British Columbia Aviation Pioneers and Leaders, 1930-1960
by Peter Corley-Smith
The long-awaited sequel to Peter Corley-Smith’s highly acclaimed aviation histories, Barnstorming to Bush Flying and Bush Flying to Blind Flying.
Before jet aircraft and radar, when the largest airliners carried just 24 people, aviation pioneers challenged the windswept heights of British Columbia to secure aviation’s future. Bush Pilots flew to every corner of British Columbia while pioneers began the first inter-city and transcontinental flights, laying the basis for modern air travel.
From the Great Depression through World War II and into the prosperous 1950s, aviation changed dramatically. This is the story of that transition and the people who made it all possible. Some became legendary, others quietly led the way; all were fascinating: Jim Spilsbury with a collection of second-hand aircraft, including the legendary Stranraers, formed Queen Charlotte Airlines; Russ Baker, tough and self-promoting but still a capable bush pilot, helped establish Canadian Pacific Airlines; the charming and flamboyant Grant McConachie became president of Canadian Pacific Airlines; C.D. Howe, the adroit and arrogant politician, established Trans-Canada Airlines, the predecessor of today’s Air Canada. And there was Herman Peterson, one of the last of the great bush pilots, Margaret Rutledge, one of the first women in operations and commercial flying and others like Eleanore Moore and Nina Morrison, who as some of the first stewardesses, made air travel safe and unthreatening to a generation of early travellers.
Legends grew around flights to the Headless Valley, the rescue of bomber crews in the “Million Dollar Valley” and other exploits. Peter Corley-Smith, with meticulous research, reveals the history and the real people as more intriguing and understandable than the improbable myths.
Aviation History, 306 pp, 8¾ x 7¾, b/w photos, illustrations and maps
ISBN 1-55039-116-X, paper, $29.95
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