It probably hasn't made your list of places to go - there are no beaches or tropical flowers, and while the sun does shine for 24 hours straight, the temperatures certainly wouldn't encourage you to splash around in one of the countless lakes and ponds. But for fans of vintage, round engine propliners like me, Yellowknife has become Mecca.
Joe McBryan founded his own flying company back in 1970 and by 1977, had added a Douglas DC-3 freighter to his fleet. While many people were selling their piston-powered aircraft in favour of turbine-powered machines, Joe realised that under the right conditions these vintage cast offs were more than capable of making money; especially since his competition was paying more than 10 times the price for their planes. Within a couple years Buffalo Airways had grown to include more DC-3s but a bad business deal and a downturn in the economy sent Buffalo Airways into bankruptcy. With only one airplane - a DC-3 - "Buffalo" Joe fought back, eventually adding more DC-3s, a couple Curtiss C-46s, and the four-engine DC-4. Because he was the only one interested in these Second World War veterans, Joe found himself in the enviable position of being able to pick and chose which planes he wanted to buy. And sellers knew this; Buffalo Airways has been offered parts and planes from one end of the globe to the other; from the frozen Arctic to the sweltering heat of the jungle.
When WestJet announced that it would start flying to Yellowknife I was ecstatic. Not only would I finally be able to visit the Northwest Territories, but I'd actually be able to afford it. That might sound crazy, but a fish and chip dinner with soup and a beer will set you back $40 in Yellowknife. A hamburger and fries in Hay River is $24, and a gallon of milk in Norman Wells costs almost $14.
I boarded my flight out of Calgary on Sunday morning, passing through the inevitable security checks that suck the enjoyment out of modern passenger travel; you know the check - pull out everything from your carefully packed luggage, camera, computer, no liquids, no food and no drink. Beep, the alarm still goes off. Remove your shoes, open your belt, feel grateful when you're not led off for a more "personal" search, and then rush to cram all your possessions back into your bag before the next person goes through the same experience.
After a layover in Edmonton, I boarded the flight to Yellowknife. An hour and a half later we touched down in Yellowknife, a small city quite literally in the middle of nowhere. There's a highway in and a road out, and if you want to go anywhere off the highway, you'll have to take a small plane or a boat.
Since I had a couple hours to kill before my flight to Hay River, I took the opportunity to walk around Buffalo Airways' ramp. Unlike the major airports of the south, it was still possible to do this without airport security and an armed RCMP officer playing escort. To a propliner fan like myself, there's little better than looking at old airplanes while enjoying a beautiful, warm, cloudless summer day. I was later told that Buffalo Airways usually has a couple people a month show up to do exactly what I was doing. The British are interested in these old planes but interestingly, the latest wave of propliner fans seems to be coming from Germany.
Buffalo's hangar was built for Northwest Territorial Airlines back in the 1980s. It's big enough to house a Boeing 737-200, Lockheed Hercules or Lockheed Electra. Today, it housed a DC-3, a C-46, a Cessna 185, Beech Travelaire and Fleet canuck suspended from the ceiling.
Even though the hangar appeared deserted, I still wouldn't help myself to climbing onboard the airplanes. However, as soon as someone showed up, I asked and was granted free reign to everything. People forget, but manners and a good old fashioned "please" and "thank you" still count for much.
Boarding for my DC-3 ride was another one of those way back experiences. I'd reserved my ticket via email but most people simply walked up and asked if there were open seats. Five of us eventually headed out to the plane without passing through any kind of security checkpoint. It was the Captain who loaded our bags and fuelled the tanks, and our Flight Attendant announced boarding with a simple "Okay, let's go."
Buffalo Airways operates the last scheduled passenger service in a DC-3 anywhere in the world. For airplane fanatics that's enough of a reason to make the journey to Yellowknife. But as an added draw, some visitors will stay a week or more, hoping to get a ride in the Curtiss Commando, which Transport Canada limits to four people, usually the Captain, First Officer and at least one loader. Even if they don't get a ride, visitors still have the opportunity to watch and hear a C-46 takeoff on one of its weekly food mail trips. That's why those jugs of milk in Norman Wells cost $14.
The flight to Hay River lasts 45 minutes and passes over Great Slave Lake. I spent my flight examining the wings, looking at the multitude of dents, dings and scratches visible from my window seat. For the rest of the passengers, they passed their time with crossword puzzles or by reading the in-flight magazine; a book almost as worn and dog-eared as the airplane we were in. I was surprised at the noise level inside the cabin. No, the DC-3 certainly wasn't quiet; the Flight Attendant (a rookie pilot) had to yell his pre-flight briefing, but compared to the Jetstream 32 turbo prop I'd fly on in a couple days, and even, dare I say it, a couple 737 rides I've been on, it wasn't that bad.
Noticing my camera, the Flight Attendant offered me a chance to visit the cockpit. It was then that I noticed that the cockpit door had never been shut. Compared to our 737s, with their bullet proof doors and keypad locks, I don't think the door in the DC-3 could even be closed. I smiled when I realized just how much fun I was having just because of the simplicity of everything.
Once on the ground in Hay River, passengers had two options - pick up your luggage rampside at the plane, or wait until the bags had been unloaded and moved to the one-room terminal.
Had this been the winter time, the passengers would have surely run into the terminal while the crew rushed to install the engine covers and heaters. On a warm August evening like this, it meant an early end to the workday.
There's just something magical about a DC-3. Somehow, back in 1935 the designers at Douglas created the perfect airplane; a mix of the period's art deco design, big band music and passengers that dress up before coming to the airport. Today, fanatics like myself jump at the chance to get up close to such machines, and thankfully the people at Buffalo Airways realize that attraction.
