Here is a pic of the Bronson Creek Airstrip on the Iskut River in Northern BC. Pic taken on August 1, 2000. Laying about were the remains of a Bristol Freighter and other aircraft. On the ramp was a DC-4 Carvair. Not sure if I have the correct designation for the Carvair. I never flew in there but a lot of acquaintances did. Very interesting operation I was told. Murray Wood flew an Otter out of Wrangell AK
to the strip for a winter. The former Norseman CF-JDG from Red Lake wound up flying in there from Wrangell.

AP

Very cool spot.

The Crash

Rumors from Bronson Creek




Noah W

September 15, 2016

Antique Pilot

You mentioned Norseman CF-JDG in the opening post.
A bit of information from the Norseman History site.


CF-JDG

Delivered to the USAAF as aircraft No. 44-70273 on June 29, 1944.
Flown to Winston Salem, North Carolina, arriving June 30.
Assigned to the Reconstruction Finance Corporation on August 7, 1945 for disposal as surplus.

Later on the U.S. civil register as NC59786. Imported to Canada in 1956 and registered to
G.H. Green, Red Lake, Ontario on June 11, 1956 and then on June 5, 1963 to Green Airways, Red Lake.
Registered to David Werner (Diamond Aviation), Wrangell, Alaska on December 19, 1986.

Written off in an accident at Bronson Creek, BC on June 4, 1987.
An improperly installed wheel came off on landing and the aircraft groundlooped.
It was further damaged by a Grizzly Bear!

Purchased by the British Columbia Aviation Museum, Victoria, BC.
Major components were used in rebuilding CF-DRE which was completed in August 2003.

pelmet wrote:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a4a11U97fkI

Jaysus, that looks like fun! A little on the sketchy side, tho..

North Shore wrote:

pelmet wrote:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a4a11U97fkI

Jaysus, that looks like fun! A little on the sketchy side, tho..

The folks that flew in and out of there on a regular basis flying VFR in rather large cargo aircraft on a daily basis are to be commended. The coastal Alaska weather mixing with colder weather further inland in Northern BC can be very challenging to say the least.

AP

beech 18 wrote:September 15, 2016

Antique Pilot

You mentioned Norseman CF-JDG in the opening post.
A bit of information from the Norseman History site.


CF-JDG

Delivered to the USAAF as aircraft No. 44-70273 on June 29, 1944.
Flown to Winston Salem, North Carolina, arriving June 30.
Assigned to the Reconstruction Finance Corporation on August 7, 1945 for disposal as surplus.

Later on the U.S. civil register as NC59786. Imported to Canada in 1956 and registered to
G.H. Green, Red Lake, Ontario on June 11, 1956 and then on June 5, 1963 to Green Airways, Red Lake.
Registered to David Werner (Diamond Aviation), Wrangell, Alaska on December 19, 1986.

Written off in an accident at Bronson Creek, BC on June 4, 1987.
An improperly installed wheel came off on landing and the aircraft groundlooped.
It was further damaged by a Grizzly Bear!

Purchased by the British Columbia Aviation Museum, Victoria, BC.
Major components were used in rebuilding CF-DRE which was completed in August 2003.

Thanks for that Beech 18. Norseman DRE was substantially damaged on Dec 19, 1964 at Pickle Lake Ont. The same old friend that was flying DRE at the time went on to fly in and out of Bronson Creek 35 or 40 years later.

AP

Bronson Creek was my bread and butter for a year. 20 years later I still apply the lessons I learned there when making decisions in the mountains. Primarily don't commit until you have too then be decisive. Seldom was an on time arrival ever a foregone conclusion let alone getting home later. Being able to tell how high the river was by how much of the DC4 was sticking out and at the same time being reminded how badly things can go wrong. Thanks for the pictures.

I just came across this thread, and the name Bronson Creek didn't mean much to me, but the Iskut River certainly did, and as I read the posts, I realized that I had been to the area with Jack Anderson ( North Coast Air Services ) back in 1963 or 64 when they were exploring for what later became the mine. The first time was with Jack's Beaver (OXD ) and the next time was in the Fairchild Husky... long time ago and brought back a lot of fond memories.

stone69 wrote:I just came across this thread, and the name Bronson Creek didn't mean much to me, but the Iskut River certainly did, and as I read the posts, I realized that I had been to the area with Jack Anderson ( North Coast Air Services ) back in 1963 or 64 when they were exploring for what later became the mine. The first time was with Jack's Beaver (OXD ) and the next time was in the Fairchild Husky... long time ago and brought back a lot of fond memories.

Check your PM.

AP

check out you tube buffalo prairie creek
the only reason Bronson had many incidences is because the Douglas's could not handle it because of the fine line of there performance and reliability
these were maverick operators and they were cheap
I have worked in the mountains with the DHC 5 and it is the most ultimate machine you could ever fly

Spring 2006