Okey Dokey

[Flying Trucker]

Couple of short reads:

You know you're flying with an Arctic bush pilot if:

You don't buy a ticket - you buy a chance!

The pilot asks the passengers to chip in a little for fuel.

The pilot yells out the window to get the polar bears off the runway.

You can't board the plane unless you have the exact number of sealskins.

In-flight movie? You don't need one - your life keeps flashing before your eyes!

The pilot starts the engines with a crack of his whip... and then yells "mush" as he starts down the runway!

Instead of throttling up, the pilot makes that... kissing sound.

You hear the pilot yell "haw" just before the plane banks to the left.

You see a passenger waving a rifle, but he's demanding to be let off the plane!

Before you take off, the pilot tells you to fasten your rope.

The fuel for the plane comes from one of those big iron try-pots.

AND

Engineer's Winter Song
Sioux Lookout, Canada

Six a.m. the clock never freezes,
Everything else does by - - - - -
Dark as pitch and cold as Hell
Why I'm an Engineer I'll never tell.

Light the fire and a cigarette
Get the torches and oil pail set
Out into the cold at forty below
Under the cover for an hour or so.

Cold and alone while the firepots roar
While up in the shack the pilots snore
Snug and warm in their sleeping bags
Trying to recover from last night's jags.

Oh, it's lots of fun earning your gelt (Informal term for money)
So far away from the banana belt
Earn big money in Aviation
Live in the bush on an iron ration.

In with the slippins put the cover in the back
Wind the inertia till the snow turns black
Jump in the cockpit before she runs down
And wind the booster around and around.

I thought it would be romance and fun
Looking after a seventy one
Freeze your face and your fingers too
Servicing a Wasp North of fifty two.

I like it fine but why be a hog
When there's lots of new fellows who want the job
I like it fine but I think I'll beg
Tommy Thompson for a job in Winnipeg.

In the land where Whiskey has been frozen
Many were called but we were chosen
It called for a man that didn't know fear
So hats off all to the Engineers.

A.K. Murray.

Here is an excellent LINK to see some ski aircraft:

http://blog.blueiceaviation.com/happy-n ... es-of-2011