Polar Winds: A Century of Flying the North

by Danielle Metcalfe-Chenail

Overview

Polar Winds traces a century of northern flight from balloonatics to bush pilots and beyond.

"They were all gamblers and fortune seekers. They did things on their own — were independent people who wanted to be free to roam. They were good people, but, of course, some were loners or escapists. They all depended strictly on their wits."

Joe McBryan, pilot and owner of Yellowknife-based Buffalo Airways, was talking about gold prospectors in the 1940s when he said this, but he could just as easily have been describing the aviators who have flown northern skies for over a hundred years. They were adventurers and pioneers, but also just men and women doing what was required to make a living north of the sixtieth parallel.

Polar Winds uses the stories of these pilots and others to explore the greater history of air travel in the North, from the Klondike Gold Rush through to the end of the twentieth century. It encompasses everything from exploration flights to the North Pole in airships to passenger travel in jet liners; flying school buses for residential schools to indigenous pilots performing mercy flights; and from the harrowing crashes to the routine supply runs that make up daily life in the North. Above all, it is a unique history told through the experiences of northerners on the ground and in the sky.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781459723795
Publisher:	Dundurn Press
Publication date:	10/21/2014
Pages:	224
Product dimensions:	6.90(w) x 9.90(h) x 0.60(d)

About the Author

Danielle Metcalfe-Chenail is a historian, freelance writer, and the author of For the Love of Flying: The Story of Laurentian Air Services. She currently lives in Edmonton, Alberta, where she holds the position of Historian Laureate.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1: Gold, Glory and Spectacle

• Airships to the Klondike; Professor Leonard and other balloonatics; attempts to reach North Pole in balloons and airships; Andre Varicle and the Yukon Polar Institute

Chapter 2: The Era of Expeditions

• Yukon air-mindedness; 1920 Alaska Expedition; Clarence Prest; Imperial Oil and the first airplanes in the NWT; The “Bouncing Bruno” and early mineral prospecting by air; Hudson Strait Expedition; MacAlpine Expedition

Chapter 3: Hope in the Sky

• Radium and gold mines in the NWT; establishment of air mail and air routes in north – Punch Dickins; Hudson’s Bay Company aviation; long-distance flights by the Lindberghs, “Stalin’s Falcons” and a foolhardy young RAF officer; the Mad Trapper of Rat River and Wop May

Chapter 4: The Northern Front

• Early RCAF photosurveying work in north; RCMP; northerners joining up; Alaska Highway; Canol Pipeline; Northwest Staging Route; conditions at air bases in north; impact of mega projects on locals; contributions of women and First Nations to war effort

Chapter 5: Civil aviation 1940s-1950s and early Cold War in the North

• Belcher Islands murders; polar navigation and experimentation; RCAF operations; DEW Line; Tuberculosis x-rays and evacuations; flying missionaries and residential school transportation; First Nations pilots (interviews with Fred Carmichael, first Aboriginal pilot to get private and commercial ratings in NWT); development of Hudson’s Bay Company aviation; naval aviation in north

Chapter 6:

• Flores-Klaben crash in the Yukon; Chuck McAvoy disappearance in NWT; RCMP Air Service; “Watson lake Triangle”; Edward Hadgkiss crash; Ray Munro, Expo ’67 Polar Ambassador; Trans-North Turbo Air; other northern air services, and the rise of helicopters in the 1960s

Chapter 7:

• “Cannibal Air” – the Martin Hartwell story; Buffalo Air Services (interviews with Joe McBryan); airliners in the north; creation of Air Inuit; resurgence of mineral exploration in NWT during the 1970s

Chapter 8:

• interview with Andy Williams – high altitude flying/scientific research in Kluane National Park, and mountain rescue of skiers; interview with Stephen Frosst Jr – aviation in Old Crow, YT (Edith Josie’s Here are the News columns as well); the Flying Bishops

Chapter 9:

• Hercules crash on Ellesmere Island; creation of Canadian North; interview with Bob Heath (the pilot who died in the Kenn Borek crash in Antarctica recently) – Aklak Air in NWT; Trans-North Helicopters: interview with Adam Morrison; interviews with Rosella Bjornson, Bill Pratt and Stuart Russell re Pacific-Western Airways, and Joe Muff in Whitehorse

Chapter 10:

• Diamonds in NWT and aviation support of mining in north more generally; history of Air North; crash and disappearance of Don Bergren; interview with Dan Reynolds in Dawson City – hunting, outfitting, ultralights;  “flight seeing” heli-skiing, hiking, etc

What People are Saying About This

bestselling author of Into the Abyss Carol Shaben

With Polar Winds: A Century of Flying the North, Danielle Metcalfe-Chenail brings us an extraordinarily intimate, engaging and all-encompassing chronicle of Canadian flight north of the 60th parallel. Metcalfe-Chenail proves herself a remarkable historian and writer, weaving factual accounts with compelling stories of risk, heroism and adventure. Brimming with amazing archival photographs and gripping detail acquired through meticulous research and personal interviews, Polar Winds is a definitive and important addition to the canon of Canadian aviation history. An astonishing accomplishment.

From the Publisher

With Polar Winds: A Century of Flying the North, Danielle Metcalfe-Chenail brings us an extraordinarily intimate, engaging and all-encompassing chronicle of Canadian flight north of the 60th parallel. Metcalfe-Chenail proves herself a remarkable historian and writer, weaving factual accounts with compelling stories of risk, heroism and adventure. Brimming with amazing archival photographs and gripping detail acquired through meticulous research and personal interviews, Polar Winds is a definitive and important addition to the canon of Canadian aviation history. An astonishing accomplishment.

Editorial Reviews

With Polar Winds: A Century of Flying the North, Danielle Metcalfe-Chenail brings us an extraordinarily intimate, engaging and all-encompassing chronicle of Canadian flight north of the 60th parallel. Metcalfe-Chenail proves herself a remarkable historian and writer, weaving factual accounts with compelling stories of risk, heroism and adventure. Brimming with amazing archival photographs and gripping detail acquired through meticulous research and personal interviews, Polar Winds is a definitive and important addition to the canon of Canadian aviation history. An astonishing accomplishment.

bestselling author of Into the Abyss Carol Shaben

This book not only tells the stories of the successes, failures, oddities, and tragedies of flying in the north, but [also] delves into the lives of the people and communities…captur[ing] the essence of northern flying.

COPA Flight

Polar Winds misses nothing in the multifaceted field of aviation... this book has earned its place in the collection of every reader who not only enjoys aviation history but also wishes to learn more about history of our country and its people.

Arctic Magazine

As Edmonton’s historian laureate, Metcalfe-Chenail has captured a rich heritage in great detail, and yet woven it all together in such an entertaining way that it’s hard to put Polar Winds down…it’s a wonderful read for anyone interested in aviation of Canada’s north.

Sherwood/Strathcona News

Presented in a well written, well paced narrative that even non-aviation enthusiasts should find engaging and informative.

Yukon News

Canada’s History.com

From the Publisher

This book not only tells the stories of the successes, failures, oddities, and tragedies of flying in the north, but [also] delves into the lives of the people and communities…captur[ing] the essence of northern flying.

COPA Flight (Ottawa