8 True stories from flying in Canada’s north with the now bygone Austin Airways. At the time Canada’s oldest airline.
- On his first flight in a Canso aircraft in Canada’s northland, the flight attendant was doing his duties when he glanced out the window. To his horror the unthinkable was happening: the aircraft was making a forced landing into the sea! Fresh from the training course given to all flight attendants, he started yelling to the startled, mostly Inuit passengers: “Put your heads down we are crashing, we are crashing!”
He was wondering why most of the passengers just ignored him and others just stared at him with puzzled expressions, until the aircraft made a routine landing into the bay at Saanikiluaq in the Belcher Islands. He had forgotten that a Canso is also capable of landing in water.
- The new flight attendant on her first flight gets called into the cockpit by the Captain, who informs her that the landing gear is stuck and will not come down. Horrified the five foot something girl asks: “What do we do now?” The captain explains to her that perhaps if she were to jump up and down over the wing section in the passenger cabin, it would shake the landing gear loose.
With a worried look she heads into the cabin and in front of her puzzled passengers starts jumping up and down…suddenly she hears the landing gear going down.
Upon seeing the excitement in the attendants face, the captain is unable to tell her of the first flight initiation prank.
- After the Captain makes a very rough landing, he quickly seizes the p/a microphone and apologizes to the passengers for the uncomfortable landing that the First Officer has made, promising that the next landing will be smoother, as he will do it himself. After the aircraft taxies to a halt, the first officer quickly takes the captain’s jacket and hat that is hanging on the cockpit wall and walks proudly through the passenger cabin amid grateful applause.
- A seasoned flight attendant on a DC-3, flying duck hunters to Native villages in Ontario’s north, realizes on takeoff that one engine is on fire. A startled hunter grabs him and says: “Hey, that engine is on fire!” As the aircraft slowly circles for an emergency landing he calmly tells the passenger: “that’s why we have two engines!”
- While flying duck hunters to Native villages in a DC-3 a pilot in training had gone into the cockpit before the passengers were boarded, in hopes of getting some training on the ferry flight home. The captain and first officer walk through the cabin after all the passengers have sat down.
During the flight the Captain decides to go into the passenger cabin to chat with the hunters. Jokingly a passenger says: “I hope there is someone still flying this thing.”
The Captain informs him that there are always two pilots in a DC-3.
Soon however the hunters scramble for their seats and seat belts as they see the other pilot backing through the curtain that divides the cockpit from the cabin, holding on to a rope with which he is pretending to steer the plane. After they realize that the plane is still flying as well as before the nervous passengers relax somewhat. Amazed at the abilities of these northern fliers they prod the pilots with questions. After both pilots have gone into the cockpit again and after an uneventful landing they realize the joke is on them when three pilots come walking from the cockpit.
- As a new flight attendant working in the Canadian north, I had heard horror stories of the most difficult pilot of all: Captain Dave! The day finally came when I had to fly with him. Trying to be diplomatic I asked him: “what in your opinion makes a good flight attendant?” He growled and said: “one who serves me coffee before the wheels are up!” As the airplane was taxiing I made his coffee and then went and sat on the floor behind his seat. As soon as the plane cleared the runway and the Captains hand reached for the landing gear handle beside him, I put the coffee cup into his hand. His surprised look turned into a broad smile, and after that I never did have any problems flying with big Dave.
- On a charter flight to the high arctic, we wondered how to spend the three days while our passengers finished their business. One of our pilots saw some Inuit hunters packing their snow mobiles with hunting gear and went on to ask where they were headed. The men of few words answered, “seal hunting”.
It being early in the morning our pilot asked if he could join them. Without hesitation they agreed to take him. They had driven about three hours when one of the snow mobiles developed engine trouble. As the Inuit hunters tried to repair it, the pilot suggested that perhaps he should return to the village. Always the hospitable hosts, they gave him one of the snowmobiles and told him to keep on the tracks back to the village. It was already dark by the time the pilot arrived back at the village. Later he asked the villagers how far the hunters were travelling? With laughing eyes they told him that the hunters would only return in the spring, more than three months away!
- Nervous on her first flight, the attendant picked up the handset for the p/a for her announcement. After reading the safety procedures and flight information, proud for not having made any mistakes, she hears the captain asking her to call the cockpit.
The captain says, “Thank you for telling me all this but now could you tell the passengers? She had inadvertently switched the p/a to cockpit instead of passenger cabin.
- While working at Saanich Peninsula Hospital on Vancouver Island BC., I noticed the sign on the cafeteria board for Tomorrows Special which said, “Battered Cod”. I didn’t think anyone would object to my addition of: “Help stop the battering of Cod!”
The next day as I went to pay for my lunch, to my delight someone had put a container beside the cash register with the following sign:
“Give to the battered cod fund!” And in true B.C. style there was already money in the container.
Memories of Austin Airways
While flying over the frozen tundra, I was gazing at the beautiful snow covered mountain scenery of Western Baffin Island far below, reflecting on how I came to be in this place so far from Vancouver Island, my adopted home.
Unemployment had found me looking for work in Northern Ontario, where I was told everyone could find work. Sure enough, in a short time I was working for the oldest airline in Canada: Austin Airways.
As I was watching the Hawker Siddeley 748’s lumbering with their cargoes of food and supplies to places I had never heard of let alone knowing how to pronounce correctly, I wondered what it would be like to go to all those places? Places with names like: Povingnituk, Kashachewan, Saanikiluaq, Pangnirtung etc.
In a short while I became a flight attendant, after graduating from the excellent ground training provided by our chief flight attendant. We had learned that above all, safety of passengers and survival, in case of crash were the most important aspects of our work.
The work was hard in a harsh climate, loading and unloading cargo in the bitter cold. Serving the odd passenger, mostly First nations and Inuit, whom I grew to respect and love. The pilots, with dreams of someday flying in the real world, were for the most part gruff, dedicated and knowledgeable, totally at home in this hostile environment. I couldn’t help to wonder if they really would be happier flying in the regulated airspaces of the south. Little did we know then that in a few short years, not only would the airline cease to exist but we would all be flying and living in the real world.
One of our cargo/passenger flights originated in Timmins at 0400 on Wednesday mornings. We would then fly to Great Whale and onwards to Cape Dorset on Baffin Island. A quick turnaround, before the aircraft was totally frozen, with a smaller load of frozen arctic char and Inuit carvings and we would be on our way back for the direct flight to Timmins. A total flight time of about twelve hours, plus stops.
During the duck hunting season we would fly hunters from USA and Canada to native villages on the Hudson Bay and James Bay coast. Sometimes we even got to fly in the venerable DC-3, a bird that I quickly grew to admire. A full cabin meant 28 passengers and their hunting gear. I often wondered about the hunters who flew to Timmins in their private jets and then continued onward with us. It must have seemed like stepping backwards in time.
Arctic char fishing on Baffin Island is one of the premium experiences for the serious fisherman. Every year we flew plane loads of these fishermen to various communities. Sometimes we even got to spend a few days fishing ourselves. What a rich experience it turned out to be. Air so clean that gauging distances was impossible. Once I decided to walk to a waterfall seemingly a one hour hike away from camp. Four hours later the waterfall was still ahead of me. Dejectedly I hiked back to camp.
Then there were the miracles of the “hawker”. Once we were loaded up with condensed milk cartons in Moosonee and during take off the aircraft seemed a tad sluggish.
The pilot radioed the ground to find out what had been loaded onto the plane.
A short while later the call came back: Oops, we loaded two freight loads into the plane by mistake! Take off cargo weight was approx 10,000 lbs, we had on 20,000 lbs!
Yet the aircraft was able to take off. My trust in the hawker grew each time I heard of these feats.
The following story was relayed to me: Once when a hawker lost an engine in Frobisher Bay, the pilot called HQ to find out if the plane was capable of taking off with one engine. The reply was: “Do not attempt, it is impossible!” That was the wrong thing to say, as he then proceeded to use most of the 2.6 km runway to get the hawker airborne and fly it all the way home to Timmins, on one engine.
A favourite prank was to take off, build up air speed, find a poor soul on his Skidoo and fly low from behind the unsuspecting person, then quickly climb and bank to see the results. Most of the time the skidoo tracks would show an erratic pattern with the skidooer standing shaking his fist into the sky.
The same trick was done in the summer to outboard motor equipped canoes on the rivers.
A frequent flyer was a Rev. John Spillenaar, a minister travelling to his churches. When the pilots saw him getting onboard the request was always the same: “Do not let him into the cockpit!” Of course I would relay to the minister how much the pilots would like for him to join them up front. His first words were something like: “Hello boys, how is the condition of your souls?”
At this time the Detour Lake Gold mine opened up and Austin won the contract to fly miners in and out for their work rotation. For us, who were paid by the miles flown, it meant a short day of flying and making less than $15.00. The only reward was the lunch that was served at the mine site, no breakfast or dinner that day, only stuffing yourself at lunch. During one of our early flights to the mine I made an announcement for the first time work crew: Welcome to the Detour Lake International Airport! In no time a sign went up on the gravel runway above the airport shack which read: Detour Lake International Airport.
Most memorable of the flights had to be the student exchange programs. Students from Southern Ontario would fly up to Inuit villages and stay with an Inuit family with children the same age as their visitors. A few weeks later the Inuit children would fly to Southern Ontario cities and spend a week with their new friends. It was always exciting to hear the comments from the children as they had experienced each others life styles. It was comforting to hear that the kids from Toronto, would say they would prefer living in the Arctic. The kids from the Arctic would say they preferred to live at home, in the Arctic, but that visiting Toronto was a nice experience.
What I miss the most are the close friends that I made with both Inuit and First nations alike. Each village became a friendly place to fly to with special friends always waiting with a smile and a happy greeting.
When Air Canada bought Austin Airways and Air Ontario for their Connector network, Air Ontario was the name chosen for the new unified airline, as it fit more closely to the kind of airline we had become: an airline serving Ontario. Truly for those of us who had a invested our time and effort in Austin Airways, it became the end of an era.
The party which marked the end of Austin Airways, was a sad occasion but also a memorable one. The speeches from the retired, the pioneers, the owners were filled with nostalgia.
It somehow seemed unreal as we parted from that gathering, with the knowledge that Austin Airways had become part of Canadian aviation history.
My thanks to the pilots, flight attendants, ground staff and owners for the memories that make me smile.
I wrote this song for you!
TOUCH THE SKY
Early in the morning, we will fly.
Before the rising sun can touch the sky.
The stillness of the dawn, can only soothe my mind.
So I touch the sky, I touch the sky.
The engines drone in silent harmony,
As the flying ship, sails on thru the sky,
The earth far below in quiet solitude.
I touch the sky, I touch the sky.
And higher still higher we will fly,
til the clouds below, are gliding by.
The sun is slowly rising on a brand new day,
while I touch the sky, I touch the sky.
Moosonee to Post de la Balaine,
Povungnituk to Frobisher Bay,
Those places hold so many precious memories,
as we touch the sky, we touch the sky.
Baffin Island glides by far below,
Gjoa Haven is our destination now,
As the ship glides safely on the icy way,
We have touched the sky, we’ve touched the sky.
In my dreams, I still fly in the North,
and reminisce about the days of old.
I thank God for memories, that make me smile,
once more I touch the sky, I touch the sky.
Lyrics & music by Ari J. Rocklin
Dedicated to the flight crews of Austin Airways
Austin airways – Touch the Sky pdf
