Show in ill canada 1 anada sz 9 az i ta one of canadas canada far flung posts post prepared b by the national geographic society washington D ca C THOUGH tho the revised itinerary A 4 of ca col and mrs afro charles A lindle gs vacation flight to japan and china routed them over many square miles of practically unexplored territory in northwest canada much of 0 the country the they y traversed between washington D 0 and dake baker r lake northwest territories has been flown by canadian government air surveys and by aerial prospectors the native Ind indians lans eskimos and royal koyal cana Can canadyan adlan di ari mounted policemen of the hudson bay district have not before had such distinguished aerial visitors but the sight of an airplane either in winter or summer Is no new experience to them few people except those who have seen been it realize the high degree to which northern canada has organized its air transport using water routes open in summer it has laid down a wide network of fuel and supply stations at strategic points all around hudson day bay at convenient spots down the mackenzie river to lake ath abasca about great slave and great near bear lakes and along the arctic coast and down the yukon these depots are set up now practically every district in continental canada Is within flying range of one of these stations in fact if you picture the canadian airways as linked up with the air net in the united states the broad statement Is true that given good weather no place on the north american continent Is now more than one or two days flight from a railway it was in survey work and in patrols of her millions of acres of forest reserves that canada first used planes the first attempt to use a plane on a long distance commercial mission was made by an oil company in 1021 1921 to meet an emergency it started two all metal monoplanes mono planes on skis from the rall railhead head at peace river on a 1200 mile flight to norman on the mackenzie river the weather was vile blizzards with temperatures of 40 and 60 50 below zero alternated with mild spring thaws pilots are arc resourceful one plane landing on crusted snow at simpson broke through so that a SL ski 1 collapsed and a pro propeller blade struck the ground but the resourcefulness of canadian pilots in a smash far from shops and spare part stores Is 18 revealed in pilot Gor germans mans laconic report on tills this accident march 30 will try and have a new prop made here oak sleigh boards are available also some glue and a hudsons Hud sons bay company man named johnson Is an old cabinetmaker we can use the damaged propeller as aa a pattern and use the catholic mission workshops here march 31 F found moose moosehide hide glue borrowed some boat clamps so that the boards can be clamped tightly together in making the laminated propeller april 15 tested the new propeller it works satisfactorily the amazing degree to which planes now wipe out miles and save time la in canada was shown by flights and photography work carried on from a base on the north shore of the gulf of st lawrence front this stormy coast capt vernon turk robinson made flight after flight bearing surveyors and supplies over a mountainous coast line into the interior plateau lie he carried drums of gas by air making caches at points far distant from these deposits planes could operate even farther inland thus grand falls on the hamilton river was finally reached then after a days flight of miles starting from burnt lake photographs were taken of the falls and the next day the engineer photographer was back in quebec having his pictures developed by sea and canoe the only other means of travel this task would have taken all summer I 1 adventure grim and perilous Is often the lot of pilots and passengers in flight over the long stretch stretched chei of empty wilderness which intervene between fuel caches camps or settlements meet with perilous adventures adventure one party fro from it a base on the inhospitable gulf of st lawrence was forced down by bad weather and had to alight on an unknown unknot lake A Il floating log ripped the bottom from their hull and the flying boat sank casting aside their clothing the crew swam for the shore they made land minus any food or equipment and spent a week naked in the woods in the midst of the black fly season the dayi were blazing hot but the nights freezing cold two kenw men badly hurt in the crash reached the shore only with the greatest difficulty happily however in the party was a land surveyor who managed to swim ashore with a hand band ax and a wa ter tight box of ma matches aches using hla his ax he made a rude shelter by inar ing rabbits in the woods and killing frogs with sticks the party kept alive for seven days till tili rescued by another flying boat sent to seek them the search lor for the lost F french flyers coll coil and nungesser in slay may 1927 nearly cost the lives of captala captain robinson and his crew they had flown along the north shore as far as the Str strait altof of belle bella isle then still full of ice when a storm forced them down anchoring lato late in the evening in the shelter of a rocky ledge they curled up in their cockpit to await better weather suddenly the wind veered blowing a gale from the open sea their anchor dragged and their ship smashed on tile the rocks they saved their emergency kits made a fire on shore from the wreckage of their plane and cooked breakfast they walked 20 miles along the beach to a lighthouse and signal station to report their whereabouts returning from a flight up the river one pilot brought with him an old indian indiana when invited to ride the red man seemed in no way perturbed at the prospect lie he calmly donned helmet and goggles and settled himself in the front cockpit as if flying were tin an everyday act with him in a half hour he flew downstream a distance which just previously it had taken him six days daya to cover by canoe on landing he climbed out stretched himself and sald said to the pilot bon canoll how much him castr cost that indian saw the advantage of 0 air travel in the north country undoubtedly he graphically pictured to himself what paddle work he could save tor for himself and family in their long annual canoe trips to their hunting grounds it if they owned such a bon canot banot I 1 flying in winter in north quebec flying goes on summer and winter on a january morning capt kenneth saunders chief pilot of the can adlan fairchild company started north with an engineer and a hud sons bay company off official lelal on a visit to some of the northern trading posts I 1 unless one flies it usually takes six weeks of on snowshoes with a dog team to haul baggage to reach these wilderness outposts regions between posts are wholly uninhabited snow lies from four to six feet deep trails such as they are usually follow the lakes and rivers through a broken country of small timber when saunders and party left roberval the day was bright and fair but the thermometer was 25 below an hour up the they sighted the first trading post and circled to land on the frozen river either they struck a spot where a warm spring had thawed the ice or else an early fall of snow on this ice had prevented a thicker for formation matlon anyway the plane broke through the men had barely time to crawl from the cabin before tile the whole fuselage was under water luckily they were war mear the post and tom moar thoIn the indian dlan in charge volunteered to walk out the hundred miles to civilization with a message he started away within half an hour taking only an ax some matches and a chunk of moose meat he made the trip in the record time of five days sleeping Ble twice on the second and fourth night in holes in the snow lined with balsam boughs and traveling continuously the rest of the time meantime the canadians set about salvaging their plane they made a platform of logs around the machine on which to work As the water was not deep a tripod of poles cut from the woods was built over the aircraft and its iti wings were removed salvaged their plane seven days later a rescue machine reached the scene with hoisting tackle and tools the wrecked plane was moved safely to shore A tent was waa erected around the front of the fuselage and the engine which was a solid mass of ice this ice fee was chopped out and then a stove was lit in the tent and gradually the cabin and engine thawed out the metal propeller pro badly bent was straightened and the engine reassembled the carburetor though frozen in a solid block of ice for eight days again worked perfectly on the eth of february the plane was again ready tor for flight accompanied by the rescue machine which had bad made several trips to ferry A gas gao orovil lons and little gifts for mrs moar aloar and her family on whose hospitality the crew had been dependent during the salvage operations it took off safely and flew back to roberval northern british columbia columb ia Is as inaccessible e a country ns as can be found on tills this continent cut CIA off from the pacific by the panhandle of alaska with its coastal mountains ains land and glaciers it can be reached only by the the pence althe or the liard alard rivers and their tributaries tributa ries |