Antique Pilot Pic # 1

[Antique Pilot]

Here is an unusual aircraft that flew in northern BC and Yukon T in the late 1960's and early 1970's:

CF-STX, Scottish Twin Pioneer. Owner North Coast Air Service, Prince Rupert BC. Engines were Alvis Leonides of 550 hp. On the Fairchild Husky with this engine power settings were 45" MP and 3000 RPM swinging an 11' prop.
Pic was taken in October 1972 at Field Aviation, Calgary.

['97 Tercel]

Cool pic.

Interesting strut system...

[Antique Pilot]

I neglected to mention that the power settings were for take-off.

An acquaintance of mine was being trained on the Twin Pioneer by the company president on a fuel haul from Smithers to Hyland Post on the Stikine River in the late 1960's. On the return trip they had some engine problems and had to glide to the Smithers airport. A safe landing was accomplished by touching down slightly short of he runway and then rolling up onto the concrete.

[duCapo]

Jack had a pretty wide range of different aircraft, from a hovercraft, Husky, Twin Pin, C 46 along with the usual C 180 and DHC-2

[CamAero]

Jack had a pretty wide range of different aircraft, from a hovercraft, Husky, Twin Pin, C 46 along with the usual C 180 and DHC-2

*Bristol Freighter too.. !

[Antique Pilot]

Yes, right on! I don't have my reference material with me but it may have been CF-UME?? A good friend from my Prince Rupert days after Pickle Lake was a swamper on the Bristol for NCAS. He was on it when one wheel went through the ice on a lake in northern BC and the aircraft sank awhile later before it could be flown out in the late spring. I don't recall the year this happened. I wasn't there. Probably late 60's. I will be seeing this chap in a few weeks and will ask him about it again. One of the pilots is still around but I have not been in touch with him.

[CamAero]

Yes, right on! I don't have my reference material with me but it may have been CF-UME?? A good friend from my Prince Rupert days after Pickle Lake was a swamper on the Bristol for NCAS. He was on it when one wheel went through the ice on a lake in northern BC and the aircraft sank awhile later before it could be flown out in the late spring. I don't recall the year this happened. I wasn't there. Probably late 60's. I will be seeing this chap in a few weeks and will ask him about it again. One of the pilots is still around but I have not been in touch with him.

It was CF-UME. It went through the ice of Baker Lake in the Yukon. I think it was April 1972.

CA

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/c ... 963%29.jpg

[Antique Pilot]

Hi CamAero,

I started with NCAS late Oct 1971. I recall that the other chaps in hushed tones would mention the demise of UME. The incident had to have been at least a year or 2 before I got there.

On my first day on the job I went along on a fam flight in Husky CF-EIM on a flight to Masset. Just west of Digby Island the engine self destructed. Lots of smoke, noise, yelling (mostly from me). Pilot CB did a great job setting it down. We drifted around for an hour or 2 and a tugboat eventually came along and towed us back to Seal Cove.

The next day in the local paper there was a photo of the Husky being towed up the harbour. The caption said: North Coast Airplane being towed home after a battery problem. So much for my first day on the job.

[CamAero]

The caption said: North Coast Airplane being towed home after a battery problem. So much for my first day on the job.

Now that's some positive spin!

OK, Lets say that it was spring of 1970 when UME went through the ice.

A Yukon based company had been on the job with a DHC-6. They eventually said enough was enough, with the deteriorating ice conditions.

The customer was quite insistent and North Coast picked it up with the Freighter. The rest is history.

There was some rumor, and I don't know what threads of truth it contains, that the airplane may have been save-able the first week or so but it was determined that they wouldn't bother..

I will see if I can dredge up some pictures of it going through the ice.

cA

[Antique Pilot]

I think I mentioned that I will be talking to the young fellow that was swamping on the Bristol at the time. Also one of the pilots lives in Kamloops but I have not tried to contact him. I was somehow under the impression that this happened on Teslin Lake on the BC side of the border.

Do you mean the Baker Lake north of Watson Lake?

Yes there were rumours about the lack of recovery efforts.

[CamAero]

It's mostly NNE of YXY, about 38 miles.

The exact coords, (to within about 100' of the sinking), from Google Earth are:

61'00'12.37" N 134'04'58.54" W

Will be interesting to hear from the Swamper.

CA

[oldtimer]

As some of you old timers are reminising about fun times in Northern B.C., does anyone remember flying Fairchild Husky CF-SAQ. I flew that airplane in the late '60's when it was owned by Parsons Airways Northern Ltd. of Flin Flon Man. It still had the R985 in it and the Austin Airways red and grey paint scheme when I flew it. I heard it crashed somewhere in B.C but I was not able to find anything about the incident.

[beech 18]

Feb 08, 2014

oldtimer - I googled Fairchild Husky CF-SAQ and came up with a
web site that may help you. There is a photo of SAQ on floats
and a bit of history of the aircraft. Looks like the Husky is white
and orange.

Try to copy and paste the link below into google and see if it
comes up with some info.



1946 Fairchild F-11-2 Husky, c/n 8, CF-SAQ, Island ... - words & wings

[Antique Pilot]

I saw SAQ in a storage shed at Ed Zaleski's museum in White Rock in the late 1980's. I do not know what became of it since then.

From memory...built in 1946, sold to Sask Air Ambulance in 1947, then Austin Airways, then various BC air carriers like West Coast and Island Airlines. I was not aware that it was damaged. Corrections and info are welcome.

Husky CF-EIM was also at Zaleski's at the same time. It was in a damaged state after crashing and sinking in Prince Rupert harbour in the mid 1980's.

[stone69]

This is an interesting thread and brings back many memories from many years ago. As I was brought up in Rupert and got my PPL there in 1960 I used to spend a lot of time at Seal Cove. I hung out at North Coast and got to know Jack pretty well. I used to help load his 180 and then when he got his first Beaver ( OXD ?? ) I got to go on trips if there was room ( weight ...) and did the same when he got the Husky. I moved away in 65, but used to drop in to shoot the breeze with Jack whenever I got back to visit family. His advice was invaluable to me as I moved forward in my career and I missed our chats after he passed away....

[lastchance]

Worked for Jack for a few years and spent many hours working on the Husky. As anyone that has worked on the Alvis engine knows,it's really tough on the hands. Engine is full of locking wire!!

[xsbank]

One Husky was sunk off of Campbell River by RB. He spent years working out of YBL and I don't know where he ended up. Not sure which Husky that was. There was also a Husky in Harrison Air's hangar in Vancouver that had been completely rebuilt but TC wouldn't license it as I recall, because it didn't have a maker's plate on it?

I remember flying " Patricia," Jack's ex-executive Mallard, from Rupert to Vancouver with a load of herring fishermen. We had to share a room in Vancouver as the Airport Inn was full. We also shared an entire bottle of brandy and flew home the next morning, thankfully in VFR weather. That was before the invention of David Clarkes and that old Mallard was damn noisy on a hangover.

[Antique Pilot]

Do you know the whereabouts of the Mallard "Patricia" ?

AP

[xsbank]

Sorry AP, no.

[bronson]

I think Patricia went to a "mining" company in Belize in the 80's.

[W5]

Would that have been the one that went south painted battle ship grey?

[bronson]

That'd be the one. There was a lot of speculation at the time as to whether it was going to a legit mining company or not!