HOW DID WE SURVIVE?

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carson
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HOW DID WE SURVIVE?

Post by carson »

As a Canadian Pilot (since 1984!) I often reminisce as to how I and others survived the early years of our careers..

Funny how we start off on different journeys..
New Instructors faced with the daunting task of teaching new students, when , just the other day...they were the new pilot!!
New bush drivers ( I fell into this category) thrown into the harsh, brash, northern experience!!
New pilots, eager to learn, working the ramps, cleaning,fixing, whatever...to get on board, will do "anything" to get that first job!!

My campfire stories are many and sometimes hard to believe....

Imagine this....

I am trying to get my first job on a C180 out of YPL....1992
The operator flew clapped out C180's/C185's/DHC3 all on floats..
The entire fleet should have been scraped..
Me thinks the C180 was the first one ever built...?

Big Dreams..."one day I'm gonna fly that C180"....
In the mean time....I was; fixing them, washing them, swamping and loading off the docks...8 days a week...20 hours per day.....
Making $3.50/hour (thanx jen!)...But by the end of the month I was hauling in $2500...Do the math on my hours per day/week/month!!!
Big Dreams...
One day....the Otter went down on Obustiga Lake (?) .....lost a "jug"...
Boss man put together a team to gather supplies so that we could go back, build a camp and set up for an engine swap out...

I was voluntold to do the grunt work....
Then I was told I would be the only one from work to go and do this "Setup"...
They found a fella to go with me who would help set up camp...FM!!!
SOooo we went,,,,an hour north, dropped off beside the Otter, pulled out the battery of the Otter to bring home to charge, and was left there FOR THE ENTIRE DAY TO BUILD A F'IN CAMP...

Within an hour we were hard at work clearing the bush around the Otter, and making good progress, when numbnuts got the chainsaw stuck in some low lying branches...He was pulling and yanking away with the saw..while I was 15' away cleaning the cut brush...Suddenly he pulled hard on the saw...it flew up and over his head...and lunged at me with the saw coming down onto my right hand, ripping away three massive chunks of flesh...exposing tendons....blood spewing everywhere...Nice pic eh?

The "Chain saw master", fainted.....and left me to fend for myself......
Fortunately the Otter still had the Fist Aid kit...So I bandaged up the cuts..
Hand was pulsing, slowing increasing pain gathered as I sorted out what to do next...
I popped a couple aspirins and without knowing what else to do.....I went back to clearing camp...
Swollen bloody hand, I did what I could till the end of the day....

12 hours later...our ride came back for us

How close to death was I?....Things could have gone south quickly....

Went to the drunk doctor in Pickle who stitched me up, while telling me it was "nothing" compared to what he saw in Korea....Which is true,, but not helpful at the time...

All in all a crazy story of what life was like during my early years in Aviation....

and

no

I did not fly the PoS C180...

I went on to bigger and better jobs....
Flying a PoS SuperCub out of Earfalls, gathering minnows for another whacked operation!!!!

"Living the Dream"....
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NAT2
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Re: HOW DID WE SURVIVE?

Post by NAT2 »

That was quite a story. Glad to hear you survived, could have easily gone differently, as you said.

Thanks for taking the time to write it down. Hope your hand didn't mind the memories.
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co-joe
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Re: HOW DID WE SURVIVE?

Post by co-joe »

Not sure how a man faints. :lol:


More story please.
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Last edited by co-joe on Fri Oct 16, 2020 9:49 am, edited 2 times in total.
DanWEC
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Re: HOW DID WE SURVIVE?

Post by DanWEC »

Willing to bet I know all too well the ass-sideways lodge owner (Can't call him an operator) out of Ear Falls with a fishy smelling Cub!

Edit- 80's? Hm, maybe, maybe not.
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JMACK
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Re: HOW DID WE SURVIVE?

Post by JMACK »

Carson nicely written enjoyable read. I love tails from the North. You gave me a Duke Elegant flashback more please!

Cheers........Jim
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carson
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Re: HOW DID WE SURVIVE?

Post by carson »

Jim et al,

Thanx for the replies...and support...

I dropped off the map for a bit....

Im back!!!

Another story to follow..........stby...
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