I was told that there were 2 Twin Pioneers flying from Ross River Yukon in the 70's. Any information on the operation or any pictures would be interesting. The pictures I've seen has sparked my interest. Thanks.

Jack Anderson, North Coast Air Services Ltd., Prince Rupert. I think John Rolls had something to do with them too; can't remember the name of the mechanic although I rented his house while he was up there wrenching them. Might come to me.

Was the Egnineers name Bill Angus?

John Rolls ran Terr Air out of Lost Liver and had 2 Twin Pins. The first was set down and destriyed on the N. or S. Canol Hi way and last I heard was a greenhouse in Watson Lk. The second which I saw a pix posted on here a while ago was taken to Houston B.C or thereabouts and is with the one from Terrace. I think it a Twin Pin museum or something there.
The person to contact is Mike Bellamy, he just published a book Crosswinds and flew for John Rolls. Mike lives in Spruce Grove AB.

Great Stuff!!! Hopefully some pictures will show up. I just love this history stuff about aviation!!!

Yesss! Bill Angus. That's been bugging me since this was first posted - relief!

I think the pioneer you may have mentioned from either Terrace or Houston was acually a pioneer III and never worked in Canada, type cert issues I think, but Phil Rolls was involved with the other twin pioneers. The one parked in either Terrace or Houston was used for target practice for a number of years, not sure where it went.

I read that the -3 had 1340's for engines. Apparentley the british engines on the other series, had no gaskets, and had to be babied by some kind of kook/meticulous engineer, who were really hard to find.

Alvis Leonides sleeve-valve radial engines, same as used on the Fairchild Husky.
Photos with thanks from the aviation photo site...

Jacks' Pioneer was moved from Smithers to Woodcock where it got shot up and vandalized. It was eventually moved to Terrace and if I recall correctly wound up in Australia where it was to be rebuilt. Sorrry don't have any pics for you...

I have two pictures of Jack's Twin Pioneer as it sat on the Woodcock airport. I hope the quality is OK as this is the way I recieved them.

Re: the three Canadian registered TwinPins: I have collected pictures and all sorts of info on these three and published a number of articles about them in aviation magazines in Canada and the United Kingdom.

Anybody who has questions re: the three Canadian-registered TwinPins or wants to share pictures and/or flying and technical experiences, please contact me at:

dirk_septer@hotmail.com

xsbank wrote:Alvis Leonides sleeve-valve radial engines, same as used on the Fairchild Husky.
Photos with thanks from the aviation photo site...

Actually XS, the Leonides 514 was not a sleeve valve. The Bristol Hercules was though, (as used in the Bristol Freighter).

Perhaps that is the confusion.


The 514 is overhead valves and push-rods.

'48

Hey '48, thanks for that. Of course you are correct as my cred takes another nose dive...

I do know that when I was in Rupert in '74-ish, there was a Husky permanently in the hangar there and one of the guys told me that you could get the feeling for flying it by having two guys hammer on the fuselage as hard as they could while another guy threw oil on the windshield. That was with the Leonides.

Full cred for humor there though XS - Good one man. You're redeemed.

I flew for Terr-Air in the early seventies. Beaver's FHZ and AWB. Also Husky MAN. Twin Pin CF-STX was crashed at the old Sheldon airstrip between Ross River and Mac Pass. Another Twin was purchased in England and flown across were it obtained Cdn registration CGSTX. When it arrived it had a Koffman starter. John set it up on its nose a couple of times and the last I saw of it, it was sitting behind the dyke in Ross River in forlorn condition. The Husky was salvaged a couple of years ago north of Mayo YT and I believe stored in YWG.
I imported a Varga from Texas a couple of years ago and was fortunate to get C-GFHZ paying homage to Beaver C-FFHZ which is still flying in the NWT.
I see on a previous post that Bill Angus was mentioned. Is he still around? The man was a genius with those Alvis engines.
I am brand new to AvCanada and looking forward to reading the posts.

Hey guys I knew a pilot that flew in the one stored at terrace
Said they flew drill steel in it to mac pass and once they loaded
Five big pack horses in it with the wheels burried in mud, firewalled the thing, brought down the big fowlers, and damn if it didn't lift out of the mud and take off almost strait up like a hello, last I heard it was in museum in quenel bc

I flew forestry fire patrol flying an Aztec for Trans Provincial Airlines in 1973 in Northern BC based at Watson Lake. It is so long ago but I recall BC Yukon Air had just imported a Bristol Freighter from South America. The chief engineer told me that they had found a hand grenade hanging from its pin under one of the seats. The other thing I remember was the chief engineer lived in an engine crate in the hangar.

I don't recall B.C. Yukon ever having a Bristol Freighter? Are you sure it was them and not TPA in Terrace? The largest engine crate I've ever saw was at the most 5 or 6 ft square. Hard to live in that.

I worked with Bill Angus at North Coast Air Services for a few years.Bill died many years ago.

Was Frank Shinko there then?

Yes...Frank was there also. A few beers with Frank over the years.

I never worked with Frank but he showed up in Whitehorse about 1980 then I heard he was at Field Calgary after that. I wonder where he got to?

Pacqing wrote: ↑Mon Jul 17, 2023 7:05 pm I never worked with Frank but he showed up in Whitehorse about 1980 then I heard he was at Field Calgary after that. I wonder where he got to?

Yes I would like to know where or what happened to Frank Sheinko. Very nice interesting chap. I worked for North Coast in Prince Rupert from the fall of 1971 to May 1972. A short time granted. But working with Frank and AME’s Bill Angus and Dick Hill and helper’s Bobby James, Art Milke, and Murray Wood was a great experience from a pilot’s perspective. Coming from Pickle Lake to Prince Rupert was a huge change in the cost of living. Board and room mostly covered in Pickle Lake. Not the case in Rupert. And the pay wasn’t much different. The Commercial Hotel was the hangout for the Northcoast people. Saturday night at the Surf Club for a nice steak was something else. I vaguely recall the Ho Ho Club?? Thank goodness Ernie Hatzl rescued me out of that downhill slide and got me to Watson Lake with BC Yukon Air Service. Best bush company I ever worked for.

NAP

Can you tell us if B C Yukon ever imported a Bristol Freighter? And who was the chief engineer living in a engine crate?

Pacqing wrote: ↑Tue Jul 18, 2023 7:31 am Can you tell us if B C Yukon ever imported a Bristol Freighter? And who was the chief engineer living in a engine crate?

BC Yukon never had a Bristol Freighter. I worked there for 3 summers off and on. Not consecutively. I have kept in close touch with the family over the years. Fine people. Ray Sande the owner from 1971 to about 1990 passed away in February of this year.

I never heard of anyone living in an engine crate.

NAP