A flashback to Canadian Aviation...with an AC 748...

[P_7878 6,829]

It's always lot more fascinating to be roaming (and exploring) in foreign countries, from the comfort of our virtual world. I am no stranger to digging deep into aviation themes centered in distant lands and rooted in distant memories, visited IRL or not...! Sometimes, we have maybe visited places nearby there, but wish to find more about places we never got to visit. In my pastime here, in my past SIMs, I've posted about Canadian themes and Airlines (e.g., CP Air comes distinctly to mind) and bits and pieces of their history. Here is a story, I have been meaning to do since the FSX days, but never got to it. To be honest, my (RW) exposure to the (neighbor) country up north...🙂...has been limited to regions near about the border, such as (brief or transit) visits to the cities Toronto/Ottawa/Montreal/Québec City on the eastern side, and Vancouver/Calgary on the west. While I was recently on my TWA post and that airline's (pioneering) coast-to-coast (passenger) service, I recalled the same for Canada, the (very) first trans-Canada flight, coast-to-coast, sea-to-sea, that had occurred more than a century ago, which is equally interesting and adventurous. 

So, here we go. However, my set of pictures below with an Air Canada B747-8, is a merely symbolic, in the sense that it starts out Halifax and ends at Vancouver, same as that for the landmark first ever Atlantic-to-Pacific Canadian flight, back in 1920. And I have been meaning to fly the 748 for some time, since I recall the type well from RW, been likely among the first commercial travelers of the 747-8I (Intercontinental), when the launch customer Lufthansa had introduced the type on the Chicago-Frankfurt route. Lufthansa had (silently) switched its earlier 744s/340s by the 748s, and on my first encounter, I would not notice the difference until after I was seated in the cabin, and then looked into the backseat pamphlet (and observed the "-8" instead of the normal "-400" that I was expecting to see...🙂...).

So, the year was 1920, but preparations for this (coast-to-coast) trip had begun much earlier, in fact, right after the end of WW-I, when the (Canadian) aviators had returned from the War, and were eager get back into the air, in peace-time missions, with whatever a/c they can get their hands on. On October 7, 1920 (note the approaching winter season up north; will play a role later), at 8am in the morning, the trip started from Halifax, Nova Scotia (located on the edge of Canada's Atlantic Coast). The aircraft chosen was a Fairey III seaplane (originally) designed for the 1919 trans-Atlantic Race. Of course, without the precious (and customary) cargo of a Mayoral letter, in this case, from the Mayor of Halifax to the Mayor of Vancouver, the flight would not be considered official...🙂...

The flight ran into serious problems on the first leg itself. In turbulent weather over the Bay of Fundy, hardly 150 miles away, the Fairey's engine cowling got ripped off, striking the external fuel pump, dousing the pilot in fuel, and the a/c was damaged beyond repair. A Curtiss flying boat was called up for emergency help, and the crew took off next morning, in a F.3 flying boat, headed for Ottawa, and onwards to Sault Ste. Marie. It's heartening to note (now) that I've visited both Ottawa and Sault Ste. Marie (this latter city has 2 versions, one American and another Canadian, straddling the border, both of which I've visited). The next stops, flown in a DH.9A, would be Winnipeg and Calgary, the latter city, I've also visited, though, I wish I were aware of these facts when I had visited these places...

The last leg, from Calgary to Vancouver, would prove the most difficult one, you can guess why...the formidable Canadian Rockies (the so-called Northern Rockies) standing tall on their path (see my shot #s 8-12). With approaching winter, the crew ran into heavy snowstorms and fog, and were repelled back by the Rockies, multiple times. For my flight here, while I (intentionally) looked for and flew over the highest of the Canadian Rockies, British Columbia's Mount Robson (see shot #s 9-12), in my modern 747-8...🙂..., they had to look for low-altitude mountain passes in the high Rockies of British Columbia. It took 3 different mountain passes (Rogers Pass, Eagle Pass, and Coquihalla Pass) to finally make it through the Rockies. Finally, on the morning of Oct. 17, the crew landed in Richmond, BC, after 10.5 elapsed days, 49 hours of flight time, 3,355 miles, and use of 5 different a/c. There, the crew were greeted by the Mayor of Vancouver, and the precious Mayoral letter was duly handed over. They would eventually fly on to their final (but impromptu) destination, Vancouver, BC, but not before murky weather would play a final twist by forcing them first to land in Friday Harbor, WA, briefly on the American soil.

This first trans-Canada flight would be always remembered as a testament to the courage and persistence of the aviators involved, and as a significant milestone in the history of Canadian aviation, that would be the trailblazer of better things to come...in Canadian aviation...  

Please find this collection of images, below, as I also fly here the same ~3000 miles (though at 2X SIM rate...forced by an obligation to pick up later some life-sustaining grocery in conflict with my flight...🙂...), from Halifax International Airport (CYHZ) to Vancouver Internation Airport (CYVR), finally touching down safely on the ILS Runway 26L (see my concluding images) ...about 60 miles from where a Curtiss HS-2L had landed (actually in the township of Esquimalt at the southern tip of Vancouver Island), back on Oct. 21, 1920...thus, ending the epic (coast-to-coast) adventure flight from Halifax and Vancouver...

Thanks for viewing...! Hope you enjoy...!

Edited May 11 by P_7878

[Alaska738 8,555]

Super shots! 😉 

[pmplayer 9,724]

Beautiful set, always nice to see a 747-8 in Action.

cheers 😉

[bernd1151 6,045]

Great story and excellent pics, P_7878!!

[P_7878 6,829]

Folks:

Really appreciated the comments and responses...thanks a lot...!!