by Diana Trafford | Oct 23, 2016 | Ferry Command, Howard Watt
Venturas, Mitchells and Liberators at Dorval, Québec, awaiting delivery by Ferry Command to the United Kingdom and points beyond, 13 May 1942. Photo: Dept. of National Defence / Library and Archives Canada / PA-114759. Howard Watt was one of several...
by Diana Trafford | Oct 4, 2016 | Compagnie aérienne franco-canadienne, Nieuport-Delage 391, TravelAir 4000
The Nieuport-Delage 391 was widely used in France by the Compagnie aérienne française. In Canada, it was the aircraft of choice for the Compagnie aérienne franco-canadienne for its 1929 airmail route. What a Sinking Feeling… Aviation...
by Diana Trafford | Sep 16, 2016 | Barb & Con Campbell, Gold Belt Air Service, Howard Watt, Quebec aviation
Living in Rouyn-Noranda, Québec, Barb and Con Campbell heard that Gold Belt Air Service was looking to replace their man at remote Bachelor Lake. They jumped at the chance to take over the year-round job. They would refuel the company aircraft, keep the two-way radio...
by Diana Trafford | Aug 3, 2016 | Curtiss HS-2L, Quebec aviation
La Vigilance on the waters of Lac Témiscouata. Photo: Musée du Bas-Saint-Laurent, Fonds Aline Cloutier c276. Treasures to discover Aviation history buffs will find many treasures in Québec’s regional and local museums, as a friend and I discovered...
by Diana Trafford | Jul 12, 2016 | Curtiss HS-2L, Curtiss Seagull, Quebec aviation
“La Vigilance” – the Curtiss HS-2L flying boat registered as G-CAAC. Photo: Canada Aviation and Space Museum. Remembering a Canadian aviation pioneer July 17, 2016 – The date marks 40 years since Canadians said goodbye to our first bush...
by Diana Trafford | Mar 25, 2016 | Quebec aviation
Stitched panorama of RVA chez Mo / Mo’s Fly-in 2011 by Jean-Pierre Bonin © [wowslider id=”2″] Slideshow of photos from Jean-Pierre Bonin’s album of RVA Chez Mo Fly-in 2015. To see the whole album, with complete aircraft identification,...
by FOH | Mar 18, 2016 | Compagnie aérienne franco-canadienne, Quebec aviation
From an open cockpit in a Schreck FBA-17 flying boat, French aviation pioneer Jacques de Lesseps and his team photographed more than 24,800 km2 of the rugged Gaspé terrain under contract to the Quebec government in 1926 and 1927. The provincial Ministry of Lands and...
by Diana Trafford | Mar 13, 2016 | DHC-2 Beaver
Hands clenched around the control column, the pilot was tense. We were flying across Great Bear Lake in Canada’s Northwest Territories. Something sure was bugging him. I was getting stressed out. Whatever was wrong, I could face it – if I knew what it was. But there...
by FOH | Jan 14, 2016 | Curtiss JN-4 Canuck, Elliot Air Service, Howard Watt
— Bush flying in the Canadian North has never been a vocation for the faint of heart. My uncle Howard Watt found that out the hard way during the Red Lake gold rush in Northwestern Ontario in 1926. In fact, he nearly died. Flying an open-cockpit biplane, a...
by FOH | Jan 4, 2016 | Introduction
A while back, as I was researching family genealogy, I took a detour into aviation history. Stories about my uncles, both bush pilots, captured my imagination. As pioneer aviators in the 1920s and 1930s they would have faced endless challenges flying in remote areas...
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