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Vic Bentley sent in the following request: A friend sent me the photo below and requested information on the aircraft. I have some info but wondered if you could add some details. The photo was taken at Kitimat, B.C. in 1956. That was before the Terrace - Kitimat road was open. So Kitimat was served by marine aircraft that taxied up on the beach. I can see that it is a Grumman Mallard and I believe the airline logo is Pacific Western - can you confirm that? Also the color scheme is way too fancy for an airline in those days. Had it been a corporate aircraft? Is there any record of airline aircraft registrations in the 1950's? |
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Ken Pickford went to work on the research: My research shows that PWA operated 4 Mallards at various times from the 1950's to 1970's. Only 59 Mallards were built from 1946 to 1951. The four aircraft operated by PWA with registration and construction number (c/n) were the following::
CF-IOA was lost on August 3, 1955 on a flight from Kemano, B.C. to Kitimat, B.C with 5 souls aboard, no survivors. The first link at the bottom of the accident summary above contains a very detailed PDF list covering the history of all 59 Mallards built. That may help answer some of Vic Bentley's questions. Searching for some of the many registrations may turn up more photos. Many of the Mallards had many operators over the years. www.goodall.com.au/grumman-amphibians/grummanmallard.pdf Regarding one of his questions, yes, almost all of the 59 Mallards were originally operated as corporate or private aircraft. For example, one of the PWA aircraft (CF-HPU) was previously operated by the 20th Cenutry Fox Film Corporation (as it was known then), and another (CF-MHG) began life as a personal aircraft for William E. Boeing, founder of the Boeing Company who passed away at 75 in 1956. Regarding the photo he submitted, I came across the following photo taken at Vancouver, sometime between 1954 and 1959. www.airhistory.net/photo/458963/CF-HPA The basic livery looks the same as the one in Vic Bentley's photo, although the lighter colour at the top is different and it lacks the PWA name/logo at the front. It may well be the same aircraft. That was PWA's first Mallard, CF-HPA, named 'Kitimat Prince'. It went to B.C. Air Lines in 1959, which ironically was acquired by PWA in 1972. That aircraft was lost on takeoff from the Seal Cove seaplane base at Prince Rupert, BC on March 5, 1974 while with a subsequent operator (North Coast Air Services) with 3 fatalities of the 10 persons on board. It was en route to Masset in what was then the Queen Charlotte Islands, now Haida Gwaii. Here is another site focusing on the 21 Mallards that at one time were registered in Canada: theflyingboatforum.forumlaunch.net Ken |
