DND photo. Later C-GNPR

Named "Summer Wages", on short finals to land at Hay River on the afternoon scheduled service from Yellowknife across the Great Slave Lake - "The Sked".

The "Ice Pilots" logo beneath the cockpit windows marks involvement in the TV series of the same name which dramatised the exploits of Buffalo Airways in the locally extreme winter weather. The name "Summer Wages", with its dollar bill, is of longer standing. Joined Buffalo Airways in 1980, previously in military service with the RAF and then the RCAF as KG602, latterly 12932.

Wartime C-47 42-93423 was transferred to the Royal Air Force as Dakota III KG602. The aircraft was transferred to the Royal Canadian Air Force in June 1946 with the same serial. New serial 12932 was applied in 1970 as the system was re-structured . Sold to Buffalo Airways in 1980 , it was registered C-GPNR in 1981. Although named Summer Wages, the aircraft is pictured also dedicated to Murray Crosby, a Buffalo Airways DC-3 co-pilot who tragically died in a Cessna 337 crash.

Delivered to the USAAF as 42-93423 then transferred to the RAF as KG602 in 1944. To the RCAF as a Dakota 3N in 1946. Reserialled as 12932 in 1970. Sold as C-GPNR in 1975 and to Buffalo Airways in 1980.

'The Sked' arriving at Hay River, coinciding with the company president's near-daily commute home. Intended for the USAAF as 42-93423, the Douglas was instead taken on by the RAF as Dakota Mk. III KG602. Transferred as such to the RCAF in 1946, she became CC-129 12932 by 1970 and was put into storage in 1975. Buffalo bought her five years after that.

Famous insigna on PNR's nose. "Summer Wages" was a country song about loggers blowing their income on entertainment, thought fit by 'Buffalo' Joe for this plane as he spent all his money converting it for civil use. The story behind the small door being dubbed 'hamburger door' is a lot less poetic: it is named after what a person would become when opening it with the engine running...

One of the world's last DC-3 passenger cabins for scheduled service, a duty that PNR had been performing since Buffalo started it in August 1986. The service ended a few months after the photo date. Being able to examine these aircraft inside and out is part of the completely free tours that Buffalo offers, as Joe finds it important to share his affection for them with as many people as possible.

Functional is the keyword here, with a bit of new mixed in with the old and faithful. The captain's clipboard has a classic Winnipeg aerodrome chart as a background, and the copilot's shows the After Landing and Shutdown checklistst. As per those, the 'bungie cord' that ensures locking the ailerons against gust damage has been installed.

This veteran getting some TLC at the WWII era Buffalo hangar.

"Summer Wages"