CF-BAU

Air transportation in Nestor Falls was started back in the late forties by Red Swanton. He transported fishermen to Kay Lake and Kishkutena Lake with a Waco and a Fox Moth from the old base on Lake of the Woods known as Clearwater Air Service. In the early sixties Red sold his charter to Ralph Showalter when it then became Northwestern Flying Services.

The company changed hands a few more times up until 1987 when Jack Pope and Glen McLeod acquired the property changing the name to Northwest Flying Inc. 1992 brought sole proprietorship by the Pope family who still run the business to this day with Jack's son Shane and wife Gina.

DeHavilland Otter

For those big loads, seats 9 people. 2100lb payload.

Using the same overall configuration as the highly successful De Havilland Beaver (DHC-2) the Otter actually began life described as the King Beaver; longer, with a wider wingspan and far heavier, but capable of seating up to 11, the Otter was conceived simply as a big Beaver, able to fulfil the same functions. The aircraft features the same conventional stressed skin construction and has a braced-wing with full-span slotted flaps, the outer portions acting as ailerons.

A total of 466 aircraft were built between 1951 and 1967 and utilised in over 36 countries with the military taking the bulk of orders. The US Army was the largest customer, taking delivery of 200 aircraft commencing in 1955. The Royal Canadian Air Force operated 66 Otters in both Transport and Search and Rescue roles and the aircraft fulfilled a diverse range of duties operating on floats, wheels and ski's in locations as diverse as Antarctica and the Caribbean. The UN used a number of aircraft for a range of missions and the Otter was purchased by several overseas Governments as diverse as India, Australia, Burma, Chile and Ghana.

Beech 18

Twin engine on floats, seats 8 people. Payload 1800lbs.

By the late 1930s, Beechcraft management speculated that a demand would exist for a new design dubbed the Model 18 which would have a military application, and increased the main production facilities. The design was mainly conventional for the time, including twin radial engines, all-metal semi-monocoque construction with fabric covered control surfaces and "taildragger" undercarriage, while less common were the twin tail fins. Upon an immediate glance they can be mistaken for the larger Lockheed Electra series of airliners which closely resemble the Model 18. Early production aircraft were either powered by two 330 hp (250 kW) Jacobs L-6s or 350 hp (260 kW) Wright R-760Es. The 450 hp (336 kW) Pratt & Whitney R-985 became the definitive engine from the prewar C18S onwards. The Beech 18 prototype first flew on 15 January 1937.
At the time of the Pearl Harbor attack, the Beech 18 was outsold by the Lockheed 12 by 2-to-1. However, war priorities forced Lockheed to concentrate on its heavier aircraft, and Beechcraft received a major boost through wartime contracts surrendered by Lockheed.
The aircraft has used a variety of engines and has had a number of airframe modifications to increase gross weight and speed. At least one aircraft was modified to a 600 hp (447 kW) Pratt & Whitney R-1340 powerplant configuration. With the added weight of approximately 200 lb (91 kg) per engine, the concept of a Model 18 fitted with R-1340 engines was deemed unsatisfactory due to the weakest structural area of the aircraft being the engine mounts. With the exception of the center truss (the central component around which the entire aircraft is built), nearly every airframe component has been modified at one time or another.
In 1955 deliveries of the Model E18S commenced; the E18S featured a fuselage that was extended 6 inches (150 mm) higher for more headroom in the passenger cabin. All later Beech 18s (sometimes called Super 18s) featured this taller fuselage and some earlier models (including one AT-11) have been modified to this larger fuselage. The Model H18, introduced in 1963, featured optional tricycle undercarriage. Unusually, the undercarriage was developed for earlier-model aircraft under an STC by Volpar, and installed in H18s at the factory during manufacture. A total of 109 H18s were built with tricycle undercarriage, and another 240 earlier-model aircraft were modified with the undercarriage.
Construction of the Beechcraft Model 18 ended in 1970 with the last, a Model H18, going to Japan Airlines. Beechcraft set a record that still stands today for longest continuous production of a piston engine aircraft. Through the years, 32 variations of the basic design had flown, over 200 improvement modification kits were developed, and almost 8,000 aircraft had been built. Some aircraft were almost unrecognizable as having originated as a Beech 18. In one case the aircraft was modified to a triple tail, tri-gear, hump backed configuration and appeared similar to a miniature Lockheed Constellation. Another distinctive conversion was carried out by PacAero as the Tradewind. This featured a lengthened nose to accommodate tricycle undercarriage, and the Model 18's twin tails replaced with a single fin.

DeHavilland Beaver

A real work horse, seats 6 people. Payload 1200lbs

In the immediate post-war era, de Havilland Canada management turned to the civilian market for continued work, aware that military contracts were unlikely to guarantee business. The company had recently hired Punch Dickins, a famous bush pilot, as Director of Sales, and he began an extensive program of collecting requests from other pilots in order to understand what they needed in a new aircraft. Almost without variation, the pilots asked for tremendous extra power and STOL performance in a design that could be easily fitted with wheels, skis, or floats. When de Havilland engineers noted that this would result in poor cruise performance, one pilot replied "You only have to be faster than a dog sled". Other suggestions were seemingly mundane but important in the bush plane world; for instance, full-sized doors were installed on both sides of the aircraft so it could be easily loaded no matter which side of a dock it tied up on. The doors were also made wide enough to allow for a 45 gallon drum to be rolled up into the aircraft.

On September 17, 1946, de Havilland officially put together a design team consisting of Fred Buller, Dick Hiscocks, Jim Houston and W. Jakimiuk, led by Phil Garratt. The new aircraft was specifically designed to be all-metal, unlike older designs like the famous Noorduyn Norseman, using "steel from the engine to the firewall, heavy aluminum truss frames with panels and doors throughout the front seat area, lighter trusses toward the rear and all monocoque construction aft". At the time de Havilland Canada was still a British company, and there were plans to fit the evolving design with a British engine. This limited power, so the wing area was greatly increased in order to maintain STOL performance. When Pratt & Whitney Canada offered to supply war-surplus 450 hp (340 kW) Wasp Jr engines at a low price, the aircraft ended up with extra power as well as the original long wing. The result was unbeatable STOL performance for an aircraft of its size.
After much testing, and with adjustments and improvements, the innovative airplane was ready for the sales circuit. It just needed a proper name. Since de Havilland Canada airplanes were all named after animals, it was decided that the new bush plane was much like the hard-working beaver. The first flight of the DHC-2 Beaver was in Downsview, Ontario by Second World War flying ace Russell Bannock on August 16, 1947. The first production aircraft was delivered to the Ontario Department of Lands and Forests, a design partner, in April 1948.
Initial sales were slow, perhaps two or three a month, but as the plane was demonstrated sales started to improve. A key event in the Beaver's history occurred the next year when the US Army started looking for a new utility aircraft to replace their Cessnas. The competition quickly boiled down to the Beaver and the Cessna 195, but the Beaver completely outperformed the 195 and led to orders for hundreds of aircraft. Soon orders increased from around the world. When production finally ceased in 1967, 1,657 DHC-2 Beavers had been built.
The Beaver was designed for flight in rugged and remote areas of the world. Its short takeoff and landing capability made it ideal for areas normally only accessible by canoe or foot. Because it often flies to remote locations, often in cold climates, its oil reservoir filler is located in the cockpit and oil can be filled in flight. A series of upgrades to the basic design were incorporated into the design to further improve it. One major customer introduced the use of flat steps replacing the earlier tubes, a feature that is now almost universal.
In 1987, the Canadian Engineering Centennial Board named the DHC-2 one of the top ten Canadian engineering achievements of the 20th century.

Cessna 180

Good for smaller loads, seats 3 people. Payload 630lbs

The 180 is considered a workhorse of an airplane, and is favored to this day as a bush plane by many who fly to and from remote, unimproved airstrips in places such as Alaska and distant parts of Canada, the Pacific Islands, and Africa. The 180 is the preferred aircraft of the Colorado Division of Wildlife for monitoring wildlife and re-stocking fish in remote mountain lakes; it is also used by the Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation. The New Mexico State Police Aircraft Division was created after it acquired its first aircraft, a fixed wing Cessna 180, on loan from the State Corporation Commission.
The Canadian airlines Lamb Air and Norcanair operated several 180s. A number of 180s continue in similar roles throughout the world.