Looking for all pilots that flew for the flying firemen

[xsbank]

I remember sitting at Slave Lake after a particularly gruelling day of bombing the bumpy bits in the middle of ALTA. We were sitting on the beach at the end of the runway contemplating the first burpee of the evening when the 3 Firemen who had been helping us out with the fire, departed; all three of the copilots mooned us out their windows as they left. And I mean 'out their windows' too. You could hear their cheeks flapping over the noise of the engines.....

Its permanently etched on the screen in my brain. Still keeps me up a night.

[Cat Driver]

flyinphil asked:

" I am curious as to when the wing assembly et al came off. Was that at the time of the accident or during the salvage? Obviously they had to extend the gear and winch it onshore..right? "

I should have stayed out of this thread as these discussions generally become negative the more one posts, but I will answer your question.

Almost without exception when you see the front end of the airplane ripped off and the wing missing it is caused by a failure of the nose gear doors either caused by improper rigging or sufficient nose down force to crush the doors or a combination of the two.

During a normal touchdown on the water in the proper attitude the doors are about a foot above the water, however should there be big waves, swells or a pilot induced PIO caused by improper attitude control the doors will become immerced in the water and subject to failure do to the pressure forces of the water, however they normally will not fail unless the pressures are quite high.

However in the case such as with that airplane having the drop doors snap open the nose down pitch will be very violent resulting in the failure of the doors and catastrophic failure of the bulkheads and cockpit floor, and of course at the same time the airplane water loops and tears the wings off.

How the wheels got into the down position I'm not sure, but there is no denying the drop doors are open as you can see one in the open position.

I hope that explains how it happened good enough to allow you to understand why it looks like it does in that picture.

I wonder where all the rest of the Flying Fireman crews are as not many are posting here.

[flyinphil]

Thanks for the post Cat. Interesting stuff!

[FlyingFiremenC/PGSon]

Thanks for the post . . were you on the flight back with Bob Frank's Canso after the accident when his pilot hit the buoy or signal marker (I can't remember which offhand) It strikes me that this would have been a heckuva trip!!!

[Cat Driver]

No I was asked to fly it but there was not enough money on earth to get me to fly for Bob Franks.

I have flown a Cat across the North Atlantic though...and the Sout Atlantic also.....trust me it is not exciting...

[FlyingFiremenC/PGSon]

He certainly was a character.... it would certainly be a test of a man's endurance to do that trip. I know that the short hops I got to do in them were long enough for me. What I really enjoyed were the spring time rides around the islands. Do you know if Bill Rower (hope I spelled that right) is still with us? I work for him for a stretch at Victoria Air Maintenance.

[FlyingFiremenC/PGSon]

Just saving this from sinking into obscurity

Bump

[Driving Rain]

My favourite FFM story is the infamous Hutchinson Lake gun battle at the YGQ coral. Cat you were the target that night as I recall. The OPP tactical team was called out from Thunder Bay to put down the insurrection as I recall. Hour later they arrived to find the shooter (Stuart) sleeping off a good one. Fortunately {for you} he was as good at shooting as he was at wrenching.
The next day the newspaper headline read MNR PILOT INVOLVED IN RUNNING GUN BATTLE. As I recall you only had a mattress for protection.
Good times Cat, good times.

[Cat Driver]

Yeh, Driving Rain those were some interesting times.

So you still remember Bushed Cassidy and the Sumdunce Kid, what really got me was how neatly the whole thing was covered up.

How in hell those guys got away with firing a shotgun and a 44 magnum revolver in a tourist camp beats the hell out of me.

But it was interesting watching the swat team put those two idiots up against the wall and cuffing them.

Do the crews still smoke dope with the OMNR bird dog officers or has the OMNR moved those guys up the ladder into management?

I'm betting the one that was in Geralton moved into management............

[Driving Rain]

Cat

Do the crews still smoke dope with the OMNR bird dog officers or has the OMNR moved those guys up the ladder into management?

I'm betting the one that was in Geraldton moved into management............

They were smoking dope back then and didn't offer me any? Why those Bunch of Bogarter's!!!!I knew there was some reason I didn't like those guys.

[ Yes he went up the ladder but not too far up it. ]

[Cat Driver]

Back to Bushed Cassidy and the Sumdunce Kid, those two were unbelieavible, I had a manifold pressure failure on the left engine one day so I snagged it.

They were drunk and stoned for a few days but when I finally refused to fly the airplane they decided to fix it.

When I took it up on the next flight low and behold if they had not switched the lines around and the right engine had no MP reading.......

.......when I landed they had the nerve to walk up and ask me if the manifold pressure readings had changed......

......and then there was the time that they did a 50 hour inspection and after changing the oil screens they just put the ones they had taken off on the bench and went back to town....

...when I asked them what they found in the screens they told me the truth...nothing....which was true, if you dont open them and inspect them you will find nothing.

The Flying Fireman's maintenance in the field and the oversite by the OMNR in those days was a joke. Those of us who survived did so by doing our own.

[FlyingFiremenC/PGSon]

Anyone out there....

[xsbank]

I didn't work for the Fireman but I remember a story where two guys were sent to Ingenika in the spring to be the loaders and maintenance guys. Every few weeks a plane would arrive to throw out more food and booze and these unfortunates just stayed there next to their loading stuff in their little log cabin. Forestry basically just forgot them. About June they stopped maintaining the equipment and by July they stopped going outside except for the privvy. By the middle of the summer they were ordering cases of peanuts and strange ethnic foods. Well, the north was wet that year and no tankers went closer than Prince George. One night, after about a week of rain and solid drinking, one loader lost it and began shooting his 30-30 - he chased the other loader deep into the bush and proceeded to shoot up the cabin and all their supplies - windows, cans of food, the roof, the stove. Fortunately he ran out of ammo before he shot up the tanks and pumps, saving the area from retardant and fuel spills.

When Forestry found out about what happened they just came and took them out and had a crew of locals fix the cabin and the base closed that year - Forestry was so embarrassed about forgetting them out there they just glossed over the story and there was no consequences. The guys had very nice o'time cheques to show for it!

For years after, we would be VERY careful when dealing with the subject loader - always polite and respectful!

[whisair]

Hi, I flew for the Flyin Firemen in the early 80's. I knew your grandfather and I can tell you that he was a fine person who helped me in aviation. Please feel free to contact me via email. mike@whistlerair.ca Cheers

[FlyingFiremenC/PGSon]

Time to rescue this from obscurity... I have been reading with interest the new FF thread and was thinking with the renewed interest that there might be some more contributions to this one.... just a thought... anyone?

[Nephilim]

FlyingFiremenC/PGSon

Mike Pearson was a great man in my opinion. He mentored me as a young pilot (1978-1985) and helped me greatly in my career. I only wished I had listened to his advice about the owners of the FF.

He told me (if memory is correct) that the doctors had given him 6 months to live due to cancer (he was aware previously)and he retired accordingly, but lived 4-5 months longer than given by the doctors.

Mike Pearson was for aviation as John Wayne was for movies.

I have a lot of information about Mike that I will share with you privately. If I had listened to his advice 20 years ago I wouldn't have to be flying 12 hours a day. I will pm you and as time permits, and foward you the info.

Cheers,

[FlyingFiremenC/PGSon]

Thanks for the post!!!

[North Shore]

Bill Rohwer, last I heard of him, was twisting wrenches for the Victoria Flying Club. 250-656-4321 is the club #. Try there for more info..

[FlyingFiremenC/PGSon]

Thanks North Shore... about what year was that when you last heard he was there?

[FlyingFiremenC/PGSon]

bump

[North Shore]

Ummm, dunno. I was last a serious attendee at the Club in the winter of '99/'00 and I think he was there then..

[X Driver]

I seem to remember Big Bobs Canso N691RF kept the maintenance department of the Flying Firemen busy for quite some time over a couple of winters during the initial build. You were right Cat flying for big Bob was something you wouldn't want to do for long. When Bob first bought the Canso I thought it may have been Mike Pearson who was training him on one of the FF machines. I flew Bob's Cessna 421 for a while and there was never a dull flight what with his bottles of Dom and the sword he carried around to open them. I have a couple of pictures I'll try and attach of N69RF's last flight. A couple of posts back someone was looking for Bill Rohwer I believe he is near Boundary Bay as I see him out there for coffee in the morning.

[X Driver]

Pictures take after N69RF's last flight it made it from Howe Snd and was able to land on runway 12. A Cessna wing is tougher than I thought.

[Cat Driver]

You were right Cat flying for big Bob was something you wouldn't want to do for long.

I was offered $25,000.00 to babysit the expert that he had flying the Cat on their big flight I believe it was to be around the world.

In those days that was a lot of money.

I told Alex to tell Bob he didn't have enough money to pay me to do a circuit as his employee.

They didn't get far did they, in fact they were lucky to have survived the @#$! up in England.

[Siddley Hawker]

X Driver, just out of idle curiousity, what happened to that Cessna? A wheel well fire or a fire in the wing locker?