A pilot in town, Oskar, wanted to rent "block time" on his private aircraft
to help pay the bills, so I renewed my long-expired commercial licence and took
a quick course on floats down at Fort Langley on the Fraser River. Like riding
a bicycle...it all came back.
This Bellanca Scout two-seater was a light, fabric-covered, agile hotrod.The Central Coast of B.C. is spectacular and wild, mostly inaccessible except by air. With very short take-off and landing runs, this little plane got me into beautiful, remote lakes and inlets where few, if any, had been before.
Also got back into Search and Rescue work, with which I had been involved back
in Vancouver as part of the Mountain Rescue Group.
Training and coordinating a team in Ocean Falls, well equipped and up to Provincial standards, took a good part of my time. It worked out well and we were kept busy with many marine incidents and some major air searches.
Here, the Search Manager (feeling his age) sets out with a couple of the guys on an overnight exercise to locate an old crash site deep in the bush.
People and supplies came up the 300 miles of coast from Vancouver in many ways
- by cargo ship, B.C. ferries, and by air. But never by truck or bus - there
were no roads.
Under unusually clear skies, the old Northland Prince
plunges through heavy winter swells crossing Queen Charlotte Sound. Getting
this photo involved patience and quick ducking behind cover before the freezing
cold salt spray hit the camera (and photographer).
