CF-AUQ on the back bay at Big Trout Lake about 1971.

Superior Airways is a Canadian airline that provides charter and cargo services to remote locations in Northern Ontario. The airline was founded in 1953 and has since grown to become a trusted provider of air transportation services in the region. Superior Airways operates a fleet of aircraft that are specially designed to operate in challenging environments, such as on water or in remote areas with limited infrastructure. The airline's services are particularly important for communities that are not easily accessible by road or other means of transportation. Superior Airways is committed to providing safe, reliable, and efficient air transportation services to its customers, and is dedicated to supporting the economic development of the communities it serves.
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May 07, 2023

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

This photo was taken on the ice at the Severn Enterprise base in Sioux Lookout
in February 1971.

From January to April in 1971 Austin Airways operated Anson CF-HQZ off the
ice runway in the bay in Sioux Lookout. The Anson was flying for INCO doing
mineral survey. The flights were done early each morning and late in the
evening each day.

Severn Enterprise maintained the ice runway in Sioux and kept it in perfect
condition for the wheel equipped Anson.

Austin Airways had their own maintenance personal taking care of their aircraft, but they
were supported 100% by the Severn Enterprise maintenance department when required.
The Austin personnel also had full use of Severn Enterprise's maintenance shop and
equipment.

In the photo Anson CF-HQZ is on the left with the red stripe on the fuselage. It’s being
prepared for a late afternoon departure. The Herman Nelson Heater can be seen off the
right wing. The Anson on the right of the photo with the left engine running is CF-JAW.
JAW was in Sioux for about a week flying with HQZ.

On the belly of both HQZ and JAW you can see a yellow piece of equipment used for mineral
survey. The “Bird” was lowered by a cable during flight by the INCO personnel flying in
the Anson.

Behind the right wing of CF-JAW is Severn Enterprise’s Cessna 180 CF-VGA. To the left of
the A-Frame can be seen Slate Falls Airways Beech 18 CF-CSN parked for the winter on floats.

leyo01 wrote: ↑Fri May 05, 2023 10:30 pm Superior Airways is a Canadian airline that provides charter and cargo services to remote locations in Northern Ontario. The airline was founded in 1953 and has since grown to become a trusted provider of air transportation services in the region. Superior Airways operates a fleet of aircraft that are specially designed to operate in challenging environments, such as on water or in remote areas with limited infrastructure. The airline's services are particularly important for communities that are not easily accessible by road or other means of transportation. Superior Airways is committed to providing safe, reliable, and efficient air transportation services to its customers, and is dedicated to supporting the economic development of the communities it serves.
anonymous instagram viewer

Chatbot?

June 07, 2023

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

This photo was taken in the bay at Sioux Lookout in March 1971.

Austin Airways Anson CF-HQZ on the Severn Enterprise maintained ice
runway taking off out of the bay heading west. Snow is blowing up behind
the aircraft as it begins rolling to do its late afternoon flight for INCO.

This was taken straight out from the Severn Enterprise base.

August 07, 2023

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

Photo taken on April 5, 1971 on the ice runway in the bay in Sioux Lookout.

Austin Airways Anson CF-HQZ was involved in a landing accident after returning
to Sioux Lookout after an early morning survey flight for INCO. The aircraft is
on the Severn Enterprise maintained ice runway.

The aircraft pulled to the right after landing due to a suspected flat right main
wheel. The left main gear failed and the aircraft went onto its nose damaging
the fuselage and props. The accident occurred pretty well straight out from the
Hooker Air Service base.

The Severn Enterprise base provided all the necessary equipment to the
Austin Airways maintenance crew that were working to get the aircraft back on its
main gear and then towed over to the Severn Enterprise base. Once at the base the
aircraft was repaired and flown to the Sioux Lookout air strip for additional repairs
before being flown back to Austin’s Airways main base.

When CF-HQZ departed off the ice runway after being repaired, I can't think of any
other Anson's that operated off the ice runway in Sioux Lookout. I believe
HQZ was the last one.

In the photo a tree can be seen in front of the right engine. That tree is one of the
runway side markers. The photo is taken looking east into the bay.

September 07, 2023

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

Photo taken at Sioux Lookout in March 1971.

Beaver CF-EYT landing on the ice runway in the bay at Sioux Lookout late
in the afternoon. Frying Pan Island is in the back ground. The rolled snow
packed runway extended out to Frying Pan Island each winter.

EYT was in Sioux Lookout for a week or so doing some flying for a mining
company. I’m not sure who actually owned the Beaver, but the aircraft
was painted in Laurentian Air Service colours.

While in Sioux Lookout this was another aircraft that received full support
from the Severn Enterprise base. Fuel, parking and maintenance items were
all purchased or carried out at the Severn Enterprise base.

In the photo it appears the front of the right main ski is bit low.

November 07, 2023

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

Photo taken at Sioux Lookout in September 1971.

September was a busy time of year. The tourist fishing camps were still being
serviced and moose hunting season wasn’t far off. A lot of freight had to be
flown into the northern communities as float flying stopped by the first week of
November so all supplies had to be delivered before the aircraft were pulled out
of the water for freeze up. No aircraft would return to the northern communities
until after the lakes were frozen over and the aircraft resumed flying on skis.

Beech 18 CF-WYR on the left and CF-YQB on the right. Both aircraft are
still painted in the RCAF paint scheme. WYR was based in Pickle Lake
during the summer of 71.

January 01, 2024

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

In the early 1970’s Beech 18 CF-RSW flew for Superior Airways / Severn
Enterprise Ltd in Pickle Lake. It may have also flown for the company in
Armstrong and Nakina. The aircraft was on floats.

The Beech was a leased aircraft and wasn’t around for very long.
Possibly only one float season?

In November 2014 I stopped at the Minaki Airstrip. Beech 18 CF-RSW was
parked in the weeds with no wings and no engines. The main landing gear
was slowing sinking into the soft ground. An engine cowling was laying near
the Beech. Most parts were missing from the aircraft. The left entry door
was gone, but the right side cargo door was still installed. The roof hatch
was also gone. The flying days for CF-RSW appeared to be over.

Looking in the Beech 18 Directory CF-RSW after leaving Mr. Wieben’s fleet
flew in Alberta, Quebec and Saskatchewan before returning to fly once again
in Northwestern Ontario in the Kenora area.

March 07, 2024

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

This is another photo that I took of Beech 18 CF-RSW in November 2014 at
the Minaki Airstrip. This photo was taken about 43 or 44 years after RSW
left the Superior Airways fleet in the early 1970's.

I looked at Google Earth today and I can’t see the Beech where it was when
the photo was taken. It may be in the same spot and I’m missing it when I
looked for it, or it may have been moved or maybe it’s now gone.

June 07, 2024

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

The attached photo was posted in this thread on Mar 07, 2019
A short time later I received the information that is below from AvCanada
member The Cool One. I had misplaced this message so adding it now.

Hello Beech 18
You were wondering whose airplane it was that was pictured landing on the lake ice.
I believe that it was a C402 based in Fort Frances. It was owned by a group headed by
one Bud Mallory.
I was living in the area at that time and I remember fondly watching this same colour
aircraft landing and taking off from CYAG (Fort Frances) airport.
They used to run a sched ops to Dryden and Kenora. They were using this aircraft also
to run charters to other various airports in Northwest Ontario. If my memory serves me
right
I remember the group discussing other adventures. One of them was the landing of the
aircraft on an ice runways somewhere up north.
The airline was called Voyager Airline. Bud Mallory had a float operation on Rainy Lake
just east of Rusty Myers water base.

Anyhow that's the best I can do for you on this matter.
The cool one

August 07, 2024

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

Photo of Otter CF-DDX taken in February 1974.

Otter CF-DDX was based in Pickle Lake and Wiebenville during the winter of
1973 / 74. The aircraft also did a fair amount of flying out of Sioux Lookout.

The Otter was damaged after contacting a hard snow ridge and tearing off its
tail ski. The damage to the aircraft’s aft fuselage was repaired on the ice and
the Otter returned to service. DDX was fitted with straight main skis.

Changeover from floats to skis for DDX was done at the companies main
base in Thunder Bay.

October 07, 2024

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

A photo of former Severn Enterprise Beech 18 CF-WYR in 2014.

WYR flew for Mr. Wieben for many years on floats and skis. After leaving the
company it flew for a number of different companies in Canada.

This photo was taken at Kuby’s in Kenora after it had been involved in a landing
accident while on floats in October 2004. I don’t have any good information
about the accident other than I read high tension wires were involved and it was
in the Ft Francis area. The aircraft was badly damaged and written off.

When Kuby’s yard was cleaned up WYR disappeared. I don’t know what became
of the aircraft.

When this photo was taken there were a number of other Beech 18 aircraft at Kuby’s.
EHX was parked on floats missing the left engine.
TBX was parked on floats missing the right engine.
KEL was on wheels stripped of a lot of parts. No wings or engines.
OII was on its belly stripped of most parts. Right wing installed and left wing laying in the grass.
Beech 18 with the name Wild Country on the fuselage on wheels stripped of most parts. No wings or engines.

In the photo to the right of WYR can be seen Wild Country's Beech 18 and also the red, white and blue
fuselage of KEL in front of the Wild Country Beech.

December 07, 2024

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

This photo was taken February 1971 in Sioux Lookout. The photo was taken
from the Severn Enterprise main dock looking east into the bay.

There are a number of aircraft in this photo.

Cessna 180 CF-LSN is in the center. LSN was based in Big Trout Lake, but had
flown into Sioux Lookout a few days earlier. The aft end of the aircraft is
resting on a ten gallon gas drum as work was being done on the tail ski. The
engine tent on LSN was blowing in the wind when this was taken and snow can
be seen drifted up to the runway roller parked on the ice.

Behind LSN is Selco Explorations Cessna 185 CF-YNS on wheel skis. YNS always
parked in the same spot as that was where the bases 100/130 fuel pump was.

Behind YNS at the original Slate Falls Airways base is Norseman CF-HQD and also
Slate Falls Piper CF-VTN which can just be seen on the other side of LSN.

The wing and tail of Austin Airways Anson CF-HQZ is on the right of the photo.
Mr. Wieben had a contract with Austin Airways to keep the snow packed runway
serviceable at all times for the Anson to operate from on wheels as the Anson was
doing mineral survey for INCO.

When high winds and blowing snow came though the rubber tracked swamp buggy
used to pull the runway roller was unserviceable. The chief engineer at the base
had a very old Power Wagon 4x4 (maybe as old as the 1930’s) that we attempted to
use to pull the roller to pack the runway. The amount of snow and drifted snow
was a bit too much for the Power Wagon so a fellow who lived on Abram Lake Road
just outside of town was asked if he could bring his Timber Jack Skidder in to roll the
runway. He said sure. The runway was rolled and the Anson was able to do its evening
survey flight.

Feb 07, 2025

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

This photo was taken in Feb 1974 at the Severn Enterprise base in Sioux Lookout.

Cessna 180 CF-VGA was pushed into the maintenance shop for a tail repair.
The shop had a two piece door that closed on each side of the aircraft and a drop
down canvas tarp to seal off the remaining area that was open. It worked very
well and was used throughout the winter for all Cessna 180 and Beaver engine
maintenance.

A photo of the front of VGA outside the shop was posted in this thread on
January 07, 2017

April 07, 2025

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

This photo is from the Tim Martin collection and is posted here with permission.
The photo was taken at Selkirk, Manitoba on September 24, 1988

Beech 18 C-FYQB was at one time owned and operated by Mr. Wieben.
The aircraft was flying in his fleet from late 1969 to the later 1970’s.

In the photo it is evident that YQB has had a number of changes and modes
added to it since its days flying with Severn Enterprise out of Sioux Lookout.

The aircraft now has a completely painted fuselage, wings and tail. Antennas
on top of the aircraft have been added and some have been removed. The trailing
antenna has been removed. The ladder to access the aircraft on the left side appears
to be a fair bit wider than the one that was installed originally. Also, the access
ladder on the right side behind the wing has been removed. The handles that were
installed when the right ladder was on the aircraft are still visible above the cabin
windows. Extended wing tips have been installed. The right engine now has a large
vent on the cowling with a cover over it. The cowl vent was on aircraft back in the
1970’s but the large cover over it wasn’t. Under cowl ram air scoops have also been
added. The main forward float strut lower fairings are missing on each side. The water
rudders are a different design from what was on YQB in the 1970’s. YQB still has the
13 pieces of glass windows in the cockpit as well as the two blade Hamilton Standard
propellers.

All in all, the aircraft appears to have been taken care of. The underside looks clean
and there is no evidence of engine oil dripping onto the floats.
This is a very nice photo of YQB.

June 07, 2025

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

A photo taken in the old Royal Aviation Museum of Western Canada building
in Winnipeg, Manitoba.

This Stinson SR-8CM registered CF-AZV at one time flew for Mr. Wieben.
I don’t have any information about the aircraft for the years it flew with
Superior Airways and also don’t know the colour scheme it wore at that time.

Besides flying for Superior Airways, it also was owned or flew for Canadian
Pacific Airlines, Arctic Wings and Western Aero Sprays to name a few companies.

CF-AZV is on display in the Royal Aviation Museum of Western Canada at the
Winnipeg Airport.

August 07, 2025

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

This photo of a Vultee BT-13A was taken in 2019 at the Royal Aviation Museum
of Western Canada storage yard.

CF-HJB was at one time owned by Superior Airways. The aircraft from what
I’ve heard and read about was modified in many ways by Mr. Wieben.
In the photo it’s evident that a lot of work was done in the forward
cockpit and windshield areas.

I don’t know the years HJB was with the company or if it was ever used successfully.
One article I did read stated that some items that belonged or were for the aircraft
were lost in a hangar fire.

November 07, 2025

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

This photo was taken from the Severn Enterprise dock in Pickle Lake by a
good friend who was working for Mr. Wieben in the summer of 1975. This
was taken as Norseman CF-KVB taxied by.

I don’t know who operated KVB when this photo was taken. It was owned
and operated by Barney Lamb’s OCA well into the 1970’s but I don’t see OCA
on the tail in the photo. Don’t know if OCA was ever on the tail when Barney
owned it, but OCA was usually on the tail of his Norseman aircraft.

KVB is now on display at the U.S. Air Force Museum in Dayton Ohio.

beech 18 wrote: ↑Fri Nov 07, 2025 10:14 am November 07, 2025

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

This photo was taken from the Severn Enterprise dock in Pickle Lake by a
good friend who was working for Mr. Wieben in the summer of 1975. This
was taken as Norseman CF-KVB taxied by.

I don’t know who operated KVB when this photo was taken. It was owned
and operated by Barney Lamb’s OCA well into the 1970’s but I don’t see OCA
on the tail in the photo. Don’t know if OCA was ever on the tail when Barney
owned it, but OCA was usually on the tail of his Norseman aircraft.

KVB is now on display at the U.S. Air Force Museum in Dayton Ohio.

A bit of history on KVB:
KVB was owned by Chypka Airways Lynn Lake MB when it was damaged by fire at the dock in 1962. Ontario Central Airlines bought KVB from the insurance company in 1965. It was rebuilt and registered to OCA in 1969. OCA sold it to Austin Airways in 1979. It was sold 1 month later to a party in Florida and eventually went to the US Air Force Museum.

NAP