprisingly good condition, and will be rebuilt when funds permit to flying condition.
The tail wheel went “missing” from the airplane while it was being trucked down to Vancouver. It would be nice if the original wheel was returned, but failing this, has anyone a spare that they will donate (or sell) to CMFT?
The Frankfurt TG-1 Primary Glider purchased by CMFT is in need of a complete overhaul, and is scheduled as one of the earlier projects for the shop. Volunteers with woodworking experience are needed.
The remains of a Fairchild 82-A CF-MAI workhorse with lots of local history has been donated through the cooperation of John King of Victoria and Granduc Mines. This one should have early priority for rebuild. All we need is a sponsor.
Harvard wing, centre section, control surfaces and miscellaneous parts donated by Viking Air, Victoria. Along with parts already on hand, we’ve got the beginnings of a Harvard. Please pass along anything in the way of parts so that the “jigsaw puzzle” can proceed towards the eventual buildup of a complete airplane.
Mignet “Poude Ceil” (Flying Flea) homebuilt. One of the first in the area when post WWII rules relaxed to enable homebuilts. Committed to CMFT by the EAA, Chapter 85. This one is a most unusual appearing airplane and we’re pleased to get it.
1960 Edsel donated by Ernie Clark. This is another in our budding collection of transportation items. Keep them coming, please everything needed from bicycles through stationary engines up to military tanks.
Aerial camera, photos, donated by Mrs. Cheryl Fleming.
Cash donations from members Ron Stone, V. J. Sanderson, Jack Sanderson and Malcolm Wood. Thank you for your support.
Collection of hard cover aviation books donated by Ken Turner.
14-volume “Above and Beyond” Aviation Encyclopedia donated by Dave Wilson.
WWII photos donated by John Lyne to the Vancouver Island Branch.
Miscellaneous office supplies, Spirit duplicator donated by Ross Maxwell.
Directors’ Meetings Held
Farm Storage Site, Dec. 17, 1981-A poor turnout of 7 directors, with one tendering regrets, leaving 11 no-shows. The policy and direction of CMFT is the responsibility of the directors firstly, and at general meetings secondly. Elections are coming up in April with many vacant seats available. Put up your name for election only if you’re prepared to attend meetings.
Van Isle Chapter, Dec. 9, 1981-Three members of the Vancouver board attended the Victoria meeting. Subjects discussed included possible joining with the North American Interplanetary and Space Society there. Emphatically agreed association in any form with that group would be detrimental to CMFT.
The Vancouver Island Branch general meeting was also held Dec. 9. Minutes will be included in the next newsletter.
Cover Photo:
CF-CJR Waco INF biplane. One of only 3 known flying examples. CMFT’s is beautifully restored and flies at special events.
Surrey Zoning By-Law Update
Our sincere thanks to those of you who took the trouble to send in the form letter or write to Surrey on behalf of the CMFT. The matter has been brought before council, and steps are being taken to enable CMFT to operate the Crescent Road storage site until such time as a permanent home is found.
AIRCRAFT LOCATED, raised and being towed to shallower water.
THE AIRPLANE has been raised and is in the process of being turned right side up.
SEABEE HAULED ashore and dismantling has started.
SALVAGE CREW Gary Pullybank, Varis Smiltnieks and J. Olsen of Canadian Lake and Ocean Salvage.
CMFT Crew Visit Liberator Crash Site
By Dave Jones and John Lyne Vancouver Island Chapter
On the morning of November 10th, 1944, Liberator AT-108 took off from Boundary Bay (B.C.) Airport on an anti-sub patrol mission along the West Coast of Vancouver Island with 10 personnel aboard. This aircraft did its regular coastal patrol with scheduled stops at CFB Tofino and CFB Pat Bay. At this point, we expect the aircraft had landed at Tofino after doing its coastal patrol and was returning to Boundary Bay. The Liberator was either flying too low in cloud or was descending in order to clear a cloud bank.
Had the plane been only 50 feet higher,it would have cleared the top of the mountain. The wreckage of this aircraft covers an area of approximately 2,000 yards long and 150 yards wide.
The Liberator crashed and was not located until early June, 1945, while an RCAF search party was out looking for another downed aircraft in the same area.
The following is an account of the authors’ visit to the crash site on the weekend of October 3 and 4, 1981.
On the morning of Oct. 3rd, 1981, members of the Canadian Museum of Flight and Transportation, we visited the reported crash site of an RCAF Liberator located on the west coast of Vancouver Island. We had both seen the crash site previously and knew the area quite well. We were therefore designated the leaders of the salvage expedition.
We left Victoria with a crew of 11 people for a 3-hour trip to the Franklin Camp Road and then of an hour on a rough road along the switchback of a mountain. We arrived at what was to be our base camp at 10:30a.m.
Once we had driven as far up the mountain as possible, we then prepared for a one-hour climb to the top, which entailed hiking up a 60 to 80 degree incline. When the crew was on the top, we had a short rest period and discussed how to best survey the site. It was decided to break into three groups of four. One group went up to clear a helicopter landing area, while the remaining groups went to locate and survey the wreckage of the aircraft. The first group was led by Tom Palmer and the second by Dave Jones. As we progressed down the draw, the first piece of wreckage we found was a propeller which was standing on one of its tips and resting against a tree with some of the gear box still attached. found not too far from the prop was one of the left landing gear retract arms.
Adjacent to the main body of the wreckage was the main left landing gear, which was very well preserved, as well as other parts of the Mark VI Liberator. Pieces included wings, various pumps, cylinders, gears of all description, parts of the fuselage, armor plating, pieces of gauges (including mounts and faces) and .50 cal. shells (which had been fired).
All four engines were located, three would be totally unsalvagable because of smashed cylinder heads and no carburators. On all of the engines some of the cylinder heads were missing, the main engine bodies were cracked except the one at the main body of the crash site. The block was fairly well intact and could possibly be restored. However, for the amount of time that would have to be spent, it was decided it would not be worthwhile salvaging this engine. Very close by was one propeller that was caught in the fire and all three blades were badly warped.
At the lower end of the crash site is a shallow common grave in which are interred the remains found by the original RCAF search party in June of 1945. 4
The authors would like to give special thanks to our salvage crew who are as follows: Tom Palmer, Brent Palmer, Spencer Davies, Matthew Davies, Howie Tomlinson, John Vandenburg, Bruce Tout, Phil Degeller, Wally Jeune, Tim Mulcahy and Val Hinch.
We would also like to express our thanks to the Government of Canada and the Province of British Columbia for information supplied.
This article was written to pay tribute to the ten members of the RCAF who were the victims of this unfortunate accident. Their names are listed as follows:
Morganstein (rank and initials obliterated from cross), Sgt. E. Brown, Sgt. T. MacDonald, Sgt.S. Helper, F/O J. V. Kingdon, P/O J. E. Cooke, Sgt. D. R. Westwater, Sgt. G. I. Jones, Sgt. F. D. Hafford and Sgt. R. May.
Consolidated Privateer Report
The third and final semi-load is now enroute to Michigan, and the rest of the airplane is in storage.
The receiving museum has requested no publicity at present, and will make an announcement at the appropriate time.
Membership Drive To Kick Off This Month
January 15 marks the beginning of the membership drive for 1982 with CMFT offering a prize for the person bringing in the most new members: A one-hour flight as a passenger in the Fleet Finch or the Waco INF (when better weather comes).
The drive will continue until March 15, and you can use the application form on this page. The application and money can be sent in by you as the recruiter or by the new member, but it must have the recruiter’s name on it, or he will not get credit for the new member. It must be in our office not later than March 15th.
New Membership Rates
Soaring postage and newsletter costs force an increase in the membership fees this year. New fees are $15 per year regular membership, $7.50 for juniors 16 and under and $300 for a lifetime membership.
Workshop For Van Isle Branch
Where there is a will there is a way! The enterprising members of the Victoria based CMFT Vancouver Island Branch have undertaken to provide themselves with a workshop. Member Gary Moonie has offered the use of enough land on which to build a 24’x48′ shop, researched out building costs and come up with a plan whereby CMFT members will supply most of the labor and materials for the building, which at the end of the lease period will be purchased by Gary at the value of the goods supplied to build it.
The group has raised some cash through donations for purchase of materials and is seeking donations from Vancouver Island businesses in the form of building materials and equipment. CMFT main branch sent over $500 for the project.
The shop is centrally located, and will end the need for the constant moving from basement to garage to basement of the Auster project now well under way.
Gary Moonie, 50 Hartland Ave., Victoria, B.C., V5W 383, phone 388-1681 days, 479-7880 evenings, is head of the building committee. Offers of labor or material will be appreciated..
Work Shop and Storage Shedecto Just About Complete
The 32’x48′ workshop now has the concrete floor laid, courtesy of Colin Barkhouse and Calla Bros. Construction. The interior was insulated by Brian Weeks, Terry Elgood and Jim Cline. Overhead drywall strapping by Rob Kennedy, Wayne Cromie and Ed Zalesky. Ceiling drywall applied by Dave Vollandorf and Guy Magnussen, sidewalls by John de Vissar, Rob and Steve Kennedy, Mark and Ed Zalesky and Lock Madill. Taping and finishing is yet to be done. The electrical work was carried out by Gordon Dann and Bill McGarrigle.
Prior to interior finish, Colin Walker, Ted Harris, Al Jurek and Ken Nevile-Smith relocated some contractor-installed windows-the kind of job that will only take about an hour but had to be fought all the way for more than half a day.
We hope to have the external wiring finished shortly and also expect to have some temporary. heating in to allow us to start placing in shop equipment and start on some airplane rebuild projects. A mezzanine and other building refinements such as eavestrough are yet to come.
Storage building No. 3 is finished except for eavestroughs and more wall sheathing at some future date. A couple of good work bees brought out the usual helpers, and most of the material and components that were outside are now under cover. More work bees are scheduled to complete the job. The first is Sunday, Jan. 17 and every Sunday thereafter until the yard is tidied up and the shop set up. Please give us a hand. CMFT can’t grow without your support.
The cost of these buildings except for the donated windows and donated labor ($15,000 for the shop and $22,000 for the shed) has been borne by the Zaleskys, whose property they remain. Use by CMFT is extended for long as needed, on a rent-free basis.
Magazine Swap and Shop, Flea Market Planned for Spring
Following the lead of other museums who operate swap-shops, we plan to offer bundles of all kinds of magazines (not just aviation) at bargain prices. To make it a success, we need lots of magazines. Please bundle up your old ones, any subject, and get them down to us, or write or -phone so pickup can be arranged. Surplus items from the library will be swapped for missing issues or sold off.
It could develop into a fun thing if it was extended to include miscellaneous items for sale by, say, Dutch (silent) auction or yard-sale technique. It could also be tied in with an open house/barbecue at the Crescent Road storage site.
Offers to help organize and carry out the project gratefully accepted. Phone Rose at 531- 2465 or 278-9804.
Museum jackets now available
We have now completed arrangements for the quantity/purchase of the Avon “Wonder Jacket” at a wholesale price. They are great for early spring and fall. Schuss nylon shell with insulated nylon foam for warmth and lightweight comfort. Cost, FOB the factory in Toronto, is $18 each. Add freight of $1.50 and a markup of $5 to CMFT, totals $24,50 per jacket. Add 764 postage if to be mailed, and 6% sales tax on adult sizes. Send in your order so that we can make it up by Jan. 30th. Orders received after that will be included in our next shipment.
Sizes available are: Men’s small, medium and large; Ladies small, medium and large; Children, small, medium and large.
Sizes available are: Men’s, small (36-38), medium (40-42), large (44-46), extra large (46-48). Ladies, small (8-10), medium (12-14), large (16-18). Children, small (6-8), medium (10-12), large (14- 16). Colors are Royal Blue, Red and Yellow.
Ed, Rose, Mark and April Zalesky indicate their support of this publication by the purchase of this space at $10. There is room for other donations. A happy and prosperous New Year to you all.
THE BUSH PILOTS
by Ron Keith
The president of the airline-alias chief pilot, dispatcher of the nine plane fleet and baggage handler as required-cased back on the controls and the tires of the sleek twin-engined Islander scuffed the gravel surface of the 4,000-foot airstrip that is Fort Simpson’s portal to the outside world.
It was just another routine five a week arrival of Simpson air Flight 101 out of Fort Nelson, in the northeast corner of British Columbia, via Fort Liard and Nahanni Butte Nor was the flight’s load in any way exceptional five Indians return ing from a visit to the Butte, nondescript bundles of mad and cargo, the unslapped survivors of a mosquito swarm that had whined aboard at Liard and the scribe from Vancouver, some 940 miles up south
But to the writer, the arrival at Fort Simpson in the Northwest Territories where the Liard empties into the hand of natives who might be encountered around the north flowing Mackenzie meant more than the excitement of a nostalgia tinted return to the skies of the western Arctic after years in the different world of aviation south of the Sixtieth Parallel It prompted recollections of the most culourful, adventure-crammed and truly remarkable era of our aviation history. For it was exactly fifty years before our arrival at Simpson on Flight 101 in July of 1979 that hush pilot Punch Dickins had splashed down on the mighty river here with mail and cargo from Edmonton before droning on north to Aklavik in his Fokker Universal floatplane His historic flight over the 1,800-mile wilderness route down the Mackenzie was man’s first penetration by air to the coast of the western Arctic
As our Islander winged north from Simpson, the writer once again was awed by the majesty and the historic impact of the Mackenzie, our greatest river system, second only to the Mississippi on this continent. 300 miles longer than the St. Lawrence, draming an area larger than the entire province of Quebec
The terrain of the Mackenzie valley, like much of the Territories, is true northern tundra, mustard-coloured mus keg on a permafrost hase, sparkling with myriad tiny lakes of the most unusual colours black, purple, green, yellow, ame thyst and emerald like jewels scattered on a rumpled coun terpane spreading beyond the horizons in all directions Few could fail to be impressed by the majestic and tonbidding vastness of this moun-like land of emptiness where, as one northerner put it, “the walkin mist ain’t no good at all but it’s great for flying because the scenery’s almost flat all the way north to the Arctic Ocean and nearly a thousand miles cast to Hudson’s Bay
CH, as in Clennel Haggerston. “Punch” Dickins, now enjoying a vigor ous retirement in Victoria, recalls the unforgettable day, July 1, 1929, when he reached the coast of the Arctic Ocean
Standing there on the muddy – bank of the Mackenzie in the light of the midnight sun, I thought of that doughty explorer. Alexander Mackenzie and his party of six Indian paddlers in two birch hark canoes struggling for months, enduring the constant onslaught of black thes and mosquities, sweating in the heat and shivering in the bone chilling cold, not knowing what to expect from the next bend in the river Mackenzie finally reached the Arctic delta of the great river now bearing his name and, H40 years before, probalsis stood there on the very bank where I was standing
My feelings were a mixture of humility and pride as I contrasted his ordeal with my two-day flight from Edmonton Stopping at every settlement I was convinced that an service would be a permanent part of the future development of the north, changing forever the lives of the people who lived and worked there
…moon-like land where “the walkin’ ain’t no good at all”…
Dickins was one of that uniquel Canadian breed, the northern bush pilot, whose golden era of wilderness explora tion and adventure spamed two decades before the war They shared with their histone antecedents, the tur seekers like Mackenzie, Hearne and Thompson, and the Arctic explorers in the tradition of Perry, Franklin and Pears, the thrill of conquest along with a measure of tame and gori But though the hushplane was a giant step forward over the traditional dog sled and canoe in the north, for the pilots and mechames it was a golden age only in terms of their accomplishments, for they had to endure mcredible hardships and face all the dangers that beset aliens venturing into a cruel and relentless environment
G-CAHJ Fokker Eversal town by Citan Musche Brothers Cind Alime
But to mam of us who grew up during those prewar decades in Edmonton proudly self proclaimed “Gateway to the North it was indeed a golden era of bush flying The bush pilots were ou how hood heroes and we dolized the gallant adventurers Dickins, Wop May, Grant McConachic Walter Gilbert, Matt Hems, Leigh Brintnell Stan McMillan, Con Farrell Bob Randall, Harry Havter and the rest
Turclad cleareved, with the courage of soldiers of fortune and the damour of movie stars they litted their hu auplanes from snow covered Blatchford Field or, in summer tum nearby Corking Lake, to head north into the uncharted hinterlands of the last great frontier, returning with nich cargoes of fus gold and raduum concentrates, to recount blood sturing tales of hardship, discovers and adventure
T he Edmonton newspapers and radio stations shared and tostered our hero worship with coverage that was tre quently verblown but never dull Thus, carly in lanuary ot 1928, while Wop Max and Vic Humner in a small open- cockpit Avian were flying through a blind on their return to Edmonton after delivering vaccine to poliostricken and snowbound Fort Vermillion some 600 miles northeast of the city, the excitement and suspense of press and public were agonizing
“When they amive” wrote one reporter. let the plane and these intrepid aviators nde down Portage Avenue for a reception as the Romans welcomed their heroes down the Appian Way
When the heroes finally landed, deep trecen and wears the new spapers put out extra editions, one claiming that the relict at their site return was more profound than when Lundbergh’s sate arrival in Paris was announced Nearly 10,000 people mobbed the amport in a frenzied welcome and the Bulletin, in an cestass of hyperbole, proclaimed that “their feat, nothing less than a sublime gamble with death on an errand of unalloved mercy, must forever be associated with the great deeds of men since time began.
The saga of May and Horner was mere prelude to a real-life true adventure serial that continued to fuel the fervor of air-conscious Edmonton: Dickins’ pioneering tight across the mysterious unmapped Barrens the two plane McAlpine expedition lost for more than two months near Bathurst Inlet on the Arctic coast and the great six-plane search that ensued. Matt Berry’s dauntless flight through Arctic blizzards from Aklavik to Letty Harbor to rescue a starving group of missionaries and Eskimos Walter Gilbert’s histone first
ikker hveral pilote pur Cinn Mex fe pour des old Mine
thight over the magnetic north pole and search for relies of the Franklin expedition, prospector Gilbert Labines discovery on a thicht with Leigh Britnell, ot radium at Great Bear Lake resulting in a mine that broke the Belgian monopoly led to the atomic bomb and shook the work! Wop May’s ar support in the Arctic manhunt for the mad trapper of Kat River Aumen Coleman and Fortes marooned and starving for 33 days 250 miles north of Fort Rehance until found and rescued by Matt Berry.
T he bush pilots of those exciting times rediscovered the Canadian northwest in the new dimensions of altitude and time But unlike the caly explorers who acquired the equipment and adopted the native lifestyle necessary to survival for long periods in the north, they were precariously dependent on fuel caches deposited in remote areas, on compasses led astras in magnetic influences and on made squate maps with large blanks labelled unexplored
The were dependent on the toughness and ingenuity of the black gang mechanics in improvising emergency repans to tailed engines and broken aircraft working in the open often under incredibly harsh conditions Their bush planes skeletons of steel tubing sheathed in doped tabric were drafts unheated, without radio communication and casty crippled in rough landings Crew and passengers downed in the wilderness could only unroll their sleeping big break out the rations and like pre Columbus America want to be discovered
Fuel caches marked on maps with large blanks labelled “unexplored”…
When marooned in winter it was customary for the pilot or mechanic to don snowshoes and tramp out a “HELP” message on the snow to attract the attention of searchers One pilot, with time on his hands and a touch of whimsey greeted his aerial rescuers with the snow trampled signal, “LAND HERE YOU BASTARDS
The nature of winter flying conditions frequently encountered in the Arctic is indicated in Canadian Airways records of lanuary 1929, “On the 27th Dickins flew to Simpson to pick up “Rags” Wilson and a load of furs. When he landed at Resolution the undercarriage collapsed and they were held up four days repairing the aircraft. They arrived back at McMurray on February 2 It was bitterly cold during the whole trip… How bitterly cold? The answer is found in this laconic entry in Dickins log of the flight:
“Experienced one of the worst spells of weather in some time with temperatures down to 62 below E and a 50 mph wind. Had a few troubles, one being frost and ice in the carburetor at temperatures below minus 30. The rubber shock absorbers on the undercarriage were not much good at extreme temperatures, freezing solid…
“At Resolution I landed in a heavy snowstorm and ran over an unseen ice hummock Both ski legs collapsed. Both blades of the propeller were bent. A blade tip broke off when we tried to straighten it so we cut the end off the other blade for balance and set that at 18 deg pitch. The legs were fixed by straightening them as much as possible, then we inserted water pipes inside the tubing, rivetting them in place. I flew the ship out this way…
Flying for Western Canada Airways, Fred Stevenson was never to forget a northern misadventure that ended for him in a tizzy of exasperation Southbound in extreme cold he was forced down onto a small lake with a broken oil line. He spent the first night huddled in the plane’s cabin as the wolves howled on the lake. In the morning he followed a trail to an Indian hut where he got directions for a three-day 75-mile trudge through deep snow to the nearest air base. Meantime. tellow-pilots had spotted his abandoned plane, made repairs, and flown it back to huse. As he staggered into the settlement exhausted and frozen, Stevenson was startled and infuriated to see his own plane tethered on the flight line.
E Iven the routine flying was Spartan enough. After a day of flying, which included heaving cargo and mail in and out of the cabin at every stop, pilot and mechanic had to settle their plane for the night
A heavy tarpaulin tent had to be draped over the engine The engine oil was drained into a bucket for indoor storage overnight. The pilot or mechanic had to climb atop the wing with the fuel hose while the other manned the wobble pump to pour gasoline from a 45-gallon storage drum into the tank Finally poles were set under the skis to prevent their freezing to the snow and the aircraft was tied down.
G G-CAFU Fokker Universal
Before dawn the mechanic would be crouched under the engine tent with a blowpot to warm the engine. At the right moment the tarp was stripped off, the warm oil poured in and the pilot manned the cockpit to start up the engine. If it didn’t catch on the first few tries there would be danger of the engine seizing in the extreme cold so back would go the engine tent and the whole numbing process would start uver again
N slide on the Arctic Byways thut much car or for the passengers fur traders, prospectors, mine developers, police, government inspectors and prostitutes who shared the bushplane cabins with kegs of dynamite, groceries, mail, furs, mining and prospecting gear, snowshoes, sleigh dogs and emergency provisions. They munched their own grub, drank their own booze, hunched on their own sleeping hags and took their chances, happy to be moving along at an incredible eighty miles an hour
A northern venturer from New Jersey described his impressions of an overnight stop at a Western Canada Airways lase in the Arctic, “When we landed in the early twilight of the northern winter I could see through the falling snow the pink welcome glow of a Yukon stove lighting the windows of the tiny lean to shack that proved to be the airline’s ticket office, freight station, passenger terminal and administration office as well as sleeping quarters for passengers and crew
CF-ATZ Fairchild C
During the evening when I inquired for the men’s room, the pilot heaved himself to his feet, ripped a sheet from the Eaton’s catalogue on the wall, thung the door open and pointed out into the howling blizzard. There’s the whole wide world out there, sonny,” he said, “and if you can’t help yourself you’re no man for the north
The period also provided one of the more spectacular instances of lost luggage. On a mail flight to Aklavik on the Arctic coast, Walter Gilbert of Canadian Airways carried as a passenger the Bishop of the Arctic on an inspection tour of northern missions. From Aklavik, flying on pontoons, they flew along the coast for a mail drop over the ice locked settlement of Shingle Point. Mechanic Lou Parmenter dropped three mail sacks as Gilbert made his bombing run. There was some consternation when it was discovered that the third “mail sack” to go overboard was a duffle bag, the Bishop’s luggage.
Who thout doube the most renowned case of skill ingenuity in the annals of Canadian bush flying was the episode of the moose glue propellers As first reported in the press it was a remarkable feat indeed. Stranded with a broken prop, a bush pilot, so the story went, had shot a moose, chopped down some birch trees and fashioned new blades from birch laminations bonded with glue stewed from the hooves and hide of the moose.
The true story was unique enough By 1921, Imperial Oil had discovered oil on Bear Island in the Mackenzie near Fort Norman and embarked on the then-novel and little-tested device of using air transport to service this important project They bought from a New York agency two German-built
N AIRWAYS LIMITED CF-ARM
The Junkers JU52, in its time the largest aircraft flying in Canada
low wing metal-clad Junkers W 34’s which were terried to Edmonton where they were christened Rene and Vic Pilots George Gorman and Elmer Fullerton then took off with passengers and supplies for Fort Norman but on landing at Fort Simpson on rough ice the propellers of both planes were shattered Spring break up was approaching The party faced the prospect of being stranded at Simpson for several months until new props as well as pontoons for summer flying could be brought in The situation called for extreme measures
By good fortune a staffer at the Hudson’s Bay post, Walter Johnson, was an expert cabinet maker while one of the plane mechanics, Ed Hill, was something of an authority on propellers. They found some oak sleigh boards on the inventory of the trading post, also a quantity of habiche glue derived from the hooves and hide of moose. Using the facilities of a workshop in the Catholic mission, the two men tashioned templates from an undamaged blade and made a propeller from oak laminations honded with the moose glue It was painted red. Fitted to the Vic it was flight tested and worked perfectly. A second prop with altered laminations of oak and birch was completed, varnished, and attached to the Rene. Both planes took off moments before break-up of the Mackenzie River ice and flew south. The two historic moose-glue propellers repose in the national aviation mu scum in Ottawa
But almost never did the northern airmen or mechanics enjoy the luxuries of heated workshops and sophisticated equipment to cope with crippled flying machines in the wilds. When Grant McConachie was hauling fish cargo in his blue Fokker northeast of Edmonton in the thirties he broke the axle of the skiplane in a rough landing on an isolated lake Luckily there was an Indian encampment nearby but dinner native style that evening convinced the vouth he’d have to find a way out
“We sat around a pot of muskrat stew he recalled “An Indian handed me a spoon and pointed to the pot. Well, sir, the first thing I came up with was the skull of a muskrat, the eves still in it and staring right back at me, I was immediately less hungry
The next morning McConachie hired an Indian to help
Le Junkers JU52. en son temps le plus gros appareil utilisé au Canada F-AXM Fairchild 82 Bellanca Auteruser GF-BEP Ford Trimotor CREP
hum improvise an axle They whittled a sapling trunk loa wooden shaft to fit inside the broken tubing, then bound it with hirch splints wrapped around with wet caribou thongs When the thongs shrank as they dried they were tight as steel hands and the repair proved strong enough to carry the strain as McConachic took off for his home hase
F or iron-like hardihood and extended privation, how ever, one would have to hark back to the polar explorers of the last century to find comparisons with the plight of the McAlpine expedition survivors downed and lost for nearly two months at Dease Point on the shore of Queen Maud Gulf of the Arctic Ocean. The party of eight was under command of Col. 1 H. McAlpine, president of Dominion
CF-AAN
Explorers, in two planes town hy Stan McMillan and GA Tommy Thompson. They set out from Chesterfield Inlet on Hudson’s Bay on Sept 8, 1929 on what was to be a 20,000-mile mining survey over the formidable Barrens to the Arctic cost, west to Aklavik, on to the Yukon and return Bucking headwinds and blizzards they ran out of fuel and hyd to land their floatplanes in a small harbor of the Arctic Ocean at Dease Point
There they were stranded for nearly two months and in danger of starvation before the ice hardened sufficiently for Eskimo guides to lead them across 50 miles of sea ice to the settlement of Cambridge Bay on Victoria Island. While mamoned they built a hut of moss and stones, rooted with an aircraft tarpaulin Their only fuel was scraps of muss and willow twigs mixed with engine oil They shot a few ptarmigan and ground squirrels until the snow came, then ate rancid fish provided In Eskimos
On one occasion two Eskimos battled for five hours by dog sled through an Arctic blizzard no white man could have survived to bring the McAlpine party promised caribou meat. When the group was halted by open water on their trek
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across the ice, the Eskimos built igloos in the dark to movide the shelter without which they would have perished in the 30 below zero gale
When it was over, Tommy Thompson voiced the party’s tribute to the natives who had saved their lives. I have never met more honest and generous people, he said It we had been their own children they could not have given us greater care
Incidentally, one of their abandoned planes, the tamous Fokker G-CASK, sat tethered on the Arctic shoreline for an entire year until Buck Buchanan was flown in to retrieve it in August of 1930. An Eskimo promptly turned up with the key to the aircraft cabin, with which he had been entrusted The plane’s engine started up on the first try and SK rejoined the north-roving fleets
N ot surprisingly, considering that their lives were en trusted to them, some of the more seasoned northem pilots developed strong attachments for the relatively primitive aircraft they flew in the wilderness/regions. This was evident with the demise of the renowned Fokker Super Universal CCASK Built by the Atlantic Aircraft Corp, Hackensack, NI in 1928, SK logged only 150,000 miles dunng the tour years of its illustrious career but it made a number of historic flights the McAlpine expedition Gilbert’s record Aklavik- to Edmonton dash with the Lindbergh news a memorable 9,000-mile Leigh Huntnell exploration via treat Bear Lake and Aklavik to the Yukon and return to Winnipeg Dickins trailblazing first flight across the Barrens from Hudson’s Bay to Fort Fitzgerald and Gilbert’s 1930tlight over the magnetic pole
When, on March 31, 1933, CASK was burned to emders in a refuelling mishap at the Fort McMurray use. Calbert confessed that he felt a sense of loss quite as great as when a tried and trusted friend passes away It is dificult to the lavman to appreciate the depth of affection that a pilot develops for an aircraft after living with it for thousands of miles over remote regions
Although the hyperbolic press of the time described the bushplanes as monster. “huge and speeds in today’s retrospect they were not so impressive With few exceptions, such as the all-metal tri-motored Ford with which McCon achie pioneered the Edmonton Whitehorse service in the summer of 1937, they were small single-engined and com paratively slow. The early Fairchild 71 was underpenvered) with its 200 hp Wright Whirlwind and i calm water often had difficulty getting into the air It was succeeded by the Fairchild 82 with 500 hp in its Wasp engine, able to carry a 3.000 lh load at 128 mph with a range of about 650 miles Similarly the early open-cockpit Fokker Universal which couldn’t quite make 100 mph with its 200 hp Wright power was followed by the popular Super Universal with more power and speed Later came the Canadian designed and manufactured Noorduyn Norseman, with a 550 hp Wasp and 150-mph cruise which became an ideal bushplane During the war the Montreal tactory produced more than 900 of these for the US Air Corps
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Hig daddy of the bush fleet was the thing boxcar, the Junkers JU-52 CF-ARM which Canadian Airways imported, along with a German mechanic, from the tactory of Dr Hugo Junkers in Dessau, Germany Although single-engined, it had nearly twice the wing span and load capacity of the other bushplanes. Lumbering about the northern skies at a sedate 100 mph “ARM” became familiar as the first all-cargo plane and in its time the largest aircraft flying in Canada
The quest for gold and the demand for mail service to remote settlements were mainly responsible for the astonishing growth of northern bush flying prior to the war. By the end of the twenties air supported prospecting and survey parties were scattered widely over the million square miles to the north of urban settlement in western Canada. The urge for adventure, discovery and wealth, combined with the availability of risk capital, drove men to great achievements There were some who envisioned a Canada infinitely neher and more developed than ever dreamed of before
James Richardson of Winnipeg was one of these men of practical vision, combined with wealth, who early realized the importance of air transportation to northern develop ment. In 1926 he financed Westem Canada Airways, later to merge with Commercial Airways to become Canadian Airways. Its fierce rival north of Edmonton in the ‘thirties was Mackenzie Air Service founded by pilot Leigh Brintnell
The hurgeoning of northem tiving at the turn of the decade is indicated in the records that show the hours flown in Canada on the increase from 12,000 in 1927 to 93,000 in 1931 while the number of aircraft operators multiplied five told from 20 to 100 during this same timespan
Meantime, to the Canadian post office the availability of air delivery to succeed the dog team, the freight barge and the canoe for serving the northern outposts was a heaven sent opportunity for a spectacular improve ment of service. The first major mail contract to serve the Arctic went to Commercial Airways who commenced regular delivery as far north as Aklavik in December of 1929.
The awesome achievements of the hush pilots and operators in penetrating and developing the vast unknown resource empire at the Canadian north vickled the satisfactions of conquest and a fleeting measure of time. but not the profits necessary to economic survival. And so it was with vast relier that the financially undernourished bush operators abandoned the losing struggle in 1942 to become the tounding elements of Canadian Pacific Airlines
During the writer’s nostalgic retum to the Arctic skies of 1979 the overwhelming impression lay in the contrast between today’s amazing jetspans and speeds my reducing the once-formidable distances of the northern wilderness in comparison with the then awe-inspiring transportation wonder of the 100 mph bush plane
Dickins two-day endurance flight from Edmon ton to the Arctic coast is seen now in terms of IWAS Boeing 737 nonstop over the same distance under four hours. Yellowknite is just three jet hours from Ed monton and even Resolute, a tiny outpost in the Queen Elizabeth Islands far beyond the Arctic coast, enjoys a five hour ict link with Edmonton on PWAS twice weekly schedul
Simpsonair’s home hase, Fort Nelson, can be reached in one hour and 25 minutes by CP An mainline set mom Edmonton When Grant McConachie maugurated his weekly schedule from Edmonton to Whitehorse Yukon, on July 5, 1937, his lumbering tri-motored Ford CF-BEI shod with the biggest floats in the world, puddle-jumped over the 1250-mile distance in 12 hours with its capacity load of 12 passengers Today, CP Airs heavily patronized 107-passenger B-737s jet over the route in two hours and 25 minutes
It is today’s mastery of the north’s incredibly vast and empty distances that so impresses the observer with the dramatic evolution of air transport and its significance to our country. Thus Punch Dickins, even with his sense of history knew not what he and his hush flying colleagues had wrought. In the hindsight of 1980, he was guilty of massive understatement as he stood on that Arctic delta over halt a century ago and mused that an transportation would be a permanent part of the north’s future, changing forever the lives of the people who live and work there
Souvenir Stamp Packs Canadian Training and Transport Aircraft
Canada 17 5 WCA LIMITED CANADA Canada 17 Canada 35 Canada 35
Canada Post is continuing its postage stamp series devoted to Canadian aircraft with the release of two pairs of se tenant stamps featuring Canadian Training and Transport aircraft. Following this issue will be a special souvenir pack. Each pack sells for $2 and is available from the Philatelic Mail Order Service in Ottawa and at philatelic counters in selected post offices across Canada.
-Special Thanks to Ron Kelth and CPAIr’s Inflight magezine “Kanata”.
BOEING B-1E G-CAUF, at Comox, B.C. about 1929. Airplane was registered to Western Canada Airways in 1928 and withdrawn from service in 1932. Thanks to Len Higgs for the loan of this historic photo. CMFT is building up a photo library and all aviation or transportation photos are. welcome.