Time flies, and so does Pacific Coastal Airlines. Ever since Wayne and I started going to Powell River, we've used Pacific Coastal as a quick way to get north. I've always heard the founder is a Powell River "local," but I didn't know the whole story. In November 2010, a book was launched that answers all the questions. It's A Pilot's Journey Log: Daryl Smith and Pacific Coastal Airlines by Jack Schofield.Daryl Smith is what I would call a typical Coastal BC entrepreneur. He grew up on the coast where his father worked following jobs in the logging industry. Daryl did his share before learning to fly and staring a series of bush pilot jobs and fledgling "airlines."
The workhorse of the coast was and is a floatplane. Daryl cut his teeth on them, but now has experience with a lot of "heavy metal." Growing form one plane Wilderness Airlines in Bella Coola to a fleet of 24 planes including the the Saab 340A, the Shorts S360 and the Beechcraft 1900C. While Daryl Smith has been successful in BC aviation history, there have been lots of other players that didn't have the "right stuff." Get A Pilot's Journey and follow along on this high flying adventure.
A Pilot's Journey was self published by Coast Dog Press. It's available online from Aviation World or as a Kindle e-book from Amazon.com. The hardback book is packed with colour pictures, so I recommend the print version. You can find more information about Pacific Coastal Airlines at their website or follow them on Facebook. -- Margy
Wow, Margy, this sure sounds interesting. Starting in Bella Coola couldn't have been easy. I'm impressed.
ReplyDelete-- K
Kay, Alberta, Canada
An Unfittie's Guide to Adventurous Travel
I saw it on the shelf at Munro Books in Victoria a couple of weeks ago, so you might still get it there.
ReplyDeleteI've "Bush Pilot in a Briefcase" which is the story of Canadian Pacific Airlines of which my husband was an employee for 35 years.
ReplyDeleteI took Pacific Coastal for the first time several weeks ago from Masset to Vancouver and was thrilled with their great little plane and wonderful service. Their price was also a third less of that of Air Jazz!!!!
I'll have to pick it up while I'm in Victoria. Thanks for the heads up, how are you doing?
Smiles
Kay - Before we became residents and flew our airplane in Canada (it's a long story), we flew to Bella Coola and went camping. It's an exciting place to fly even on wheels.
ReplyDeletePaul - I failed to mention it is also available in Powell River at Coles and would also guess Breakwater Books.
Hi Carolyn - Good to hear from you. I'll look up the book you mentioned. Sounds interesting. Since it is self published I'm not sure where it is available. You might check with the Pacific Coastal counter. I've seen one on display there in Powell River.
Margy