ODDS ‘N’ SODS — The wild blue yonder

.BS.J. HUNTER

I read in the obituary column the other day of the passing of Jack Magel, with whom I had more than a passing acquaintance.

Jack was a pilot who served the mine projects of Canada Tungsten and Granduc Mines. He first appeared when Pacific Western Airlines assigned a fleet of C-46 and DC-4 airplanes to transport heavy equipment from Watson Lake to the dirt strip at Flat Lake, in northern British Columbia. The dismantled bulldozers, graders, front-end loaders, shovels, compressors and Euclid trucks were packed into fragile aircraft and flown by zealous pilots over rugged terrain to the tiny strip at the headwaters of the Flat River.

From there, the equipment was flown deep into the MacKenzie Mountains of the Northwest Territories. A testament to the efforts of the pilots involved, the 200-mile road into the project was completed in less than a year.

A few years later, we were developing the Granduc copper mine, in the heart of the vast glaciers north of Stewart, B.C., deep in the Coast Range Mountains. Fierce winter snowstorms and violent winds assailed our isolated camp, and it was imperative to have the tunnel equipment and an adequate supply of fuel oil at the site. To expedite traffic, a substantial airstrip was developed on the Granduc glacier.

Pacific Western dispatched crews and several C-46 planes to serve as air transport. Amongst the crew were Jack and his co-pilot, Jim Tomlinson. The planes were equipped with balloon tires to cushion their landing on the rugged glacier, and a large inflatable rubber tank was installed to hold the fuel oil.

I well remember one trip, on which I accompanied Jack and Jim and their cargo of thousands of pounds of diesel fuel. I sat in the jump seat behind the two pilots, and was totally enthralled as we roared down the runway at Stewart, barely lifting off at the end, soaring up and over the waters of Portland Canal to clear the dock at Hyder. The two engines pounded as we climbed to clear the advancing Salmon glacier. We had barely cleared the crest when we flew up and over the Frank Mackenzie glacier. There was no rest for the pilots or aircraft, as we encountered rough crosswinds.

Finally, after a cautious descent beside Granduc Mountain and over the South Leduc glacier, Jack called the dispatcher for clearance on the airstrip of the North Leduc glacier. Was the grader off the strip? Were there any new crevasses? How was the wind force and direction? With a final assurance on his approach, Jack guided the craft until, with a bump and a bounce, we touched down. The liquid cargo lurched as he braked. We finally docked beside the large storage tank set up on the ice beside the airstrip. Jack smiled at me as he opened the side window and called to the grader crew to repair the landing section — it was too rough for the fuel load.

I flew on many trips with Jack and Jim — that is, when we could rouse Jack from his fishing trips to Portland Canal.

The Canadian mining industry was privileged to have had the attention of this pioneer, who had a love of this vast country.

— The preceding is the first of two columns in which the author recounts his experiences with colleagues who have recently died. He is a retired mining engineer residing in Vancouver, B.C.