ODDS’N’SODS — Airplanes and prospecting (1)

If you were in Red Lake, Ont., last summer, you were probably at Norseman Days, or at least heard about them. About mid-July, the northwestern Ontario town dedicated Norseman Heritage Park, the culmination of five years of planning and a lot of volunteer work.

The centrepiece of the park is a restored Norseman airplane, one of about 900 built by Noorduyn Aviation of Montreal between 1935 and 1959. Although the airplane seemed virtually indestructible — many wrecks

have been rebuilt more than once — the number of flight-worthy craft has dwindled. As fate would have it, the largest number of Norsemans still in service — seven or eight — are concentrated in the Red Lake area. Red Lake was something of a latecomer to Ontario’s mining scene. European settlers first came there in large numbers in 1925 and 1926, involved in the area’s first large gold rush. The lake almost immediately became a runway for aircraft, just one year after Canada’s first commercial air service had begun. Mining and aviation were the two cornerstones that built Red Lake and were driving forces for much of the economic development of the province. Airplanes were a natural choice of transportation to remote towns like Red Lake, considering the alternative. The overland route to Red Lake from Hudson, on the Canadian National Railway, was an arduous 300-km journey along the waterways in summer, or a 6-day dog-sled trip in winter. A plane could cut the travel time to about an hour.

The first planes which serviced the rush were chartered from the Ontario Forestry Department in the autumn of 1925 (“Free Gold” by A. Hoffman). By the next year, there were three commercial aviators flying into Red Lake using a variety of ex-First World War biplanes and a Fokker Universal. The fixing of the gold price at US$35 per oz. in 1935 led to a second gold rush in Red Lake. There were 10,000 new claims staked in the area, and 10 new mining shafts being sunk in 1936. The lake became the busiest airport in the world that summer, averaging more than 100 takeoffs and landings per day (“The Second Gold Rush to Red Lake” by D.F. Parrott).

The area spawned a succession of gold mines, two of which — the Campbell Red Lake and Dickenson Mines’ Arthur W. White mine — are still operating. Like many mining towns, the local economy has become more diverse with time. It remains a centre of gold mining and bush flying, according to local businessman Ronald Robinson, but tourism and truck and aviation services have also gained prominence.

The Fokker Universal was the first plane at least partly suited to bush transport since it was a high-winged monoplane, easier to load than a biplane, and easier to manoeuvre on floats, according to aviation historian Larry Milberry. The Fairchild Super 71 and 82 were two of the first aircraft actually designed for Canadian bush flying. They had fabric-covered metal frames for their fuselage, and an enclosed cabin.

Next came the amply powered Noorduyn Norseman, the first plane designed on floats (rather than wheels or skis). Twin-engine planes such as the Lockheed 10 first appeared in the North in 1936, making flying safer. De Havilland Canada came out with the Beaver in 1948; its short takeoff and landing requirements made it ideal for bush work. The company began to produce the Otter — “the 1-ton truck” — three years later, with a longer flying range than the Beaver.

The last plane to have a revolutionary effect on bush flying in Canada was the humble Cessna 180. First built in 1954, it was the first reliable, all-metal small plane. It could carry three passengers besides the pilot, or a 390-kg payload — big enough for most requirements.

— The preceding is the first of a 2-part article from the offices of Energy, Mines and Resources Canada.