Bush Pilots and their planes

Bush pilots and their planes

In 1919, most of Canada's 3,700,000 square miles were still uncharted wilderness. People could sail along parts of Canada's extensive coastline or travel coast to coast on a single railroad line that virtually hugged the Canadian-American border, but if someone wanted to penetrate into Canada's interior, they were pretty well limited to the horse, canoe or dogsled.

But on June 15, 1919, ex-Royal Naval Air Service pilot Stuart Graham helped change the course of history when he climbed into a war surplus flying boat and took off from Halifax-Dartmouth.

When he landed four days later at Grand-Mère, Quebec., Graham became Canada's first recognized bush pilot. His employer was the St. Maurice Forest Protective Service, which eventually became Laurentide Air Service.

Floatplanes Photo: Archiv

Graham's primary duty was to fly forest fire patrols over the St. Maurice River valley, but in short order his employer's business expanded to in-clude prospecting, aerial survey and mail delivery. Other provinces took note of Graham's ability to wander at will over a huge country with few roads but plenty of lakes and rivers. By the end of the decade bush planes were flying over every province and territory in Canada.

Some frontiers have been opened by ships, some by trains, others by foot and horseback. The North was opened up by air - by bush pilots and their planes. The early decades of flight in the North are still considered the golden era, when pilots often risked life and limb to bring Northerners everything from mail and building materials to dog teams and medical care.

Laurentide Airservice Photo: Archiv

The planes they flew on these missions share the spotlight with the pilots:

Noorduyn Norseman:
The first aircraft specifically designed to meet the rigours of flying in the bush. It proved popular with bush pilots because it was easily adapted to wheels, floats or skis, and was covered in fabric. It came out in late 1935, and was a cornerstone of the Northern air fleet for decades.

De Havilland Beaver:
All-metal and designed to meet the demand for a simple, rugged utility bush plane, its design was based on input from experienced bush pilots. Released in 1946, it had unique flap ailerons that made short take-offs and landings possible, and it was easy to fit on skis, floats or wheels. Still a popular airplane in Canada.

De Havilland Beaver

Beaver Photo: Archiv

De Havilland Single Otter:
A decade after the Beaver rolled off the assembly line, the manufacturer began looking for a plane of equal performance but with greater payload capability. The Otter delivered, making it valuable for building camps.

De Havilland Twin Otter:
Its predecessors had proved themselves as versatile, reliable aircraft, but the demand had grown for the greater safety and heavier payload capability that two engines could provide. De Havilland’s answer was the Twin Otter, still a common sight in the North today.

Twin Otter

Twin Otter "Water Bomber" Photo: Archiv

Cessnas:
The North has been home to the 170, 180, 185, 195, 206 and Caravan, among others. They've generally been fast, economical and capable of operating on wheels, floats and skis. Most are four- and five-seaters, while the Caravan can carry nine to 14passengers.

Cessna
Cessna Floatplane Brampton Airport Photo: Archiv

Bellanca AirCruiser:
The AirCruiser was a spacious, single-engine aircraft capable of carrying 13 passengers or a ton and a half of cargo. Manufactured in the mid-1930s, the high-wing monoplane had a range of 1230 kilometres, a speed of 226 km/hour, and a ceiling of 5000 metres.

Fairchild:
Thanks to an airplane designer who got cold feet, an aircraft was born that revolutionized flight. You can thank Sherman Fairchild for deciding to en-close and heat the cockpit, an invention that made the airplane popular and useful during the heydays of exploration in the late 1920s and 1930s.

De Havilland Fox Moth:
The Fox Moth was a hybrid of three earlier, pre-Second World War De Havilland airplanes: the Gypsy, Puss and Tiger Moth. Her adaptability - she could be transformed into an aerial ambulance, an aerial photography craft, a freighter or passenger carrier, and could be fitted with skis, floats or wheels - made her an ideal bush plane.

Fokker Super Universal:
While not designed for Northern bush conditions, these planes - single engine monoplanes capable of carrying up to six passengers or a cargo of 567 kilograms - were used to undertake the first major air-freighting job in Canada (in 1927) and they were instrumental in opening up unexplored parts of the Canadian Arctic in the late 1920s.

Douglas DC-3:
These war horses of the Second World War, which made their debut as passengers planes in the 1930s, still drone over the North like friendly bumblebees.

BUSH PLANE MUSEUM
http://www.bushplane.com

ATLANTIC CANADA AVIATION MUSEUM
http://www.acam.ednet.ns.ca

AVIATION MUSEUM AT SHEARWATER
http://www.shearwateravationmuseum.ns.ca

ALBERTA BUSHFLYING AVIATION MUSEUM
http://www.discoveredmonton.com

BUSH FLYING MUSEUM, SAULT SAINT MARIE, ON
http://www.bushplane.com

CANADA AVIATION MUSEUM IN OTTAWA
http://www.aviation.technomuses.ca

DC-3