C46's Pacific Western Airlines

This forum has been developed to discuss aviation related topics.

Moderators: sky's the limit, sepia, Sulako, lilfssister, North Shore, I WAS Birddog

Moose47
Rank (9)
Rank (9)
Posts: 1346
Joined: Sat Apr 19, 2008 2:45 pm
Location: Home of Canada's Air Defence

Re: C46's Pacific Western Airlines

Post by Moose47 »

>>>linecrew
CF-HYI in Vancouver circa 1958:
http://www.airliners.net/photo/Pacific- ... 0120955/L/>>>

This aircraft was registered as CF-HYI from 1955 to 1959. It was re-registered as CF-PWE. It was operated by P.W.A.from February 1955 to November 1967.

Cheers...Chris
---------- ADS -----------
 
twotter
Rank (9)
Rank (9)
Posts: 1479
Joined: Mon Feb 16, 2004 11:28 am

Re: C46's Pacific Western Airlines

Post by twotter »

Wow, I don't come on here too much lately but what a great thread to find.

I was just a kid in elementary school in Stewart when Pat Carey (my aunts uncle) crashed the otter into the crevase. I used to go down and hang out around the airport and watch the airplanes and helicopters come and go. There were the two TPA Otters there at the time.

I remember one day I went down to the floatplane dock, down where the Northland Prince and Lumba Lumba (??) used to dock, and waited all day for Brian Sylvester (old friend of my mother) to show up in a brand new 185, he was going to take me for a ride in it, only to be dissapointed when he didn't show up. We later found out he had drowned in Muchalet lake the day before.

OK, now I officially feel old.

Cheers.
---------- ADS -----------
 
APM YTS
Rank 0
Rank 0
Posts: 2
Joined: Thu Oct 25, 2007 11:29 am

Re: C46's Pacific Western Airlines

Post by APM YTS »

Al....pm sent !

Harley
---------- ADS -----------
 
mikecarey71
Rank 0
Rank 0
Posts: 2
Joined: Sat Aug 27, 2011 10:18 pm

Re: C46's Pacific Western Airlines

Post by mikecarey71 »

twotter wrote:Wow, I don't come on here too much lately but what a great thread to find.

I was just a kid in elementary school in Stewart when Pat Carey (my aunts uncle) crashed the otter into the crevase. I used to go down and hang out around the airport and watch the airplanes and helicopters come and go. There were the two TPA Otters there at the time.

I remember one day I went down to the floatplane dock, down where the Northland Prince and Lumba Lumba (??) used to dock, and waited all day for Brian Sylvester (old friend of my mother) to show up in a brand new 185, he was going to take me for a ride in it, only to be dissapointed when he didn't show up. We later found out he had drowned in Muchalet lake the day before.

OK, now I officially feel old.

Cheers.



who was you Aunt? Pat was my grandpa. I was just googling his name and couldn't believe how much info is out there about him. i just watched the video of him talking about the crash!!
Mike
---------- ADS -----------
 
mikecarey71
Rank 0
Rank 0
Posts: 2
Joined: Sat Aug 27, 2011 10:18 pm

Re: C46's Pacific Western Airlines

Post by mikecarey71 »

(Wow, I don't come on here too much lately but what a great thread to find.

I was just a kid in elementary school in Stewart when Pat Carey (my aunts uncle) crashed the otter into the crevase. I used to go down and hang out around the airport and watch the airplanes and helicopters come and go. There were the two TPA Otters there at the time.

I remember one day I went down to the floatplane dock, down where the Northland Prince and Lumba Lumba (??) used to dock, and waited all day for Brian Sylvester (old friend of my mother) to show up in a brand new 185, he was going to take me for a ride in it, only to be dissapointed when he didn't show up. We later found out he had drowned in Muchalet lake the day before.

OK, now I officially feel old.)

who is your aunt? Pat was my grandpa.... i googled his name tonite doing a family tree and i couldn't believe how much info i found on the net!!!
Mike Carey
---------- ADS -----------
 
BenNuttallSmith
Rank 0
Rank 0
Posts: 1
Joined: Tue Apr 15, 2014 2:46 am

Re: C46's Pacific Western Airlines

Post by BenNuttallSmith »

I have just discovered this discussion which includes Pat Carey. In early 1996, as a volunteer for the Sunshine Coast White Cane Society, I met Ayliffe "Pat" Carey, a blind ex-bush pilot. When he heard I wrote stories for the local newspaper, Pat asked me if I’d consent to write his biography. I soon began weekly visits to the Carey trailer home where Pat and his wife Jean told me exciting and often humorous stories of his life from Fraser Valley pioneer to bush pilot.
Pat's earlier experiences as a young man growing up in the Fraser Valley and his experiences as homesteader and logger provide an interesting insight into pioneering days in the first decades of the twentieth century. His stories of flying from Chilliwack B.C. to Canada’s Far North are fascinating tales of aviation history
My 38,000 + story of Flying With White Eagle - the story of Ayliffe "Pat" Carey (1903 – 1999) pioneer homesteader and bush pilot in British Columbia and the Canadian North is now in the hands of Caitlin Press with a fairly strong possibility of publication Spring 2015. For more information, visit my web pages at http://www.bennuttall-smith.ca
---------- ADS -----------
 
Moose47
Rank (9)
Rank (9)
Posts: 1346
Joined: Sat Apr 19, 2008 2:45 pm
Location: Home of Canada's Air Defence

Re: C46's Pacific Western Airlines

Post by Moose47 »

G'day

The following C-46 Commandos served with Pacific Western Airways.

CF-CZI - July 1959 to April 1963

CF-CZJ - July 1959 to April 1963

CF-CZM - July 1959 to May 1967

CF-CZN - July 1959 to May 1967

CF-HYU - March 1955 to October 1955

CF-PWD –February 1955 to January 1960

CF-PWE – February 1955 to November 1967

Cheers...Chris
---------- ADS -----------
 
Antique Pilot
Rank 7
Rank 7
Posts: 538
Joined: Fri Feb 03, 2012 7:52 pm

Re: C46's Pacific Western Airlines

Post by Antique Pilot »

Here is a view of Stewart BC from Beaver IGF heading north towards the Bear Pass. Ernie H and I had just picked up 2 fuel tanks from Bill Ross out of C46. They were tied to the floats.

July, 1972.
AP
---------- ADS -----------
 
Attachments
IMG_0066.jpg
IMG_0066.jpg (259.08 KiB) Viewed 2742 times
Sly1
Rank 0
Rank 0
Posts: 2
Joined: Sun Nov 22, 2015 10:47 pm

Re: C46's Pacific Western Airlines

Post by Sly1 »

Hello Mike my dad was Brian sylvester I would like to talk to you
---------- ADS -----------
 
Shazam51
Rank 0
Rank 0
Posts: 1
Joined: Mon Dec 05, 2016 11:17 pm

Re: C46's Pacific Western Airlines

Post by Shazam51 »

My father was Jack Magel. I was very very young when we lived in Stewart. I have fond memories of his aviation stories. He has passed on the spirit of adventure to me as I ply my trade on the sea. So great to read these stories. Thanks All
---------- ADS -----------
 
harvard4
Rank 0
Rank 0
Posts: 7
Joined: Mon Jan 03, 2022 2:57 pm

Re: C46's Pacific Western Airlines

Post by harvard4 »

I am new to this amazing forum. Hope you have seen the YouTube about the C-46s flying to Granduc;
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3JoWFQ0MdoQ
I joined PWA in the mid-60s in Edmonton in Maintenance then transferred to Flight Ops. About summer of 68 they were mothballing the C-46, DC-3 and DC-4 and getting Convairs, Hercules and B737. The C-46s were being ferried to Asia, Taiwan I think.
I remember some of the names mentioned - I flew with Jack Magel on the DC-6. He was known for his witty sayings - "Fly low and slow and use lots of top rudder in the turns. You'll be a smashing success!" He would drape his string of 'worry beads' over the magnetic compass on the glare shield.
I have done an analysis on the youtube video of the C-46 and will post it separately. Let me know what you think.
---------- ADS -----------
 
harvard4
Rank 0
Rank 0
Posts: 7
Joined: Mon Jan 03, 2022 2:57 pm

Re: C46's Pacific Western Airlines

Post by harvard4 »

Pacific Western Airlines 1961/62, Granduc copper mine, Northern BC (YouTube video)

Time:
1:54 Avro Anson V. Note round windows in plywood fuselage. P&W R-985 engines.
2:06 Bell 47J
3:57 Avro Anson V CF-INT
4:36 Photo from Anson. Note straight wing leading edge and smooth engine cowl.
6:54 DHC-3 Otter CF-GCV
8:16 Bell 47, Curtiss Super C-46C
8:30 Hiller 12 on floats
10:49 DHC-2 Beaver CF-FMN
11:49 Unloading C-46 CF-CZN
12:22 Distinctive nose of C-46. A few were produced with a ‘stepped’ nose (C-46E).
13:23 Photo from C-46. Note cowl shape and carb. intake compared to 4:36.
13:55 Two C-46s – presumably CF-CZM and -CZN.
14:05 C-46 taking off from sea level at Stewart on the Portland Canal.
15:10 Landing at Stewart, sea level airport.
17:10 C-46 landing on Salmon glacier.
17:12 Loss-of-control impact site?
17:15 C-46 at top of glacier runway being unloaded.
17:22 Above view pans to another C-46 that shows damage.
17:25 RH prop blade tips bent.
17:30 LH engine supported by rig. Prop blades bent.
17:32 Damage to antenna under nose? ADF loop antenna cover may be broken. ADF sense antenna masts may be buckled. Compare with 20:34.
17:35 Crushed fuel drums in snow. Why show these, unless they were significant to story? Marks in snow from possible impact and towing aircraft out of soft spot?
17:37 Crushed fuel drum and possible aircraft cowl in snow (oil cooler scoop?).
[Could this be a loss of control on landing leading to aircraft swerving off runway into soft snow that covered some fuel drums? Both props show tip damage consistent with impact with soft snow. Impact with solid ground results in extensive bending of tips. The aircraft may have gone nose down into the soft snow after crushing the fuel drums. Ground crew would have to lower the tail. Apparently happened at relatively low speed as aircraft did not flip onto its back. Imagine the C-46 in 9:10 on rollout drifting off runway to left into soft snow and tipping onto nose. Replacing the props in this environment would be a huge task.]
17:42 View from inside C-46 in flight.
18:54 Lady in pilot’s seat – aircraft on ground as control wheel is showing full right turn.
19:38 Both pilots smoking!
20:50 People beside C-46 showing how large it was for ‘bush flying.’
20:34 View of underside of nose showing ADF antenna. Compare to 17:34.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3JoWFQ0MdoQ
---------- ADS -----------
 
User avatar
Shotgun Chuck McCoy
Rank 1
Rank 1
Posts: 34
Joined: Sat Feb 21, 2004 11:22 pm

Re: C46's Pacific Western Airlines

Post by Shotgun Chuck McCoy »

Hi All.

I am by far the youngest of all the posters on this thread, based on all the names being thrown out there, and I was hesitant to post, but I thought I would since I believe in the value of sharing the stories of these times and people gone by.

Thanks to my mentors and friends in Gene Storey, Ken Cote and (many years ago) Lou Dubuc I have heard a good many of the those names before. Gene told me himself the story of the Otter in the cliff. He also told me of how he won the Order of Canada for rescuing some guy from Stewart, who’d been impaled by a piece of equipment. He flew in there in a Goose just before dark, loaded the guy on board, and departed in darkness and in heavy snow, using only time and heading and altitude to get out of the canal, then flew to Rupert where he was able to get a Ketchikan based USCG helo to DF steer him on to final at CYPR due to darkness and poor weather! He had his license pulled when TC (DOT) heard about it but got it back again. Then got the Order!

I heard the story of Bob Ambrose and the Caribou at Snip (is it true?! Both props twisted off the engines?!) met Murray Woods, BJ (slingshot?) Vern (can’t remember his last name) and in addition to Gene and Ken, worked with Dale Leekey, Dave Norman, Dave Wiebe (my first captain, a mentor for whom I will always have the utmost respect, and an absolute saint of a human) Scotty Swanson, pilot of KDC “the clam digger” Ian Ross the brother of Al, and “Uncle” Rick Matthews to name a few. These guys would have been young men and perhaps just getting started when the names in previous posts were handing over the reins, as I was when I met them, but it is through this tenuous link and single connection to me that these names will live on for many years to come. Fantastic people, times, aircraft and country. The stories I could tell, and those I could repeat (that were told to me) would have me well under the bar and the establishment running dry by the time they were told to completion. Maybe one day…?

Thanks for sharing everyone.
---------- ADS -----------
 
What!??! Who said that?!?!
Post Reply

Return to “General Comments”