BUFFALO MAY GO ON AIR (Yellowknifer Article)

[lucky37]

BUFFALO MAY GO ON AIR
Airline focus of reality show pilot
by Laura Power, Northern News Service (22 FEB 2008, Yellownifer)

After viewers worldwide tuned in to Ice Road Truckers, a series filmed in and around Yellowknife, the NWT has become a lot more interesting to film and television producers.

The latest attempt at getting the Northern city on TV is a project by Omni Films, a film company out of Vancouver. Last week, director Lionel Goddard was in Yellowknife at Buffalo Airways filming the pilot episode that, if successful, will turn into a series about the airline.

Mikey McBryan of Buffalo Airways said the series is expected to have the same tone as a show like American Chopper, and will be geared towards an American audience.

"We got the exact dynamic here, like it's eerie how close it is," he said.

Buffalo Airlines, which flies regularly between several towns within the NWT, uses older, rare airplanes such as DC-3's and DC-4's, which McBryan said are "basically obsolete except for in Alaska and Northern temperatures."

The vintage 1940's aircraft fly better in low temperatures, making it possible for the Northern airline to fly low in the territory. Though they are of interest to many people, McBryan said the filmmakers want to concentrate on the people at the airline.

"They're interested in the people, like the physical people who actually have the gut and the ability and the drive to actually operate these aircrafts," he said.

Goddard, after spending some time filming last week, said the characters of the airline employees -- who come from all over -- will make people want to watch the show.

"We think that once people meet the crew of this airline they'll just fall in love with it like we have," he said.

He also said the program will be able to teach Canadians about what goes on in the North.

"People have no idea what type of work is going on here," he said. "The rest of the country has become a very safe and secure world but up here, life still happens."

Now that the pilot episode is being produced, the next step is to get broadcasters in both the US and Canada interested in the show, said Goddard. But he predicted that the show will be "an easy sell."

"We think it's got all the ingredients of an exciting series," he said.

[Adiabatic]

Might Better!!
Kinda funny article title as well....

[longjon]

I love the part where old pistons perform better than turbines in cold temps, ah ha ha ha

[shitdisturber]

I love the part where old pistons perform better than turbines in cold temps, ah ha ha ha

You should learn to read more carefully. He didn't say they perform better than turbines, he said they perform better in cold temperatures.

[Ballsssssss]

Ya, those old radials leak less oil when it's nice and thick.....

[longjon]

I did read it, several times, the intent is there. It also says there are no 3's or 4's except in northern temps.

[shitdisturber]

The intent is to state that the airplanes work better in the cold temperatures of the north than they would in the south; nothing more.

[pilatus4life]

that would make an awesome show but how long do you think joe would really let a camera man follow him around??? besides they couldnt show any illegal happenings so there goes all the good stuff! i think it would be a very unwise thing for them to do, having had worked there, lots of what goes on should not be shown on tv. the rules are a little different up there........

[gianthammer]

I think the show would be a good watch!!!

[Cat Driver]

What tubby mikey must not see is the amount of work that actually goes into getting a large radial engine going in the -40 temps,

With the proper set up such as good engine blankets and electric heaters plugged in as soon as the blankets are on there is not all that much work required...and of course there is always the Herman Nelson.

So yeh there is work involved, but it is not superhuman stuff.

[5400AirportRdSouth]

I think this is a fantastic idea, cant wait!!!

I always thought a show on pilot career paths would make an interesting doc...start with 10 guys in a PPL course and follow them around for two or three years.... couple instruct, couple go up north, couple fold, couple hit the sauce....good times.

[SeptRepair]

Comparing the ability to start a radial engine in sub zero temperatures to how the engine performs in sub zero temperatures is comparing apples to oranges.

[Rowdy]

I'm gonna pitch a reality TV show called RAMPEd to one of the networks..

You know.. take 20 guys from all across canada.. flight schools and colleges.. put em in a crew house and have em work the ramp.. the winner wins a seat in the machine at the end of the summer.

Theres ALWAYS hilarity and mayhem.. You could have some good contests.. and of course.. you'd have some screaming matchec etc. It would be very survivor/american hot rod like.

Of course I was told a lot of what would go on couldn't be shown on TV. Anyone else think that would make for a kick ass show?

[jspitfire]

Cool, looking forward to seeing it!

Nice to see more intrest in what goes on in the North.

[Cat Driver]

Comparing the ability to start a radial engine in sub zero temperatures to how the engine performs in sub zero temperatures is comparing apples to oranges.

In what way, what do you think the cut off temperatures should be for operating a radial engine?

[M/T]

Refering to the misunderstanding of a line in the article:

"The vintage 1940's aircraft fly better in low temperatures...."

Be advised this is not a quote as spoken from someones mouth. Just a journalists translation of the gathered information.

The person informing the journalist of piston-engine operation may have said somthing like this during the interview:

'power produced by a piston engine is increase with the induction of cooler, denser air. with the tempurature fostering power, the aircraft is able to lift maximum loads using less amount of runway. during the summer, sometimes loads have to be reduced to allow the aircraft to meet shorter runway lengths due to the hotter, less dense air robbing the engine of it's power potential'

now of course the journalist is not going to quote this in a article meant for casual reading, so she sums it up clearly in lay-person terms:

'The vintage 1940's aircraft fly better in low temperatures....'

Journalism at its best, mixing words around for effect, sometimes for better or for worse, sometimes makes confusion, always creates discussion.

[Rowdy]

I remember being told "Turbines are just a fad"

[SQ]

I'm gonna pitch a reality TV show called RAMPEd to one of the networks..

You know.. take 20 guys from all across canada.. flight schools and colleges.. put em in a crew house and have em work the ramp.. the winner wins a seat in the machine at the end of the summer.

Theres ALWAYS hilarity and mayhem.. You could have some good contests.. and of course.. you'd have some screaming matchec etc. It would be very survivor/american hot rod like.

Of course I was told a lot of what would go on couldn't be shown on TV. Anyone else think that would make for a kick ass show?

I'm with you on that one

[Meatservo]

Shows like "survivor" and "American chopper" are just part of the growing body of evidence that our civilization is coming to an end.

I think a better idea would be a show similar to the "Beachcombers", loosely based on a small northern airline and the misfits and mercenaries that work there. You could have funny episodes, and serious/exciting ones, and tragic ones, it would be cool!

[SeptRepair]

Comparing the ability to start a radial engine in sub zero temperatures to how the engine performs in sub zero temperatures is comparing apples to oranges.

In what way, what do you think the cut off temperatures should be for operating a radial engine?

A pretty loaded question, Not being a pilot and never having flown in extreme cold weather i have no idea if there are limitations from a piloting point of view. As well Ive never maintained any radials in cold weather operations. From a theoretical stand point, as long as cht and oil temps ( affecting oil pressure) stayed in the green, there shouldn't be any limits. My comment earlier was to clarify, just because it may be a bitch to start a radial when its cold out doens't mean it will perform any less because of the cold. I assume you already have an answer for the question you asked, so is there a cut off?

[NJ]

I think a better idea would be a show similar to the "Beachcombers", loosely based on a small northern airline and the misfits and mercenaries that work there. You could have funny episodes, and serious/exciting ones, and tragic ones, it would be cool!

"Next up is a very special episode of Everybody Loves Buffalo Joe"

[Cat Driver]

I assume you already have an answer for the question you asked, so is there a cut off?

There is no official cut off to my knowledge, -40C was sort of the temp we generally used as a shut it down guideline....but there were times when we just had to get them flying...the secret was proper oil dilution before shut down and proper pre. heating.

[F,D and H]

But meatserver, someone would actually have to write something then....

[Adiabatic]

Well...
During that last cold snap, lets say -45, I had my engines double tented, double ceramics(only for extreme temps) per engine, standard 2 oil probe heaters per side, a std heater in each accessory case, a battery blanket, as well as a ceramic taking the edge off in the cockpit overnight. With that setup my 1830's cyl's were sitting at 40C, the accessory case a luke warm temp, and my oils running quite nicely off the dipstick.
So a "good" day, a single person can get the plane ready(checking fuel, oil, control locks, sweeping off the frost, etc) in an hour, with the hour being the time to warm up the cockpit for us to be somewhat comfortable.
Performance at that temp was quite noticeable with us cruising an old workhorse at 140kts at "gross weight"
And to boot we were flying a plane with NO heater, just with augment heat off the engines.
Of course when things go wrong preparing at these temps it takes a while to catch up, but those Herman Nelsons sure do kick some frostfighter ass.
Leaving at 5:30am 4 days a week, and returning with international and local freight for our customers, from an IPOD to a drill head, we take care of business and keep on truckin.
.....while the "J" birds sit in Calgary and Edmonton....


Green Driver

[SofaKing]

Its tubby here!
I was trying to explain to the reporter how all aircraft fly better at colder tempetures. In no way was I comparing Engine Types. ( Im not that out of Touch )