Western Canadian Airways
In March 1926, Western Canadian
Airways was formed with the financial backing from financier James A.
Richardson of Winnipeg. The newly formed airline helped open up the
mineral mining development of the North with his air transport routes.
Western Canada Airways' first aircraft was an open cockpit Fokker Universal Standard, bearing the Canadian registration G-CAFU (the aircraft was ferried from New Jersey to Sioux Lookout by Pilot Oakes and Engineer Al Cheeseman). The first Fokker plane to fly in Canada, it was capable of operating on wheels, skis or floats, and could carry four passengers, or one thousand pounds of freight.
Late in 1928, the federal government announced that it
wanted to experiment with the regular delivery of mail by air in western
Canada. Western Canada Airways carried out the first run on 10
December, traveling from Winnipeg to Regina and Calgary. A second run
flew from Winnipeg to Saskatoon and on to Edmonton. The return trip
took mail from Edmonton back to Saskatoon and then to Regina, while the
other flew from Calgary to Regina. A single aircraft then took all the
mail from Regina back to Winnipeg. This experiment exposed a need for
better ground facilities, improved communication with the ground and more
accurate weather forecasts.
Boeing Model 40H-4 (CF-AMQ) preparing to leave Lethbridge, Alberta
The Canadian Department of National Defense acted on these recommendations, upgrading landing facilities, installing light systems, building light and radio beacons, and establishing a weather station in Winnipeg.
In August 1930, both Red Deer and Lethbridge saw radio beacons built. These beacons included living quarters, storage buildings and septic tanks. The beacon included a light described as having 5,000,000 candlepower—more than bright enough to assist pilots flying at night to find their way.
The importance of WCA can be demonstrated in an agreement established on 2 February, 1931 in which the U.S. airline, Northwest, offered international service to Winnipeg. In a compromise to satisfy both U.S. and Canadian governments, Northwest flew to the border town of Pembina, N.D., where mail and passengers transfer to Western Canada Airways for the last 67-mile leg to Winnipeg.
During the depression, businesses around the world
were struggling to survive. However, for Western Canada Airways business was
booming. Based in Hudson, at the jumping off point to the mining camps, the
company filled the need to supply the mines and their growing communities.
In 1934, the price of gold rose from $20.00 to $35.00/oz, resulting in
increased mining activity in Red Lake. By the mid 30s, the bush plane
was dominating travel to the goldfields, and in the summer of 1936, with
aircraft landing at fifteen minute intervals, Red Lake, Gold Pines, and
Hudson had become the busiest airports in the world.
The formation of Western Canada Airways in Hudson in 1926, as a result of
the Red Lake Gold Rush, made a lasting impact on air travel in Canada.
From it evolved Canadian Airways and later Canadian Pacific Airlines.
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