 Page One Page Two Page Three Page Four History Main Page  "I flew just because I
had to get
around", is
his explanation
of why he
did it. How
many lives
did he save
that way,
getting people
to the
operating table
in hours
rather than
days? "I
just treat'em:
the Lord
heals 'em" |
|
Story by Jack Meadows ...continued from page two In 1958 the Waco sank when it hit a submerged log on take-off (forward visibility over the radial engine is non-existent). It was soon back in service and he soon learnt to use a "Spitfire" approach, or a sideslipping on for landing. Meanwhile, aviation in general, no just "mercy" flying (a term Jack Pickup hates) was playing a bigger part in his life. He helped Alert Bay Air Services get started with their Cessna 170 floatplane, and became part owner of another company, Altari, at Pitt Meadows, inland from Vancouver. However, when his Waco went there for maintenance in 1970 it was continually delayed in favour of outside customers, so Jack bout a little Republic Seabee amphibian (215 h.p. Jacobs) to tide him over, and flew it for four years.  Some bad things have been said about Seabees (and even more about the somewhat similar Lake amphibians). The high engine (particularly on the latter) means that any throttle change has a big up or down effect on trim. Internal space allows gross overloading. But Jack Pickup liked it, although he took 50-60hr to get used to it. The pilot sits so low down compared with a floatplane that at first he felt as if he was landing underwater. Unlike a floatplane, it could be circled tightly while gaining take-off speed and so use lakes far too small for, say, a de Havilland Beaver.With full flap the Seabee could be pointed straight down without exceeding 80 m.p.h. for a landing in confined space. Its retractable wheels and reversible-pitch propeller made docking much quicker and less tedious than the normal deliberate floatplane procedure. But it was slow (120 m.p.h. with wheels off, 105 m.p.h. with them on) and cold. It was soon relegated in favour of the Waco. Experienced aviators tell many stories about Jack Pickup's flying skills and exploits. A typical one, by Villi Douglas, then a dispatcher and pilot at Alert Bay, recalls the time the doctor flew his Waco out to bring back the sick lighthouse keeper from Pine Island for an urgent operation. The Island is in the open Queen Charlotte Strait, subject to huge swells. Somehow, despite awful conditions, Pickup landed and waited, rocking about alarmingly with a wing dangerously close to the rocks while the keeper was lowered by breeches buoy and put aboard the Waco. Then, "nobody knows how", he managed to take off again and bring him safely to hospital. Many other such stories are told about him. Certainly, and quite illegally (floatplanes are allowed to fly at night only where there are proper flarepaths and boats to sweep the landing area), he flew knowing his return with a sick patient might be in the dark, using the harbour lights to guide him in. Often he needed his landing lights to taxi in and dock. "I flew just because I had to get around", is his explanation of why he did it. How many lives did he save that way, getting people to the operating table in hours rather than days? "I just treat'em: the Lord heals 'em. No-one ever had a baby in my aeroplane". |
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A modest man, he claims that most of what has been written about his is untrue - even when the interview was taped. One report of his activities he dismisses because it refers his flying in carpet slippers: "Never owned a pair". Some of the seamanship essential for floatplane pilots was learnt from sailing his won boat. Other tricks of the trade he picked up include dropping something from the aircraft on to a glassy surface to cause ripples on the water, and thus allowing judgement of height when landing. He tells a story of being called to an isolated camp late in the afternoon. By telephone he had asked that the patient be brought to the dock. When he arrived the sick man was still five miles away, and he had to take a truck through the bush to fetch him. |
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