Good morning all...
It was late evening and we were on a flight home along the east coast of Hudson Bay about midway up. I was in the left seat smoking my pipe, the first officer sound asleep in the bunk. It was about 22:00 hrs I think, long time ago. Our flight was in the Consolidated Canso/Catalina/PBY5A which we used when the bay was open and when froze over we landed on the bay in Douglas DC3s/Daks/C47 on wheel/skis. There were very few land strips at that time on either coast of the bay.
Everything went in by barge once a year if it could get all the way down and back before freeze up or by air.
Most days ran well past fourteen hours (14) until Transport Canada finally stepped in for the civvies. Oh yes aircraft like land vehicles came with ash trays back then...
We would see the Northern Lights quite a bit on those flights and we have seen them in Southern Ontario many times as well.
What was awe inspiring was from cruise about ten thousand feet we would see the Northern Lights and when we looked out the cockpit at the bay below we would see all these little lights as well. It looked like floating villages and towns in the water but it was the stars reflecting in the water amongst the Northern Lights.
Sometimes if I was bored I would descend to three or four thousand feet and open the cockpit windows in the Canso or Dak and puff away... there were no VORs then and we used ADF when we could tune in a beacon. GPS was well in the future.
I bet the college boys in their suck and blows don't do that type of flying now, cost of fuel and too many regulations...
Yes the Northern Lights were just one of the many splended things Mother Nature gave us bored aviators...
Cheers...Happy Landings...Doug
Posted: Fri Oct 22, 2010 11:20 am
