The VIA Seawind was a one-off conversion by Vancouver Island Air, seen here docked at its Campbell River home base. It had increased seating for 12 pax, 3-bladed props, enlarged floats, an extended nose and a PAC Tradewind single tail. It first flew as such on 23 August 1994. Unfortunately on 20 April 2007 this unique aircraft crashed immediately after lift-off from Topaze Harbour near Jackson Bay, BC, Canada. One engine lost power and the aircraft yawed and crashed back onto the water, causing one float to break off. It sank within a minute.

An attractive but anonymous paint job on this Beaver.

A Beech 18 on floats - not something you get to see every day.

Third use of this registration on a Beaver. From Sep 1992 until Dec 1996 it was used on c/n 641, and from Jun 1998 until Jun 2000 on c/n 970. Then in Mar 2002 it was allocated to the aircraft shown here.

Baxter Aviation was formed in 1985, and taken over by West Coast Air less than a year after this photo was taken, in Apr 2007.

The launch of a Martin Mars flying boat... a rare and very impressive event to witness! This must be one of Philippine Mars' last launches ever, as it was taken out of service at the end of the 2006 fire season.

Philippine Mars is about to be launched onto Sproat Lake in what would be its last operational firefighting season. The hatch in the nose is already open, from where the steering and towing cable will soon be attached. Note the impressive wingspan and overall size of this amazing aircraft.

The Martin Mars truly is a huge flying boat... Philippine Mars is seen here in what would eventually be her last operational fire season.

This Vampire was built for the RAF as VP720, but was never marked as such. Taken on charge by the RCAF as 17031 10 April 1948, withdrawn from use in 1956 and struck off charge 24 April 1958. Sold to the USA and became N41J. Stored derelict by 1969, and was part of the Western Aerospace Museum (Lancaster, CA) from 1973 to 1977. Restored to flying condition in the 1980s/1990s, first flew again on 12 April 1991 at Arlington, WA. Part of the Comox Air Force Museum since 5 May 2000. Arrived there in flying condition but was declared a static artifact in Feb 2001. It's not on display in the museum's 19 Wing Heritage Air Park at Comox, but for protection it has since its arrival been stored in the non-public 407 Sqn hangar, as seen here.

Note the "AIMP - Group 1" (Aurora Incremental Modernization Project) emblem on the nose. AIMP involves several individual projects to acquire, integrate and install new mission systems and sensors for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance onto the RCAF CP-140s.

Taxiing out for take-off. Note the "AIMP - Group 1" (Aurora Incremental Modernization Project) emblem on the nose. AIMP involves several individual projects to acquire, integrate and install new mission systems and sensors for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance onto the RCAF CP-140s.

Note the "AIMP - Group 1" (Aurora Incremental Modernization Project) emblem on the nose.

Taxiing out for take-off.

Parked in the 442 Sqn hangar at Comox.