 Page One Page Two Page Three Page Four History Main Page  "I'd hit him with the fire
extinguisher;
that's the
only reason
aircraft have
them, for
dealing with
drunks and
so on". |
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Story by Jack Meadows ...continued from page three By the time he took of the high cliffs had the whole inlet in darkness. Almost as soon as he was airborne the aircraft yawed violently, and he found that his hitherto unconscious patient now had both feet pressed firmly on the starboard rudder pedal. Somehow he managed to lift them off and put the main in the back. Soon afterwards two hands from behind grabbed him by the throat, pulled him off the controls and tried to throttle him. Somehow he broke free, but the incident was repeated before he could land and take the sufferer from convulsions (or more likely DTs) into hospital. "After that I was a bit more careful", he says. What did he mean by that: "I'd hit him with the fire extinguisher; that's the only reason aircraft have them, for dealing with drunks and so on. No use for putting our fires in the air, anyway".  Any young commercial pilot starting to find his way about the BC coastal areas, learning how to navigate from bay to bay to river, round the mountains in bad visibility, has heard of, and learnt from, Jack Pickup's experience.As an exceptional physician and surgeon he could have made a great deal more money and had an easier life practicing in Vancouver or Victoria. However, he would never have had half the satisfaction he got from his "flying doctor" work at Alert Bay. He has no record of how many flying hours he put in; they must total several thousand on 31 types (at least seven or eight without a checkflight) including a twin endorsement on a Beech. Most was off water - in one seven or eight-year period he made only five landings on wheels. There was a big battle with the tax people, who refused to allow his aircraft costs as legitimate expenses. Car expenses yes; aircraft no. "But I don't have a car, I use an aircraft", he protested. After a two-year battle he was allowed to charge 80 percent of the costs; the only doctor in the country to be so treated. By the late 1950s charter and feeder air services were becoming adequate to begin take over some of that side of his work. By then his flying had become a legend, even among experienced professional floatplane pilots operating in the same difficult conditions that Jack Pickup took for granted. Meanwhile, flying, which for him had started as a means to an end, had become a major interest in his life, and he had a phenomenal knowledge of aircraft. Towards the end of 1992, at the age of 73, he formally retired altogether and presented his precious Waco to the Canadian Museum of Flight. At present dismantled (at the time of this writing), it is being slowly overhauled to flying condition as a tribute to a great pilot who used his skills to further his services to the community. No one knows how many lives he saved in the process. He could hardly have made more friends. |
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Jack kept on flying himself until he was 67, and only disposed of his last aircraft, a Piper Arrow, early in 1994. However much he denies it, not only are there thousand of residents who owe a lot to Doctor Pickup, but there are many who, without the arrival by air of this great man, would not be alive today. Credit is also due to the aircraft whose reliability in often primitive conditions allowed the doctor to serve his community, and helped him save lives and bring relief to sick people. Particular among them the Waco AQC-6 CF-CCW c/n 4646, powered by a 330 h.p. Jacobs L-6MB7 seven cylinder radial and manufactured in 1937 at Troy, Ohio. It was originally purchased by the Department of National Defence, Ottawa, and operated by the Department of Transport. In 1951 it was sold to Medicine Hat, and in 1952 to the West Coast (Malpass Logging, then BC Air Lines). In 1953 it was acquired by Jack Pickup, who, in 1980, donated it to the Canadian Museum of Flight. |
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