Midnight Sun Float Plane Fly-inBy Danielle Metcalfe-Chenail
posted 9 August 2011 The Midnight Sun Float Plane Fly-In took place July 22-24 in spectacular Yellowknife, Northwest Territories. It was a weekend full of vintage aircraft, flying legends like Max Ward and "Buffalo" Joe McBryan, and aviation enthusiasts from around the world - and was largely organized by CAHS members! |
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Living in Montreal North, Richard often visited Cartierville and has many wonderful images of Sabres, Tutors, Starfighters, CL-44s and pretty much anything else that was built at Canadair in the ‘50s and ‘60s.
"Buffalo" Joe McBryan accepts a model of his Mk. V Norseman, CF-SAN, from Yvonne Quick, Fly-In chair, and Mike Burns of the Fox Moth Society (both are also CAHS members).
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CAHS National President, Danielle Metcalfe-Chenail, in the right seat of Joe's Norseman during the bush pilot memorial fly-by.
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An aerial view of the Air Tindi float base.
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One room of Max Ward's old float base building was filled with models and information from local flying lore. This display was largely organized by CAHS members Gordon Piro and Mike Burns.
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Dorval was another location my father spent a lot of time at watching aircraft. There was always a steady stream of international and domestic airliners coming and Montreal.
The Prince of Wales Northern Heritage Centre features an aviation gallery. Leading up to it are several models of aircraft operated by NWT companies - so don't forget to look up!
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There is also a Fox Moth, CF-BNI, that the Fox Moth Society came together to salvage, restore, and display. To learn more about this process, please click here.
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Richard frequented RCAF Station St. Hubert and, along with CF-100 and Sabre images, captured military visitors from the USAF and RAF.
No visit to Yellowknife would be complete without a trip out to the Buffalo Airways hangar - home of the Ice Pilots!
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Joe personally flew five DC-3 rides (with co-pilot Tyler Sipos) for the Fly-In, donating his time, equipment, and avgas. He is fully committed to supporting local aviation and its history!
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Danielle and Joe in the cockpit of 'GWIR.
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Of course it's not all movie stars and tourists at Buffalo: they also have a busy sked, charter and fire suppression workload.
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Thanks again to the organizers of the fly-in, the tourism reps, and all the Yellowknifers who preserve and celebrate aviation history!
For more information on this bi-annual event (mark your calendars for July 2013!), please visit: www.floatplaneflyin.com.
For more information on this bi-annual event (mark your calendars for July 2013!), please visit: www.floatplaneflyin.com.