I flew with the Duck back in '06 while working for Kenora Air Service. It's true he wasn't a very polished man. His appearance was as weathered as the life he lived; yet this guy could really fly an airplane (and fix them too)! I'll never forget the load check I did with him on a trip to pick up some guys claim staking near Sandy Lake. The lake was small for a Beaver, or so I thought. With only a few hours on the DHC2 at that point, I managed to get in but I botched the landing pretty bad. Donnie suggested we switch seats briefly. With Duck at the controls he promptly took off and gave the claim stakers the buzz job of their life; after which he pulled up into a steep climb, pulled the power and kicked the beaver into a hammerhead turn. Now on the precipice of a dive, he dumped all the flaps causing us to hang in our seats with nothing but the lake and trees occupying the entire windscreen. Like that we remained as we floated down to the lake where upon he applied power and rounded out to complete the shortest and softest lading I had ever witnessed... all while smoking a cigarette, with the usual inch of ash hanging off the end. After a few more stops with myself back at the controls we headed home. When I looked over at Donnie he wasn't smoking politely out the window as he often did. No, he was cracking cold beers with the passengers. "Celebrating your beaver checkout sonny, she's all yours now!" was all he said before leaning back and lighting another smoke...
