This TyumenAviaTrans Mil Mi-26T was seen near Zagreb's Pleso Airport while on contract to the United Nations Protection Force (UNPROFOR) which was the first United Nations peacekeeping force in former Yugoslavia, formed in Feb. 1992. Skylink of Canada hired civil contract aircrews to support UN units in Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Macedonia and serve Sarajevo. The Mi-26 was use to airlift supplies to remote bases and large metal shipping containers installed by the UN as observation posts along the new borders. The high time crew previously flew in Siberian oil fields. Later to UTAir.

Northern Mountain Helicopters in Prince George, British Columbia used this Piper Aztec, C-FMWO, to support its helicopter charter operations. They company had bases in a number of communities in British Columbia and also did seasonal contract work in Alberta and the Yukon, as well as firefighting. It was imported to Canada in 1966. It's last Canadian operator was Kelowna Flightcraft when cancelled from the Canadian civil aircraft register in July 1982.

Helipro Corp. of Bellingham, WA and Langley, BC modify several Sikorsky S-61Ns and S-61Ls by removing a 50-inch section of the front cabin to provide a 10% improvement in speed, payload and range. The conversion received a Canadian STC and was named the "Shortsky" until Sikorsky objected, so renamed the "S-61 Short". Customers included heli-logging operators VIH, CHC, HTS and Hayes. N92111 was the first "offshore" S-61N Short. It first flew at Langley on Feb. 12, 1999 and displayed at Heli-Expo 1999 in Dallas, TX. Ex-BIH G-BBUD.To Helijet as C-GHJU, CHC as YV-1032C, and CHI Aviation as N905CH.

This JetRanger flew in the USA as N71SP until imported by Pacific Helic. of Delta, BC in 1979 as C-GJBW. Also registered to Labrador Air Safari, Gilwil Holdings, Ocelot Industries, Falcon Helic. Maintenance Ltd, Woodland Helic., and Pioneer Helic. between 1982-1999. Operated by Blackcomb Helic. between June 1999 & Nov 2005. Then to two different private owners. To C-GBFE in Aug 2009. To Riverside Helic. in Apr 2010. To Premier Helicopter in June 2010 as C-GSKY. To Sky Helic. in June 2013. Back to Premier. To C-GWKY in May 2014. To Glacier Helic. in Aug 2021. Four different C- Reg's in 5 yrs!

The BC Forest Service first evaluated the Douglas A-26 Invader for firefighting in June 1969 when three aircraft attacked 30 fires over a 12-day period from the Kamloops tanker base. In 1970, Conair Aviation won contracts for three A-26s which joined three Flying Fireman PBY-5 Cansos, and five Conair TBMs Avengers to form BC's provincial firefighting fleet. This Douglas A-26C was delivered to the USAAF as 44-34520 in June 1945. In 1958 it became N9420Z and flew as a corporate aircraft. Conair imported it in 1974 as C-GHCF. Sold it to Hawkins & Powers Avn. in 1988 as N94207. To N126HP in 1989.

Cessna 180H, CF-UIG, was imported to Canada in 1966 and has operated on floats most of its career. It was part of Terrace & Prince Rupert-based Trans-Provincial Airlines' (TPA) fleet of 24 aircraft in 1970 and probably joined the fleet in the 1960s. The aircraft remained with TPA though its purchase and sale by Jim Pattison Industries until the airline went bankrupt in 1993. After five subsequent owners in British Columbia including Fort Langley Air, it's been based in La Ronge, Saskachewan since November 2020.

DHC-3, msn 445, was delivered to Trans Provincial Air Carriers Ltd. in Terrace, BC in Aug. 1964. Changed name to Trans Provincial Airlines after buying two routes from PWA. TPA served forestry, mining, fishing and First National sites on the NW BC coast from bases at the Terrace, the Seal Cove seaplane base in Prince Rupert and Sandspit Airport. In June 1980 it was delivering groceries to an exploration camp on Crescent Inlet, about 55 km S of Sandspit, when the tide started to go out almost grounding the Otter! This inlet is now the northern boundary of the Gwaii Haanas National Park Reserve.

DHC-3, c/n 21, delivered to Royal Norwegian Air Force in March 1954. To the United Nations Air Transport Force (UNATF) in the Congo as No. 304 in Aug. 1960. Deployed to UN Observation Mission in Yemen in Sep. 1974. Flew Yemen to Canada as N128F in 1964. To G.Rae MacLeod of Aero Leasing, YUL as CF-RNO. To Pacific Western Airlines, YVR in Apr 1968. To Trans Provincial Airlines in YXT in Aug 1968. When PWA added 737s in 1968 it sold its northern svcs to TPA. C-FRNO flew on fixed and amphibious floats on the northwest coast of BC with TPA (1968-93) and Harbour Air (1993-01). To DHC-3T in 2001.

Douglas DC-6B, C-GHLY was acquired by Conair from Delta Air Transport in Belgium. It's seen here being painted on July 6, 1975 with No. 46 on the tail prior to the installation of an external belly tank. Previous with Northwest Orient Airlines (N581) and Kar-Air in Finland (OH-KDB), it joining DAT in 1992 as OO-EVG and later OO-VGE. Conair's first DC-6Bs were ex-PWA CF-PWA (Tanker 41) and CF-PWF (tanker 42) bought in 1972 & fitted with 2,500 imp gal tanks. No. 41 crashed Aug 2, 1974, but many more DC-6s were purchased for fire contracts in BC, the NWT, Alaska etc. To Alaska in 2014 as N651CE.

This Pacific Western Airlines Boeing 737-200, CF-PWW, is parked outside the PWA maintenance base on the south side of Vancouver Airport in June 1976. In 1974, the Government of Alberta bought PWA for C$37 million and moved the HQ and maintenance base to Edmonton and the YVR base closed. CF-PWW was delivered to PWA in Dec 1972 and left the Canadian Airlines fleet in April 1992. It returned to Canada with short-lived Titan Charter Aviation in YUL as C-FVHG in April 1995, then joined Westjet in Nov 1995 as C-GWJG. Retired 11/2005. Also flying as N380PA, N862SY, HP-1218 between periods in Canada.

The six-acre Niagara Helicopters heliport (CPQ3) at the corner of Victoria Avenue and the Niagara Parkway in Niagara Falls, Ontario opened in 1964. Pan Air bought the business in 1978. Swiss-born Ruedi Hafen learned to fly there in 1982 and bought the company with to partners from Pan Air in 1985. The tour fleet was upgraded to five new Bell 407s in 1996. In December 2011, Helicopter Transport Services founded by Luc Pilon bought the company and upgraded the fleet to new Airbus H130s. More than 150 pilots learned to fly with Niagara here between 1964 and the mid-1980s when the school closed.

CH-47D, N49CU, has fought fires in the US, Chile and Bolivia. Seen being prepared at KTRM Thermal Airport, CA for a new firefighting contract in Argentina. This Chinook was the last of 12 Royal Australian Air Force CH-47C's (A15-012). In 1993, seven surviving RAAF CH-47Cs were sold to the US Army and four others upgraded by Boeing to CH-47Ds. This CH-47C, msn CE012, 73-21981 became US Army CH-47D, msn M3461, 93-0934. Based in Hawaii in 2007. To Unical Aviation in 2017 as N160CZ. To Coulson-Unical as N49CU in April 2020 and modified by Coulson Aviation at its HQ in Port Alberni, BC, Canada.

Boeing CH-47D, N47CU is one of the oldest operational Chinooks in the world, and the oldest in civil use. Built as CH-47A msn B017, 61-2413 for the US Army and later upgraded to a CH-47D, msn M3440, 92-0299. It was sold to Unical Aviation Inc. in California and registered N160EB in April 2017. In March 2019, Coulson Aviation partnered with Unical to put some of its ex-US Army CH-47s and UH-60As to work fighting wildfires in the US, Australia and South America. Reregistered N47CU in Sep 2019. Coulson-Unical renamed Coulson & Tan. N47CU went to Chile by sea in Nov 2022 to fight wildfires.

This Coulson Aviation USA Canadair CL-600 Challenger was delivered new to the Clinton Aviation Group as N29867 in April 1982 and re-registered N600TT a couple months later. It became N500LS in Nov 1983 and N600LS in Nov. 1985 and N601LS in Sep. 1988. The aircraft returned to Canada in Dec. 1988 and became C-FSIP with Intera Technologies in Calgary, AB. To Pal Air in Calgary in 1995 and re-registered C-GDDR in Jan 1996. To the Coulson Group's Executive Transport Airways division in Port Alberni, BC in Sept 2015. To Coulson Aviation's US unit in Sep 2017.

Coulson Timber of Port Alberni, BC entered the aviation business in the late 1980s when it bought a Sikorsky S-61N for heli-logging, then won S-61N firefighting contracts in the Canada, the US and Australia. In 2007, Coulson bought Flying Tankers' two Martin JMR Mars flying boats and won a USFS contract in the US. When the Mars contract was cancelled, Coulson started converting C-130Q/Hs and later Boeing 737-300s into air tankers. Four Cessna 550s with sensors retired by the US Customs & Border Protection are now used to support fire ops in the US and overseas, including N552CG, ex-N4614N.

The new Bombardier BD-700-1A10 Global 6000 was photographed on Runway 13-33 at Toronto's Downsview Airport prior to a test flight. All Global business jets are assembled in Toronto andf then flown to to the Bombardier factory in Montreal (CYUL) for interior completion, painting and delivery to their customers. Downsview Airport has been sold for redevelopment and Bombardier is building a new facility at the northwest end of Toronto Pearson Airport which will house the new Global 5500, 6500, 7000 and 8000 final assembly line, probably in 2023.

This DHC-2 Beaver was delivered to the US Army in May 1955 as 54-1674. Purchased in January 1976 at a surplus sale by Mike Hackman of Edmonton, AB and C-GRAS in March 1976. Operated in Canada until March 1994 when it was registered to Kenmore Air Harbour as N378BD and subsequently registered to CDS Aircraft Inc., Bellevue, Seattle, WA in July 1994 and carries the name "Kawak Ena" on the rear cabin door. Probably one of a large number of privately-owned DHC-2 Beavers seaplanes base at airports and lakefront properties in the greater Seattle area.

DHC-2 Beaver N67684 of Northwest Seaplanes preparing to depart the Will Rogers Wiley Post Memorial Seaplane base at Renton Airport with passengers heading to a salmon fishing lodge on the British Columbia coast. These Beaver flights will often clear Canadian customs and refuel at the seaplane dock in Campbell River, BC before flying on their final destination. It was delivered to the US Army in April 1958 as 57-2564 and first registered N67689 in Feb 1976. Itflew mostly in Alaska until leased to Canada in 2001-2002 as C-GCYN. Msn 1208 is one of three Beavers to be registered N67684.

Canadian Architect Edward D Russell acquired four warbirds in the early 2000s which he had professional pilots fly from Niagara South Airport, Ontario between 2003-2017. This included Supermarine Spitfire LF9C, CF-FLC, and Harvard IIB, C-GFLR, acquired from the UK in May 2003. And Hawker Hurricane CF-DNL (RCAF 5481) and Messerschmitt BF-109E, CF-EML, from the Museum of Flying in the US in 2005. Russell bought the warbirds after a jury in Florida in 2000 ordered the Walt Disney Co. to pay Russell and his partner at least C$240 million in damages for stealing their ideas for a sports complex.

This Twin Pioneer Series 3 first flew at Prestwick on June 26, 1963 and sold to the Royal Malaysian Air Force. One of four sold to Aerial Agriculture and ferried to Australia in Nov-Dec 1972. Sold to the USA in June 1975 but impounded at ANC in Aug 1975 (See https://www.goodall.com.au/australian-aviation/twin-pioneer/twinpioneer.html for complete history). Bought by Jack Anderson of North Coast Air Service and flown to Smithers, BC c.1980, but C-GNIS couldn't be certified. Later ferried to Woodcock (CBQ8), 38 nm N of Terrace, on last flight. Vandalized. Partially restored. Sold for parts.