Canadian Aviator Magazine

Arnie Schreder, the consummate bush pilot who became an unlikely television celebrity, died May 4 at his home in Kelowna, B.C.

Schreder retired in 2010 as chief pilot of Buffalo Airways. He had lung cancer and died of complications relating to the disease.

Schreder's daughter Yvette told CBC he died peacefully in his sleep "with a smile on his face."

Indeed, the cherubic Schreder was a fan favourite on Ice Pilots NWT, the reality show that follows the staff of Buffalo through the gyrations of keeping an ancient fleet of aircraft flying in one of the harshest environments anywhere. Schreder mentored many Buffalo pilots and retired with more than 37,000 hours.

Of course Buffalo will be a big part of the celebration of Schreder's life. After a service May 10 in Lake Country, B.C., a Buffalo aircraft will fly Schreder's body back to the airline's Yellowknife home base for a memorial in the Buffalo hangar on Saturday.

As was widely expected, WestJet and Bombardier have reached agreement for the airline to buy up to 45 Q400 next generation aircraft to serve its new regional airline.

The 78-passenger variant of the Dash 8 is considered one of the most efficient regional airliners available although ATR, the French firm that was at least nominally in the running for the deal might argue the point.

Nevertheless, Bombardier says WestJet made the right choice. 

"The Q400 NextGen aircraft was selected on its superior merit as the turboprop best suited for the growth-minded operations of WestJet. As a productivity machine, the Q400 NextGen aircraft delivers 78 seats with ample cargo volume to meet the needs of WestJet and its guests," said Bombardier's president for commercial aircaft Mike Arcamone. "This versatile aircraft is efficient on short-haul missions or can use its speed to reach regional destinations further afield - making it competitive with jets on longer sectors. With an unmatched balance of speed, comfort, cost efficiencies and highly regarded environmental qualities, the Q400 NextGen aircraft is a perfect fit for WestJet,"

From left, Didier Toussaint, Discovery Air Government ServicesPresident; Fern Villeneuve, Golden Hawks Team Lead; Bill Briggs, honourary ground crew; Dan Dempsey, Hawk One Team Leader; Lt.-Gen. Andre Deschamps, Commander of the RCAF and Johnny Blache, designer of Golden Hawks paint scheme.

Jim Cole Photo

Vintage wings held their 2012 Flying Season Launch dinner with  with more 170 guests April 26 and launched a new program to honour distinguished Canadian pilots..

One of the highlights of the evening was the re-dedication of Hawk One to Fern Villeneuve, the original Team Leader for the Golden Hawks, honorary ground crew, Bill Briggs, aero engine technician with the Golden Hawks and Johnny Blache, designer of the Golden Hawks paint scheme. The program dedicates each Vintage Wings aircraft to a Canadian Aviator who has made a significant contribution to aviation in Canada. 

  “It is a way we can reach out and teach history in a way that is engaging," said Vintage Wings Chief Pilot Paul Kissmann. "The airplanes are a vehicle to a story. Are they sexy, are they pieces of art, you bet they are, but they wouldn’t be anything but hunks of metal if we didn’t bring that human element into this.”

 Villeneuve is originally from Buckingham, Quebec and flew for 32 years as a military jet fighter pilot. He is a member of the Canadian Aviation Hall of Fame.He  obtained his PPL on a Piper J-3 Cub in 1946 and joined the RCAF after getting his commercial licence. He was squadron leader three different times, on the CF-104, the T-33 and the CF-101, a very unusual accomplishment in the RCAF. Villeneuve retired as a Lieutenant-Colonel in 1982 after logging more than 13,000 hours, all of it on fighters.

More than 200 delegates and dozens of exhibitors are on hand in Sidney, B.C. for the de Havilland all operators forum being held by Viking Air.

Viking holds the type certificates for seven de Havilland types and is therefore responsible for ongoing support for the designs. In his opening remarks to the multinational crowd, CEO Dave Curtis said the company is getting a handle on inventory and production of spares for the full line of aircraft and while the flow is not perfect it is getting better daily.

The company's main focus these days is on the newly-revived Twin Otter production, which is carried out in Sidney and Calgary with components and sub assemblies coming from 200 different suppliers.

The re-introduction of the Twin Otter has been enormously successful to the point where production is lagging behind market demand. The company has hired a production expert with 33 years of experience at Bombardier and Vought to bring production in line with demand. Dan Tharp said he's spent his first eight months at the company identifying issues and clearing roadblocks to the production process. "When I came here we were building an airplane every two months. By the end of the year we'll be building one every 11 days," he said.

The company has a backlog of 76 orders and is just about to deliver its 16th Series 400 aircraft.