Conair Tanker 21 on a practice retardant drop near Kamloops BC

Built in 2016 and here arriving from Salmon Arm/BC (CZAM). The registration was previously carried by a CitationJet.

Built in 2005 and here arriving from Detroit (KDTW).

Built in 1967 and here visiting from Nanaimo (CYCD). Official base is Springbank/AB, but it spends a lot of time at Nanaimo.

This Smythe Sidewinder (with optional tip-tanks) was built in 2003 and is here visiting from its Courtenay (CAH3) base. Construction is welded steel tube with aluminum skinning and it is stressed to +/- 9g. Like many home-built designs of its era (1969) it was eclipsed by the later easier to build Van's RV-3 and 4, so only two on the Canadian Register at this time. In keeping with the tail logo, the owner brought in two boxes containing injured wild birds for repair.

Trident Aircraft Limited contracted Canadian Aircraft Products (CAP) of Richmond, BC to build the prototype Trident TR-1 four-to-six place amphibious aircraft and two prototypes were flown (CF-TRI, msn 1 and C-GATE, msn 3). This partially build airframe was seen stored outside the CAP factory at 261 Viscount Way in November 1975 and many be msn 2, an engineering airframe that was never completed and flown The Trigull eventually obtained a Canadian type certificate, but the company failed. The assets, including two prototypes, were later sold by the BC Development Corp. to Viking Air at CYYJ.

West Coast Air Services Grumman G-21A, CF-GEC, undergoing and engine change and painting in the company's old RCAF hangar at Vancouver Airport in about 1973-1974, based on the slide film I was using before switching to Kodachrome. This aircraft was later repainted in West Coast Air's new blue and white colours not long before struck an object and sank with no loss of life at Powell River, BC on 14 August 1978. I also photographed G-21A, CF-PVE outside the same West Coast Air hangar at YVR before it crashed in Nitinat Canyon, Mount Cooper, Vancouver Island on September 9, 1974.

Conair Aviation Douglas A-26, C-GHLK was photographed departing the Abbotsford air tanker base on July 6, 1975. Conair was operating a large firefighting fleet of Grumman TBM-3 Avengers, A-26 Invaders and Douglas DC-6Bs at the time, all of which would be parked on the grass at Abbotsford during the off season. For more information of the history of C-GHLK, see Gary Vincent's 1980 photo on this site.

Skyway Air Services of Langley, BC first acquired Grumman TBM-3s in the 1960s for spraying and fire fighting. The fire fighting division was spun off as Conair Aviation in April 1969 with a fleet of ex-RCN and US Navy single-engine Grumman Avengers which were later sold to Forest Protection in New Brunswick. Avenger CF-MUE/618 was photographed being washed at the BC Forest Service tanker base north of the Conair hangars at Abbotsford on July after attacking a receives a wash after a mission on July 6, 1975. It was exported to the USA as N40402 in 2001.

Kenmore Air is primarily a float-plane operator. This is one of the land based fleet (which also consists of PA-31 and PC-12 aircraft) and it is here departing to Tofino (CYAZ) on a charter, after clearing Customs. Note the '75 Years' emblem on the tail for the anniversary which occurred in 2021.

Built in 1966 and here visiting from its Fort Langley (CBQ2) base.

This Grumman Goose was photographed at Stewart Airport (CZST) while operating scheduled service to Prince Rupert. In the early 1980s, Jim Pattison Industries bought and merged several coastal airlines to form Air BC, including Trans-Provincial Airlines (TPA) which flew C-FEFN in this yellow colour scheme. When Air BC added new Dash 7 routes, most of its seaplane services (except DHC-6 routes) were transferred TPA, which became separate airline again. Steward is at the head of the Portland Canal which forms part of the border with SE Alaska. It is the northernmost coastal community in BC.

This Douglas A-26, C-GHLX, was imported from the US in 1975 and became by Conair Aviation's air tanker No. 32. The aircraft still wears its former US colour scheme, with the US history documented on this site by other photographers. On the far left of the photo is a gunbutt from there wartime RCAF Abbotsford (No. 5 OTU) base and on the right are the fuel pumps and fire retardant tanks of the old BC Forest Service air tanker base. This aircraft was later repainted in Conair's new red and white colours. It was de-registered by Conair in Dec 1985 and registered to Air Spray 1967 Ltd. in July 1987

Built in 2002 and here arriving from Kansas City (KMCO). Looking at the paint scheme it is no surprise that it is ex N978QS of NetJets.

Visiting from its Boise/ID (KBOI) base.

Acquired by Denver Ports of Call in March 1972 registered N182H, the registration was changed to N8835C by September 1972. The aircraft left the fleet in 1981 and was eventually broken up in Florida in 1996.

The Royal Abanians (in exile) were a comedy aerobatic team flying two Pitts Specials. This Aerotek S-2B was built in 1983.