Dirk Septer's vintage propliners in Canada

Dirk Septer's vintage propliners in Canada.

Photos © Dirk Septer

Dirk Septer shares my interest in vintage aircraft and aviation history. His focus includes the large multi propellor aircraft as well as the undefeatable bushplanes.
Various visits by him to the exotic Caribbean, resulted in a first page. But this page has propliners closer to home - but not in all instants as easy to get to.
Dirk added: "I have been travelling the Arctic for almost 20 years for at least one trip, sometimes two, a year. Always pick a different final destination, but always travelling through the hubs of Yellowknife and/or Rankin Inlet/Iqaluit.
I do it the hard/cheap way: two days on the bus Campbell River-Hay River and again two days back from there. On the 2009 trip, for example, I camped out 10 nights in 7 different locations. Tiresome, but the bottom line is that it's cheap.
Over the years, I've developed a network of friends and contacts where I can get free coffee in the morning, a shower when needed or a couch when weathered/snowed out."

Early August 2009 Dirk wrote me: "As the heatwave continues, with temperatures in the 30s up to 40, the country is ablaze with forest fires... The two Convair waterbombers based here at Campbell River are constantly flying over my house, to drop their loads somewhere on fires on the mainland.
Also a photo of the long-time project Yak at Sealand in Campbell River."

Convair CV580 C-FKFB (c/n 57), converted to Airtanker ('47') by Kelowna Flightcraft (?) and Conair.
[30Jul09]

Dirk sent me these in July 2009, writing: "Just back from my latest trip to the Arctic: Hay River-Yellowknife-Rankin Inlet-Iqaluit and Cape Dorset...
Here are a few you might be interested in."
C-FGET Air Inuit

Avro 748-244 series 2 C-FGET (c/n 1724) of Air Inuit on 10Jul09 at Iqaluit.

Basler BT-67 'Turbo Dak' C-GJKB (c/n 13383) on 10Jul09, also at Iqaluit (... is the territorial capital and the largest community of the Canadian territory of Nunavut, see Wikipedia)

While many of the remaining Dash 7s are used for special transport needs in remote areas, this is what the airplane was designed for. Some Dash 7s have been specially modified to accomplish special missions such as aerial surveying and reconnaissance.
The Canadian Ice Service uses the one and only Dash 7IR-150 for ice surveillance in the Canadian Arctic. It is operated for Ice patrol by Bradley Air Services / First Air for the Canadian government. From January to March the aircraft is based at Summerside PEI, patrolling the Gulf of St. Lawrence. From early April the Straight of Belle Isle, Labrador coast, and northern Newfoundland are patrolled from Gander. June is a maintenance period as there is no sea ice in open shipping areas. From July to October the arctic is monitored from Iqaluit (Frobisher Bay, YFB) with sub-bases at Resolute Bay, Inuvik, Fairbanks, and Thule AB (Greenland).
The primary support is to the Canadian Coast Guard (CCG) and its fleet of icebreakers who in turn support all shipping in canadian waters. A secondary role is iceberg surveillance as part of Canada's contribution to the North Atlantic Ice Patrol.
On deployment the aircraft has an aircrew of pilot, co-pilot, and engineer, with a mission crew of 4 ice service specialists and an electronics technician. Maintenance in done in the field with the aircraft coming back to Ottawa only between seasonal deployments, at which time any required major servicing is performed.

C-GCFR (s/n 102) was the first 150 series made. It was delivered in May, 1986 and holds 18,000 lb. of fuel (with two 4,000 lb. auxiliary tanks inboard of the #2 and #3 engine nacelles.) Fuel dumping is available for the auxiliary tanks to attain maximum landing mass in case of emergency. For normal operations only around 14,000 lb. of fuel are loaded.
The aircraft can stay airborne for almost 16 hours with VFR reserves. Due to the extra equipment its operating mass of 31,000 lb. is slightly higher than the usual airline version.
It has an Observatory dome on top of the fuselage and bubble windows out each side and. A SLAR (side looking airborne radar) can take a continuous picture 100 miles wide. (50 miles on each side of the aircraft). The SLAR can see the ground or icebergs through cloud and at night. Radar and camera images can be sent to ground stations and CCG icebreakers via an S-band downlink transmitter. A glass bottom bay holds a Zeiss large-format mapping camera to take pictures out the bottom of the aircraft.
Additionally, it has a drop chute in the back to drop AXBTs (airborne expendable bathytherms that measure and transmit sea temperature from surface to floor) as well as beacons used to measure sea ice and iceberg drift. It has NATO type hard points under the wings but these are not normally used.
An APU is fitted in # 4 engine nacelle. Further equipment includes dual IRS and GPS (Omega and Loran C were fitted but have been removed), airborne management computer and peripherals, HF fax transmitter, M-Sat(voice & data). This aircraft reportedly cost the Canadian government 38 million dollars to build. (Info by Paul Hobson & Canadian Ice Service)
[Source: http://members.aon.at/~slenz/dash7.html]

Not much left of C-54G C-GXKN c/n 36090 (13Jul09)
There is a story to this of course, Dirk wrote: "this Four was involved in a mishap at Norman Wells, YT on 05Jan06. The aircraft was later transported back to Yellowknife on a barge over the Mackenzie River. In August 2007 and its nose section was used to replace the one on C-GPSH, which had been damaged at Carat Lake in December 2006." See also my Photos by Friends & Guests, page 8

Hay River,NWT is a base for Buffalo Airways; aircraft are stored here for future (spares) use and no doubt maintenance can be done here too.
Dirk visited Hay River during early July 2009 and sent these photos.
Tanker 56 is C-GBNV, a Douglas C-54G (c/n 35988/382).
Tanker 14 is C-GBAJ, Douglas C-54E (c/n 27328,linenumber 274). I'd seen it at Red Deer in 2006.
The white/2-tone blue one is Douglas C-54G C-FBAM (c/n 36009/403), stored with its engines dismantled

C-FBAJ is an early Douglas C-54A; it has c/n 3088.
Its history is described on my page YELLOWKNIFE 2006

C-GCTF is seen temporarily out of service, due to an unwilling engine no.2, AT YELLOWKNIFE 2006
And so here it is at Hay River, taken out of service?

Tanker 13, Buffalo
Tanker 13 is C-FBAK (c/n 10613), although that tailnumber is not on the aircraft to be found.
Jason 'Jspitfire' pineau has a selection of Hay River propliners on his Flickr.com pages

Dirk added: "Strictly speaking, tanker 13, 14, 16 and 57 are not tankers, just maybe potential ones..."

CF-UAW Catalina firebomber
Consolidated-Vultee PBY-5A C-FUAW (CV-302) was reported for sale in 2004. Any buyers?

"C-FBAP Tanker 15; during the 2009 forest fire season this one, and C-FBAJ, were active and ready to go. C-GCTF Tanker 58 was also based at Hay River, acting as a spare plane."

Buffalo Airways at Hay River; these were taken in 2008.
Tanker 57 C-FIQM

C-54G C-FIQM (c/n 36088/482), tanker 57.

C-FBAJ Tanker 02

C-FBAK tanker 13

Dirk faced the wintry cold of Canada's high North, in Nov.2008, and took these images at Yellowknife,NWT
- home of Buffalo Airways - Bufalo Airways, winter 2008 Yellowknife

Douglas C-54G C-FIQM (c/n 36088/482)

Curtiss C-46D C-FAVO (c/n 33242)

Douglas C-54E C-GCTF (c/n 27281/227)

Lockheed L.188AF Electra C-FBAQ (c/n 1039)

Registered to Buffalo Airways 03Jul07
Former identities:
VH-RMA N356Q N355WS N356Q N356CE N356Q OE-ILB

Lockheed L.188AF Electra C-GLBA (c/n 1145)

Registered to Buffalo Airways 03Jul07.
Former identities:
N9746C CF-IJJ N5767 N9746C LN-MOI LN-FOH OE-ILA

Douglas C-54D C-FBAA "Arctic Expeditor" (c/n 10653/384)

'Big Doug' airtankers of Buffalo Airways at Hay River in 2007

C-54A C-FBAJ (c/n 3088/30) Tanker 02	C-54G C-GBNV (c/n 35988) Tanker 56
Line up: C-FBAM, C-GBAJ, C-FBAP	C-54E C-GBAJ (c/n 27328) Tanker 14

C-54G C-FBAM (c/n 36009) was sold by Aero Union in 2005 to Buffalo Airways, having had them for 19 years. Aero Union had trouble in licensing the aircraft for use of an aerial firefighter since it was US registered (N4958M) in an experimental category.

Tanker 13 has faded tailnbr C-FBAK

PBY-5A CF-UAW (c/n CV301) at Hay River

C-54D C-FBAA at Yellowknife

C-GBPA is Tanker 16, stored at Y'knife

See also my report on a visit to Yellowknife in 2006, page 1 and page 2

Dirk Septer's showcase of propliners in the Caribbean

To email me, click on the image and write the correct adress as given below
(replace -AT- by the @ symbol).

Sorry for the inconvenience, but this is because spam has increasingly become a problem.