86-year-old floatplane, last of its kind known to still be flying, takes to the skies in Vanderhoof, B.C.
1938 Bellanca Aircruiser is on loan from Erickson Aircraft Collection in Oregon
An airplane with origins in the days when bush pilots transported people, cargo and even horses across northern Canada is taking flight once again in central B.C.
A 1938 Bellanca Aircruiser, made from various materials including wood and fabric, is spending the summer in Vanderhoof, B.C., about 100 kilometres west of Prince George.
On loan from the Erickson Aircraft Collection in Oregon, it's being piloted by Glenn Pearce, a retired Air Canada pilot with over 55 years of experience.
In a journey more than 1,000 kilometres long, Pearce flew the plane from the Erickson museum in the community of Madras, Oregon up to Vanderhoof. It was a multi-day trip and he used only a map and a compass to guide him, just as bush pilots did before the advent of GPS systems.
"It was quite an experience," he said. "It's very hands-and-feet, you've got to be flying that thing all the time.... but it flies very well."
Though originally designed to transport multiple passengers, U.S. federal regulations banned single-engine planes like the Bellanca Aircruisers from that task in 1934.
That led to a new market for them, primarily in supporting mining and exploration operations in Canada as late as the 1970s.
"It's airplanes like this that actually opened up the north," said B.C. Aviation Museum president Stephen Dale. "Prior to these airplanes, it was an awfully long haul to get anything up to the northern communities... you can get this thing into an area that is virtually unapproachable by any other means of transportation."
According to the Erickson Collection, the plane Pearce has been flying was custom built to support a gold mining operation in the Phillipines before being pressed into service in Canada, and is the last of its kind still able to fly.
Pearce said among the pilots who've flown it is Wilfred Leigh Brintnell, who according to Canada's Aviation Hall of Fame, was the first person to circle Great Bear Lake by air. That led to the discovery of uranium deposits in the area, which were ultimately used in the Manhattan Project and the development of the first atomic bombs.
Pearce is taking the plane on short trips around the region and locals have been dropping by with questions. He plans to bring it to the Fort St. John air show on the weekend of Aug. 2 and 3 and to have a public event in Vanderhoof in September.
"I'm very privileged to be able to fly something like this," he said. "It's a priceless piece of equipment."
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