This Blackcomb Helicopters/Aviation Airbus AS350B3 was was first registered to Eurocopter Canada Limited in Fort Erie, Ontario in March 2022 as C-GRNP and immediately re-registered C-GZBA. It was sold to Blackcomb Helicopters in November 2012 and photographed almost two years later picking up a business group from the heliport next to the lodge at the top of Blackcomb Mountain overlooking the resort town of Whistler, BC.

This EC130B-4 was one of five helicopters that picked up a group of business executives from the heliport next to the Rendezvous Lodge at the top of the Blackcomb Mountain ski hill above the resort town of Whistler, BC. It was built in France in 2007, flew with Herzog Aviation in the US as N117PM and then exported to New Zealand where it flew with Acernus Aero and Wanaka Helicopters as ZK-HAC. It was imported to British Columbia in 2012 by Seabreeze Jet Charters in Vancouver (owned by Deeley Harley Davidson). To Omega Air in 2013 and to Blackcomb Helicopters in 2015.

This early serial number Bell 407 (msn 53031) was built by Bell in Mirabel, Quebec for Fletcher Challenge Canada, a large forest company in Vancouver, BC and delivered in June 1996. When Fletcher Challenge closed its flight department in June 1997, the pilots bought the 407 and Bell 206B C-GBFH to establish Omega Air Corporation, which merged with Blackcomb Helicopters in March 2009. Photographed departing the heliport beside the Rendezvous Lodge near the top of Blackcomb Mountain, about 5,300 ft. above the resort town of Whistler, BC.

The Flying Fireman was formed in Victoria (by Alex Davidson and Bill Harrison) to operate two PBY-5s water bombers out of Prince George (CF-NTL and N609FF) in 1965 and 1966. By 1973, BC was fully committed to land-based retardant air tankers but continued to use PBYs on a casual basis, and Flying Fireman found work elsewhere in Canada and the US. This PBY-5 served with the US Navy as BuNo 46522 and became N5585V. Imported to Canada in 1972 and operated as tanker #7 and #777. January 1990 to Erickson Group Ltd in Oregon as N2172N. To Erickson Aircraft Collection in 2012 and Avenger LLC in 2016.

This Grumman Mallard was delivered new to Copano Oil Co, Victoria, TX in June 1950 as N2983. It was registered to nine different companies in the US before imported by West Coast Air Services in Feb. 1974 as C-GIRL and mainly flew passengers to the pulp and paper town of Ocean Falls, 257 nm NW of YVR. West Coast Air was part of the Air BC merger in 1980, and C-GIRL flew out on the northern BC coast before its sale to the US in Aug 1984 as N2983. Operated by Virgin Is. Seaplane Shuttle as N2983 and N652SS (1985-89). To Caribbean Airline Service. Retired late 1990s in San Juan, PR.

This Grumman Mallard was delivered new to the New York Daily News in May 1947 as NC2962/N2962 and the cockpit windows lowered for aerial photography! Purchased by West Coast Air Services (WCAS) in Dec. 1973 and to CF-HUB. WCAS's Mallard fleet primarily flew pax between YVR and Ocean Falls (ZOF) which was 257 nm NW away and accessible only by ship or seaplane. It was home for the largest pulp and paper mill in BC and the G-73 fleet grew when the BC Government bought the mill in 1973, but declined after the mill closed in 1980. Sold by AirBC to Air Whitsunday in Mar 7, 1983 as N2416X, then VH-LAW.

David Grainger's 1943 Meyers OTW-160, C-FOTW powered by a Kinner 160 was rebuilt by Al Ball of Santa Paula, California in 2004 and imported to Canada in July 2005. It was based at the Holland Landing Airpark (CLA4) near Newmarket, ON and photographed during a visit to the Arthur East Airport (CMC3) operated by the York Soaring Association located 48 nm NW of Toronto. Grainger's main business is restoring classic automobiles, but he briefly owned a Douglas A-26 that was displayed for decades on the top of a building in Oshawa, ON. The Meyers was exported back to the USA in December 2020.

After wartime service with the USAAF as 42-72209, the C-54A was operated post-war as N90432 by American Airlines (1946-1950, Eastern Airlines (1950-1955) and leased to Flying Tiger Line, probably supporting Cold War DEW Line radar site contraction in the Arctic. Pacific Western Airlines imported it as CF-PWB in it Nov. 1957 and it flew with the airline for 15 years until sold to Cryderman Air Service as "N-74183" in Nov. 1972. It was photographed three weeks after a hydraulic line burst when departing for Everett from Chico, CA. Flew for many years in Florida. Preserved at MCAS Miramar, CA.

Grumman G-21A Goose, C-FUAZ was delivered new to the US Coast Guard in February 1940 as V185 and was sold by the US government in November 1946 as NC95400 and later N95400. The aircraft was registered to three different owners in the Bahamas between 1963-1965, then imported to Canada in December 1965 by Northwest Industries (NWI) which was large MRO company based in Edmonton, owned by CAE. In May 1966, NWI sold the Goose to BC Airlines, a subsidiary, and the aircraft was registered C-FUAZ. It joined the Trans-Provincial fleet in April 1969. With Wilderness Seaplanes in Port Hardy in 2022.

Pacific Western Airlines of Vancouver, BC imported Grumman G-21A Goose, CF-UMG, from Alaska in August 1966. It had previously flown with the US Dept of Interior's Bureau of Land Management in Alaska as N643 and with Fleet Air Transport in 1963-1964 as N643H. In August 1968, PWA sold CF-UMG to Trans-Provincial Airlines (TPA) which had a landline base in Terrace and a seaplane base at Seal Cove in Prince Rupert. The airline's main business was servicing coastal communities and logging camps on the northern BC coast. TPA was acquired by Jim Pattison Ind. c1980 for Air BC, but remained separate.

Airwest Airlines of Vancouver imported this Cessna 180J, C-FAWH, in 1984 for charter services. It's seen here at the Airwest's old wooden dock in the Coal Harbour area of Vancouver Harbour. In the 1980s, C-FAWH was privately-owned and based in Prince George, BC until exported to the USA in November 1986.

Forest Industries Flying Tankers (FIFT) acquired the Grumman G-21A Goose (ex-Bu84806 and N62899) in April 1967 to support its water bomber operations using a pair of four-engine Martin Mars flying boats. Goose C-FVFS served with FIFT until 2000 and with its successor Flying Tankers Inc. until it was sold to Klaus Dieter Martin in Munich, Germany and ferried across the Atlantic in Nov. 2001 for use by European Seaplane Service in Croatia but was damaged when the gear collapsed in 2002. Registered to Victoria Aircraft Maintenance at CYYJ in Oct 2015 as C-FMXW. Cancelled/Exported in Nov. 2021.

This Cessna 180H was imported new to Canada in 1972 and was operated by in Newfoundland in the early 1980s (and perhaps earlier) until sold by Caribou Leasing Ltd to F B M Holdings Ltd in Terrace, British Columbia in May 1986. It was photographed wearing A Frame Logging Ltd. titles at the Seal Cove seaplane base in Prince Rupert, BC in January 26, 1987. It was last operated in Canada by Trans-Provincial in Prince Rupert before being cancelled from the CCAR in August 1994. Seal Cove was the town's main air gateway until the Digby Island airport opened in 1959.

Cessna A185F, C-FCDD, is photographed shortly after landing in Vancouver Harbour on April 5, 1977. Airspan Flight Charter Ltd. operated DHC-2 Beavers (C-GASF, CF-CDT, CF-GCY) and Cessna seaplanes between 1974-1978 in the Vancouver area from bases at YVR and a dock on Commissioner Street at the east end of Vancouver harbour. This Cessna was operated by W.B. Management Ltd. of Burnaby, BC between October 1980 and February 1998, when it was cancelled from the Canadian civil aircraft register. The Airspan name was then adapted by new helicopter company established in BC the early 1980s.

This Cessna A185F, C-GKNI, was imported to Canada in 1978 and operated by Tyee Airways Ltd., of Sechelt, BC from January 1990 to January 1993. It flew in the BC interior with Columbia River Shake & Shingle based out of Nakusp, then joined the fleet of Tyee's local rival Thunderbird Air (1987) Inc. in December 1987. Long-time Tyee Airways owner/pilot Al Campbell is standing next to the aircraft on the dock. In 2023, C-GKNI was still in commercial operation as part of the fleet of Amik Aviation Ltd. based at St. Andrews Airport, north of Winnipeg.

In 1979, bush pilot Bob Ambrose's Norcrown Air was operating this Cessna A185F, C-GHEP and Pilatus Turbo Porter CF-ZIZ on floats from a lake near Ross River, YT serving tourists, canoeists and exploration companies. One of his 1979 contracts was supporting Cominco's large regional mineral exploration in the MacKenzie Mountains. This Cessna was photographed at the old fur trading post at Pelly Lakes, 120 km east of Ross River, where Cominco has a seasonal base with a Bell Jet Ranger. C-GHEP was built in 1963 and imported to Canada in 1974. It was in cancelled from the CCAR in Apr 2019. This is the prototype Cessna A185F - hence the unusual c/n.

This Cessna A185E was imported to Canada in 1971 and was part of the fleet of Central Mountain Air Services in July 1983 when I flew in it from the floatplane base at Tyhee Lake to Fredrikson Lake to work on a mineral exploration project for Gerlie Gold. Our helicopter-accessible tent camp in the mountains was next to an old wooden prospectors cabin and much to my surprise the yard containing parts salvaged one the decades from the wreck of Junkers J.13, CF-ALX which crashed at nearby McConnell Lake on July 23, 1933; Most of CF-ALX was salvaged by WCAM in 1981. Now in the Technikmuseum Berlin.

After Bombardier acquired de Havilland Aircraft of Canada from Boeing in January 1992, the Montreal company moved quickly to increase activity at the factory at Downsview Airport in Toronto. Toronto gained responsibility to convert five of the 13 contracted Spanish Air Force Canadair CL-215s to P&WC PW123 turboprop power. This CL-215 was photographed in August 1992 shortly after its arrival at Downsview for conversion. The CL-215T used the same engine model as the Dash 8-300.

AIr Nova was founded in Halifax in 1986 as a code-sharing regional airline partner of Air Canada serving the Maritime provinces. In 2001, it merged with Air BC, Air Ontario and Canadian Regional Airlines to form Air Canada Jazz. This photo shows the iconic Montreal Dorval Airport passenger terminal and ATC tower. The airport terminal was significantly expanded in the past 30 years and Dorval airport renamed Montréal - Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport.

West Coast Air Grumman G-21A, CF-GEC, on the ramp at Vancouver Airport on June 15, 1977. One year later the aircraft struck an object and sank just off Powell River, BC on 14 August 1978, with no loss of life. This Goose served with the RCAF Western Air Command from Dec 1944 to Jan 1946 and was based at Vancouver from 1948 with BNP Airways (1948-1966) and the BC Hydro and Power Authority (1966-1968) then flew with Midwest Airlines in Winnipeg (1969-1972) before returning to Vancouver in 1973 to join the fleet of West Coast Air Services.