Photo © Don McDonald A picture of a Catalina PBY-5A in its element... Don McDonald sent me this shot of C-FDIL (c/n 427), made during the 1980s. He wrote me the following: I was co-captain of this aircraft, tail number C-FDIL, which was operated by a company called Pacific Airboats and/or Can Air Services. We flew the west coast of British Columbia between Vancouver and the Queen Charlotte Islands. The company only operated for a single season in 1980 and I subsequently ended up driving DC3's in the western Arctic for Terra Mining and Exploration as well as for Buffalo Airways (world's largest fleet of radial-engine aircraft) and Northwest Territorial Airways in Hay River, NWT and Yellowknife, NWT. I've also flown water-bomber PBY's, water-bomber DC-6B's plus a host of light twins and single engine aircraft. I only spent five years as a commercial pilot before switching to the business world but somehow you never really leave it behind you..... Thanks Don ! Bernard Filiatrault, who runs the Yahoo Forum on the RCMP Air Division, wrote me in August 2005: "My dad was the pilot of the Flying Fisherman for Can Air when it flew charters on the coast after he retired from the RCMP Air Services. I believe he is the pilot talked about on your notes." Meanwhile the registration has changed on this Cat, it is now (anno 2004) N314CF and in restoration with Hawkins & Powers in Greybull,WY. It has been reported to be destined to participate in the search for the crashsite of Amelia Earheart. If I got the histories right (it was unmarked when I ran into it), I think C-FDIL (N314CF) is the same Catalina as the one I saw at Mojave in 1997. N314CF was reported, during 2001, at Lake Mead, Boulder City and owned by Al Hansen. On 05Dec03 it was registered (still N314CF) for Alegre Air Inc of Santa Fé,NM. It was reregistered as N206M on 24Aug04.

This photo (no date) was kindly provided by Michael Prophet from his collection. He added the following comments: "N314CF (c/n 427) Canso A (BuNo: 9750). Was active with SAESA (EC-FRG), active as a firebomber at Cuatro Vientos, Madrid (Spain). It flew to the USA in Nov96 and was been painted in blue Navy c/s during Apr97. Owner Albert C. Hansen had it based at Mojave,CA and flew the Catalina up to Anchorage (Aug99) as a guest for A.H.Museum for local display, the aircraft still retains its full fire bombing equipment. It was ferried to Greybull, WY (date?) and stored outdoors, minus its props and outer wings."

The Cat ("Tanker 73") is seen here in Spain; photo taken by Ron Mak. Murcia, San Javier Airport, 03Sep94.

Don added the following comments about flying this bird: "The PBY was the most physically demanding aircraft I ever flew. If we were in any kind of moderate turbulence, about 30 minutes was the maximum that a single pilot could tolerate. Extreme rough-water take-offs took both pilots at the controls, hence the propensity for co-captains (which didn't always work). The props were about two feet behind the pilot's ears and even with headsets, after a typical day the crew was going "What?" "Hello? "Do I know you?" ... We would land on wheels in strange places , leave the engines running and I would jump/crawl/slither out the hatch above my seat and hope the Monster Props would miss me, literally climb down the hull for the ground-work, then do the reverse. DC-3s were just over-sized SuperCubs in comparison

This Can Air C-FDIL photo was taken by Ron Mak and had ended up in Michael Prophet's extensive collection; he provided me with a scan but found he had no date or location with the slide; this was solved by help from others, read on. Kenneth Swartz got back to me with: "This photo of CF-DIL could have been taken at the seaplane base at Victoria Airport, or perhaps Port Hardy on Vancouver Island, Alliford Bay on the Queen Charlotte Islands, or Seal Cove, the float base for Prince Rupert. Clue to location is the wartime RCAF hangar in the background located near the waterfront.... I am a Director of the Toronto Aerospace Museum at Downsview. Our plans include repatriating old propliners made by DHC or operated from Toronto .... Have a look: www.torontoaerospacemuseum.com". Thanks Ken ! Confirmation to where the photo was taken was also provided: "it was taken on the East ramp at Victoria Airport (CYYJ). The hangar behind CF-DIL used to be Flying Firemen's, but is now just used to build boats ! " Thanks Brian ! (15Apr04). During Feb.2006 the photographer, Ron Mak, became aware of this discussion and confirmed the photo had been taken at Victoria Airport Vancouver Island, during april 1980. Thanks Ron !

Ron also added the following information on Can Air: "Can Air (not CANAIR), its owner was a Dutch Canadian (Ray Bernard) with 2 aircraft to Can Air's name: C-FSAT en C-FDIL. The former was lost near Hawaii in 1986. Ray had an air service in the Pacific, from Truk Island to surrounding islands."

During July 2006 I received following email from Wendell Taylor- "In 1942 I worked in the Boeing Aircraft plant on Sea Island at Vancouver, B.C., building the Catalinas for the war effort. Worked on the frame construction. After the war, in about 1950, Queen Charlotte Airlines out of Prince Rupert, B.C. used Catalinas for passenger service all over northern B.C. and into the Northwest Territories. When I was in the Reserve Army in Yellowknife, a Queen Charlotte Catalina was hired by the govenment to fly a load of us Reservists from Yellowknife out to Edmonton for training. The plane was really finely done up inside with two stewardesses, plush seats and all ! Also the "bubbles" were still installed for viewing. On flying over thousands of miles of burned and burning bush land, the heat drove that Catalina up and down like an elevator with the wings visibly flexing... Both stewardesses were airsick and lying on the floor with oxygen masks. I never got airsick, from having been in the Navy, I suppose. I also flew on Catalinas which were used out of Yellowknife, when searching for downed planes over miles and miles of barren lands, sitting in the observation bubble. We also used Lancaster bombers for this purpose." Thanks Wendell !

Last updated 17.2.2006