Superior Airways

[beech 18]

March 07, 2022

Superior Airways / Severn Enterprise operation from late 1960’s to 1974.

This photo was taken in 1976 or 1977 by a good friend and is posted here with
permission.

Cessna 180 CF-HDE on the water in Pickle Lake. HDE was leased by Mr. Wieben
in the summer of 1973 for a few seasons operating on floats only. When the
Cessna 180 arrived in Sioux it was in very nice condition with a pretty nice
instrument panel in it.

The floats on the aircraft were Edo 2870’s. HDE flew out of Sioux Lookout for two
summers before moving to Pickle Lake. HDE was built in 1953.

I believe when this photo was taken CF-HDE was flying for another company in
Pickle Lake.

[ralstonnb]

I was able to obtain some newspaper clippings about Superior's scheduled service to MSP from the Thunder Bay Public Library.

Using this information, I have prepared the attached profile about Superior. I am still hoping to find a photo of a Superior DC-3 used for the MSP service to include.

MSP Commuters_3-7-22_Superior.pdf

(314.11 KiB) Downloaded 355 times

Any thoughts or suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

[beech 18]

April 07, 2022

Superior Airways / Severn Enterprise operation from late 1960’s to 1974.

This photo was taken in 1976 by a good friend and is posted here with permission.

Otter CF-GBX landing at Pickle Lake. Over the years GBX was normally based in
Pickle Lake, but did operate from all of Mr. Wieben’s bases when it was required.
Winter months it would be in Nakina, Armstrong, Sioux Lookout, Pickle Lake and
Wiebenville at different times. GBX was changed over from floats to skis in
Thunder Bay.

The Cessna 185 taxing in is CF-YZC

[beech 18]

May 07, 2022

Superior Airways / Severn Enterprise operation from late 1960’s to 1974.

This photo was taken at the Severn Enterprise base in the bay at
Sioux Lookout in February 1972.

Beech 18 CF-ZQH is parked in front of the maintenance shop for engine work.
The lower left cowling has been removed and Herman Nelson ducts can be seen
providing some heat while the work is being done. The aircraft would have
taxied off the ice and up the ramp to get to this spot. The lake is about
25 or 30 feet straight back from the tail.

ZQH flew off the snow packed runway in the bay each winter.
ZQH was only flown on wheels

Besides the Beech 18 in this photo a lot of other base items can be seen.
The maintenance shop and warehouse are the same building with an interior wall
between them. The A-Frame used to change all the aircraft over from floats to skis
is visible as is one of the runway rollers seen behind ZQH that is used to pack the
snow on the ice runway.

Right behind the roller is a metal I beam rising to the right in the photo. That
belongs to the original Slate Falls Airways and is part of the hoist used to lift aircraft
out of the water for changeover from floats to skis and for float repairs. The metal
covered building with the large chunk of snow on the roof was at one time Slate Falls
Airways maintenance shop and a storage building. When Slate Falls built their hangar
at the Sioux Lookout Airport this building remained the warehouse, but also became
the storage area for all the outboard motors and outpost camp supplies.
The building was later damaged by fire and a lot of equipment was lost.
If you look closely you can see Slate Falls Airways in red letters on the roof.

This photo would more or less be looking east into the bay and it was taken from an
area where the Severn Enterprise 80/87 avgas pumps and oil shed were located.

[1ajs]

October 07, 2021

Superior Airways / Severn Enterprise operation from late 1960’s to 1974.

This photo was given to me by a good friend who was with Severn Enterprise
at Pickle Lake in 1975.

Looking out on Pickle lake with a number of aircraft tied to the Severn
Enterprise dock. The leaves on the trees on the other side of the lake appear
to be starting to turn colour, so this photo looks like it may have been taken
in September.

On the right side of the dock is Beaver CF-FHO serial #50.
Today FHO is flying in Minnesota as N218RD.
The Beech 18 right in front of the Beaver is CF-ZQR.
The Otter is CF-GBX which was later sold to Central Air Transport.
The Cessna 185 is CF-YZC. YZC was a leased Cessna 185.

was this who bought the tail from the burned carcus of FHO after it burnt? seen pics of the mess on the ice at eldon after the fire

[beech 18]

1ajs

Neil Airds sight has the history of FHO.
In the history notes it mentions an incident at Eldon Lake winter of 1965/66.
Destroyed by fire. Remains purchased by Superior Airways and rebuilt.

beech 18

[1ajs]

my grandma has photos of it burnt my grandfather took. ive also got the orig owners manual for fho

[beech 18]

June 07, 2022

Superior Airways / Severn Enterprise operation from late 1960’s to 1974.

This photo was taken on the ice in 1976 by a good friend and is posted here
with permission.

In the background is Superior Airways Beaver CF-ODD. ODD was based in
Pickle Lake in the winter of 1976. The Beaver is still in the Department of
Lands and Forest paint scheme. ODD is on straight skis.

Although not an aircraft operated by Superior Airways / Severn Enterprise the
main aircraft in the photo is Hooker Air Service Otter CF-HAS. HAS is under
going repairs to the aft end of the fuselage and tail ski after being damaged
during ski operations. The Herman Nelson Heater is providing heat while the
repair is being carried out.

[SteveT]

Beech18, you and the others have some fantastic pictures and stories of Superior Airways. They bring back a lot of great memories for me, as O.J. Wieben was my grandfather. I'm one of Pete and Robbie Taylor's sons. I can definitely corroborate some of the stories, such as strapping engines and stuff to the pontoons of bushplanes and changing them out on the ice at Pickle Lake and so on. My dad putting the plane's leg through the fuselage on a hard landing is also true. Some of the others are a little far-fetched of course, such as my dad pulling the landing gear up while on the ramp at TBay, and so on. The story about him dragging the tie-down tire is true though, even the flipping the bird and the tower asking where he was towing it to parts

O.J. passed away when I was almost 10 years old and by that time our family (Pete and Robbie together, and the three kids) had moved to Cranbrook (not for any of the reasons described in this thread, a lot less boring than that), where my parents built-up and ran an aviation maintenance/charter/other services business for a number of years there before going their own ways. Pete was indeed high up at Superior Airways, and was actually vice-president, before we left. My Mom, Robbie, was also working in the business at that time too, naturally.

As I was pretty young when O.J. was doing his thing I don't remember him as well as some people, but his single-mindedness (see workaholic and a strong personality) and flying skills stood out, but also the aircraft salvage skills and problem-solving he and my father (and others) were doing at times. I'm not talking day-to-day maintenance stories (I've heard the comments about that stuff too). But the ability to salvage and repair aircraft is something O.J., Pete, and my Uncle Don Wieben were really bloody good at. Don is still at it too. He and his friends went up to Inuvik, NWT and dragged a crashed Canso from a lake to the MacKenzie River and floated it down to Hay River, on a barge. They then removed the wings and transported it on a truck to Fairview, Alberta where they restored and flew it again. Removing the wings and putting a plane on a flatbed is something I've done a few times myself helping out my dad as a teenager, but nothing like that scale of work.

Link to Don Wieben Canso Restoration story: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton ... -1.4166853.

My mom, Robbie was an awesome pilot, no doubt about it, and she went on to become quite notable and won the Elsie McGill award in 2011. She was also recognized in books for her flying more than once, particularly for her Search and Rescue work in the Kootenays as part of the B.C. Provincial Emergency Program. And she did a lot of work with the 99s, the female pilot organization. My mom actually wrote her Master's thesis (social work) on sexual harassment in the aviation industry, as it was a subject she seemed to have a lot of experience with unfortunately. She did pass away in 2012, but I still have a lot of flying memories about her. My dad eventually ended up in Senior Management for Air BC/Jazz (maintenance) and then a executive jet company in the Lower Mainland before retiring.

You also know about my aunt Liz (Wieben) and she was a long-time instructor and so on at Lakehead University and herself the recipient of an Elsie McGill award, among many other contributions to aviation, particularly around Thunder Bay. I'm not quite giving her due justice with that statement, she has done a heck of a lot in the industry, that is for sure.

Anyway, I thought I would share some information about O.J. and family as I came across this thread. I really don't have many pictures of Superior Airways myself, so I wonder if it would be alright to copy a few from this thread? I am thinking about dong a Twitter thread with some info about the Wieben family and the pics would be great additions. I can't do direct messages as I am new here, so perhaps Beech18 you could DM me to discuss?

Thanks everyone for sharing all the stories and pics and everything. It was a nice trip through memory lane for me. I hope some of my info has cleared up a few loose threads. If anyone has any questions I could try to answer them, although it has been a long time admittedly.

Cheers,

Steve T,

[SteveT]

Beech18, you and the others have some fantastic pictures and stories of Superior Airways. They bring back a lot of great memories for me, as O.J. Wieben was my grandfather. I'm one of Pete and Robbie Taylor's sons. I can definitely corroborate some of the stories, such as strapping engines and stuff to the pontoons of bushplanes and changing them out on the ice at Pickle Lake and so on. My dad putting the plane's leg through the fuselage on a hard landing and then jury-rigging the gear to fly out is also true. Some of the others are a little off-base though, such as Pete pulling the landing gear up while on the ramp at TBay (that wasn't him, although that did indeed occur, just by someone else who I won't name). The story about him dragging the tie-down tire for takeoff is true though, even the flipping the bird and the tower asking where he was towing it to parts

O.J. passed away when I was almost 10 years old and by that time our family (Pete and Robbie together, and the three kids) had moved to Cranbrook (not for any of the reasons described in this thread, a lot less boring than that), where my parents built-up and ran an aviation maintenance/charter/other services business for a number of years there before going their own ways. Pete was indeed high up at Superior Airways, and was actually vice-president, before we left. My Mom, Robbie, was also working in the business at that time too, naturally.

As I was pretty young when O.J. was doing his thing I don't remember him as well as some people, but his single-mindedness (see workaholic and a strong personality) and flying skills stood out, but also the aircraft salvage skills and problem-solving he and my father (and others) were doing at times. I'm not talking day-to-day maintenance stories (I've heard the comments about that stuff too). But the ability to salvage and repair aircraft is something O.J., Pete, and my Uncle Don Wieben were really bloody good at. Don is still at it too. He and his friends went up to Inuvik, NWT and dragged a crashed Canso from a lake to the MacKenzie River and floated it down to Hay River, on a barge. They then removed the wings and transported it on a truck to Fairview, Alberta where they restored and flew it again. Removing the wings and putting a plane on a flatbed is something I've done a few times myself helping out my dad as a teenager, but nothing like that scale of work.

Link to Don Wieben Canso Restoration story: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton ... -1.4166853.

My mom, Robbie was an awesome pilot, no doubt about it, and she went on to become quite notable and won the Elsie McGill award in 2011. She was also recognized in books for her flying more than once, particularly for her Search and Rescue work in the Kootenays as part of the B.C. Provincial Emergency Program. And she did a lot of work with the 99s, the female pilot organization. My mom actually wrote her Master's thesis (social work) on sexual harassment in the aviation industry, as it was a subject she seemed to have a lot of experience with unfortunately. She did pass away in 2012, but I still have a lot of flying memories about her. My dad eventually ended up in Senior Management for Air BC/Jazz (maintenance) and then at an executive/business jet company in the Lower Mainland before retiring.

You also know about my aunt Liz (Wieben) and she was a long-time instructor and so on at Lakehead University and herself the recipient of an Elsie McGill award, among many other contributions to aviation, particularly around Thunder Bay. I'm not quite giving her due justice with that statement, she has done a heck of a lot in the industry, that is for sure.

Anyway, I thought I would share some information about O.J. and family as I came across this thread. I really don't have many pictures of Superior Airways myself, so I wonder if it would be alright to copy a few from this thread? I am thinking about dong a Twitter thread with some info about the Wieben family and the pics would be great additions. I can't do direct messages as I am new here, so perhaps Beech18 you could DM me to discuss?

Thanks everyone for sharing all the stories and pics and everything. It was a nice trip through memory lane for me. I hope some of my info has cleared up a few loose threads. If anyone has any questions I could try to answer them, although it has been a long time admittedly.

Cheers,

Steve T,

[beech 18]

SteveT
PM sent.

beech 18

[beech 18]

July 07, 2022

Superior Airways / Severn Enterprise operation from late 1960’s to 1974.

This photo was taken at Sioux Lookout in July 1970. Early morning fog
hanging around in the bay before the day of flying got underway.

The two aircraft tied at what was called the sea wall are Cessna 180’s
CF-JQM and CF-LSN. JQM (red, white and black) was a Sioux Lookout based
aircraft. LSN was based in Big Trout Lake and was in Sioux for only a short
time.

Before the maintenance dock was built in the spring of 1972 most of the
aircraft maintenance in the summer was carried out at the sea wall.

The Beech 18 with the orange vertical stabs tied to the dock across from
LSN is CF-WYR. WYR flew out of Pickle Lake in the summer of 1970.

The red wings that can be seen in front of and to the left of WYR belong
to Beaver CF-GQU.

Two Cessna 180’s are tied at the dock between the two Beech 18’s. They
are CF-VGA and CF-VSD.

The Beech 18 in front of the Cessna 180’s is CF-YQB.
YQB flew out of Sioux Lookout.

[beech 18]

August 07, 2022

Superior Airways / Severn Enterprise operation from late 1960’s to 1974.

Beaver CF-MXR in Sioux Lookout at the Severn Enterprise base May 1971.

Changeover from skis to floats is underway. MXR was based in Pickle Lake
during the winter of 1970/71. It returned to Pickle Lake for the summer
after the floats were installed.

MXR had the blue speed line on the fuselage and engine cowling in the
early years. That speed line was later painted red.
Severn Enterprise Ltd. Sioux Lookout, Ontario was painted on both of the
cabin doors.

The rubber tracked Bombardier Muskeg used for everything at the base from
rolling the runway in the winter to moving aircraft to different locations on
the base can be seen between the A-Frame poles. The Bombardier was
purchased from a mining company and arrived at the base on a trailer in pretty
rough condition. It was completely rebuilt in the maintenance shop and
became an important and reliable piece of equipment for everyday use.

Right under the aft fuselage of MXR can be seen over at the Slate Falls Airways
base Cessna 185 CF-SZW still sitting on skis. Floats would go on that aircraft
shortly.

[beech 18]

September 07, 2022

Superior Airways / Severn Enterprise operation from late 1960’s to 1974.

This photo was taken at Abram Lake just south of Sioux Lookout in July 1971.

Beaver CF-ODD landing at Northumbrian Lodge to drop off a load of fisherman
that had been picked up at Northumbrian’s outpost camp on Wapesi Lake
about 35 miles northwest of Sioux Lookout.

ODD was an ex-Ontario Department of Lands and Forest aircraft.
The Lands and Forest operated this aircraft for many years before it was sold
to Superior Airways in the late 1960’s.

The Department of Lands and Forest summer float and winter ski base was
located on Abram Lake about half a mile down the shore line on the left side
of this photo. There is no doubt CF-ODD over the years made many flights in
and out of that base.

ODD in the photo is still painted in the yellow Lands and Forest colours.
The Beaver was based in Pickle Lake during the summer of 1971 and was doing
a trip for the company while it was in Sioux Lookout.

[Fa20]

September 07, 2022

Superior Airways / Severn Enterprise operation from late 1960’s to 1974.

This photo was taken at Abram Lake just south of Sioux Lookout in July 1971.

Beaver CF-ODD landing at Northumbrian Lodge to drop off a load of fisherman
that had been picked up at Northumbrian’s outpost camp on Wapesi Lake
about 35 miles northwest of Sioux Lookout.

ODD was an ex-Ontario Department of Lands and Forest aircraft.
The Lands and Forest operated this aircraft for many years before it was sold
to Superior Airways in the late 1960’s.

The Department of Lands and Forest summer float and winter ski base was
located on Abram Lake about half a mile down the shore line on the left side
of this photo. There is no doubt CF-ODD over the years made many flights in
and out of that base.

ODD in the photo is still painted in the yellow Lands and Forest colours.
The Beaver was based in Pickle Lake during the summer of 1971 and was doing
a trip for the company while it was in Sioux Lookout.

[roundoff_error]

Greetings. I found this thread while searching for info about a photo my grandfather had taken on one of his fishing trips to Canada. The plane in the picture is CF-KVU and was taken in early summer 1967, though I do not know the location. I thought I would share it with all of you. I do have some other aircraft from Albany Airways and White River Air Services, if anybody is interested.

CF-KVU

Canada June 1967.jpg (1.8 MiB) Viewed 12013 times

[beech 18]

roundoff_error

Very nice picture of Cessna 180 CF-KVU.
Haven’t seen many photos of KVU, but there
must be more out there somewhere.

The floats on KVU are Edo 2880 flat tops.

Your other photos of White River Air Service
and Albany Airways aircraft would be nice to
see as well.

[beech 18]

November 07, 2022

Superior Airways / Severn Enterprise operation from late 1960’s to 1974.

Cessna 180 CF-KVU was owned and operated by Superior Airways for
many years. Before its Superior Airways days the aircraft was flown by
Rainy Lake Airways.

An Accident report dated April 11, 1960 from its Rainy Lake Airways days
while flying on skis near the end of ski season.

The report is quite old and the hand writing has faded a bit over the years.

[beech 18]

December 07, 2022

Superior Airways / Severn Enterprise operation from late 1960’s to 1974.

A photo of Beaver C-FFHO taken at Kuby’s in Kenora April 2016.

DeHavilland Beaver CF-FHO was an aircraft that was rebuilt by Mr. Wieben in
his hangar at Thunder Bay (Ft. William) in the 1960’s. FHO flew for
Superior Airways year round on floats and skis from bases at Armstrong, Nakina,
Pickle Lake and Wiebenville.

The aircraft was operated by the company until at least the late 1970’s.
FHO was one of the few original Beavers that never had port hole windows aft
of the cabin doors.

FHO was brought from Superior Airways by Central Air Transport in the very late
1970’s or early 1980’s. The aircraft was later stripped of its Superior Airways red,
white and black paint scheme and repainted yellow with a black and white speed line.
FHO did a fair bit of flying for Central Air Transport in Sioux Lookout. In the following
years FHO continued flying in Northwestern Ontario.

In November 2015 I stopped at Kuby’s in Kenora and saw FHO parked in the
yard on floats. Considering at least 35 years had past since its Superior Airways flying
days, FHO looked pretty good. It was still painted in what looked like the Central Air
Transport yellow, but now it had a red and white speed line.

April 2016 I retuned to Kuby’s to check out what was happening. When I arrived FHO
was in the process of being pulled out of the spot where it had spent the winter and
was towed out in front of the hangar. Some fellows from Minnesota were looking over
the aircraft as they were either interested in buying it or had already purchased it.
The engine was ground run while I was there. The next I heard about FHO was it was
sold to a company in Minnesota and became N218RD.

[beech 18]

January 07, 2023

Superior Airways / Severn Enterprise operation from late 1960’s to 1974.

The attached photo was taken by Ian White and is posted here with permission.

A very nice photo of Rusty Meyers Flying Service Beaver CF-OBY on the ice in
Pickle Lake at the Severn Enterprise base in the winter of 1971.

This Beaver was flying out of the Severn Enterprise base from January 15th to
March 02. CF-OBY was an ex Ontario Department of Lands and Forests aircraft
before it was brought by Rusty Meyers in Ft. Frances.

The engine tent on the Beaver is standard equipment on all the aircraft that operated
on skis. When the lower section of the engine tent was unwrapped it would drop right
down to the ice. If overnighting at locations with no electrical power to plug in the
engine heater or if no Herman Nelson was available approx. an hour each morning was
spent kneeling or sitting under the engine tent with a blow pot heating the engine so
it would warm up enough to start. Blow pots were a standard piece of equipment in
every aircraft flying on skis. They were used a lot.

In the photo there are two of Mr. Wieben’s Beech 18’s on skis. On the left is CF-WYR.
WYR had the orange dayglow paint on the wing tips and tail for a number of years before
being painted red. WYR operated on straight skis every winter.

On the right is Beech 18 CF-PLU. A Herman Nelson Heater is in front of it. A number of
weeks after this photo was taken PLU was involved in an accident at Round Lake.
Issues with the right main ski bungee and check cable system allowed the forward end of
the main ski to drop down in flight. The main ski was torn off during the landing on the
ice damaging the right wheel well, the upper nacelle and the right propeller. The Beech
was repaired on the ice at Round Lake and flown back to Pickle Lake about two weeks later.

[beech 18]

Feb 07, 2023

Superior Airways / Severn Enterprise operation from late 1960’s to 1974.

These photos were taken by Andy Fyon and are posted here with permission.
The photos were taken at Wiebenville in the spring of 1977.

DC-3 CF-TTZ went off the Wiebenville airstrip into the trees while taking
off in March 1974. The damaged aircraft was eventually pulled out of the
bush and placed in the north east corner of “the ramp” where day to day
operations were carried out.

On the right side of the photos there can been seen a wing from DC-3 CF-BKZ.
BKZ was a DC-3 that was damaged after going off the Wiebenville airstrip in
October 1973.

Both DC-3 aircraft were write offs and never flew again. Over the years many
parts came off of these aircraft to keep the other DC-3’s in the fleet flying.

[beech 18]

March 07, 2023

Superior Airways / Severn Enterprise operation from late 1960’s to 1974.

This photo was taken by Andy Fyon and is posted here with permission.
The photo was taken in the spring of 1977 at Wiebenville.

In the photo of DC-3 CF-TTZ a large section of the aircraft nose can be
seen removed or cut away. A maintenance crew from Barney Lamm’s
Ontario Central Airlines (OCA) arrived in Wiebenville and removed that
section from TTZ. Parts and sections of it were needed to repair one of
OCA’s DC-3’s that was damaged in a landing accident after going onto
its nose.

The nose section removal by the OCA crew occurred after i had left the
company. I heard about this from a friend who was with OCA when this
was done.

[Plus Guy]

I'd like to talk to beech 18 regarding Superior Airways DC-3 CF-AUQ. Looking for more information on this particular aircraft that crashed Dec 6 1972. My father was on the plane at the time. Thanks.

[beech 18]

Plus Guy this is some information about DC-3 CF-AUQ.

DC-3 CF-AUG was registered to Severn Enterprise / Superior Airways in January 1970.
The aircraft was operated on wheels and wheel skis and flew out of Thunder Bay,
Pickle Lake, Armstrong, and Wiebenville for the company. I only recall AUQ
flying into Sioux Lookout one time and that was in the summer or early fall in 1970
where it overnighted at the town airport. It may have been in Sioux more than that,
but I’m not aware of it.

AUQ when with the company was painted in the RCAF lightning bolt paint scheme with
the two company names on the fuselage. Superior Airways Limited and right above
that was Severn Enterprise Limited. Both names in large letters.

AUQ was the first DC-3 that Mr. Wieben operated and it flew for the company for nearly
three years before being written off near Randal Lake, Quebec December 6, 1972.
Brief accident report is attached. I did not know the crew flying the aircraft when the
accident occurred.

Some history I found on AUQ before flying for Superior Airways / Severn Enterprise
is as follows and this was found on line in a DC-3 directory:

KK143 Dakota C.3 c/n 26726, RAF, to Superior Airways; status destroyed

c/n 26726 (renumbered due duplication after initial assigned c/n 15281) ,
delivered to USAAF as 43-49465 on 25Nov44,
transferred to RAF 31Dec44 as KK143,
assigned to 1 HGSU 12Jan45,
to 436 Sqdn 07Oct45,
to 435 Sqdn 17Mar46,
to Canada 17Apr46,
RCAF Mossbank (Dak 4MF) 20Jul46, NWAC Ft.Nelson 01Feb50,
ADC 121 CR Ft.Sea Island on 10Jul51, continued with MAC 103 RO Greenwood 02Apr59,
101 KU Dartmouth 17Sep59,
ADC North Bay 17Jul62,
CFS Gimli 22Feb63,
CFS Winnipeg 20Jul64,
1005 TSD Saskatoon 28Nov67,
was bought by Severn Enterprises Ltd, of Thunder Bay, Ont. on 31 Jan 70 and was
reregistered CF-AUQ for Superior Airways Ltd but crashed on 06Dec72, 12 miles
from Randall Lake,PQ.

I also googled RCAF Dakota KK143 Ruudleeuw and that came up with a link
Propliners Diving Attactions – Ruud Leeuw.
That lead to a page titled A mystery DC-3 in Vernon, B.C. where information and
photos were found about CF-AUQ when it was with the RCAF.

This is the only information I have and the only information I’ve found on DC-3 CF-AUQ.

[beech 18]

April 07, 2023

Superior Airways / Severn Enterprise operation from late 1960’s to 1974.

This photo was taken by Andy Fyon and is posted here with permission.
The photo was taken in the spring of 1977 at Wiebenville.

Welcoming sign to Wiebenville.