 Page One Page Two Page Three Page Four Page Five Page Six History Main Page  "the hardest part of
the whole
thing"
said Batchelor,
"was the
journey
out and
back" |
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Story by Jack Meadows Published with permission from West Coast Aviator Magazine ...continued from page two Dusting had led naturally to spraying, both crop spraying and spruce bud worm spraying. New Brunswick was suffering a severe attack of the latter and wanted help from all over the continent. Skyway's fleet of five Stearmans flew east each spring and back each fall on the Budworm contract. As can easily be imagined "the hardest part of the whole thing" said Batchelor, "was the journey out and back"  Another natural development was fire fighting by water bombing. In 1952, experiments were started with Stearmans. It was soon clear that aircraft's capacity was far too limited. There had been an infestation of spruce budworm on Vancouver Island and Seller had called in three Grumman Avenger TBMs from south of the border to help. He had thus seen what this aircraft could do.So, when in 1957. the Canadian Navy put eighteen surplus Avengers up for sale, Seller took a chance, bid on them and got seventeen for prices ranging from $1700 - $7,000. Fairey Aviation, at Victoria modified them for Skyway's use. |
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Apart from some very basic early 1920's experiments with Curtiss HS2Ls and Felixstowe class flying boats out of Jericho Beach, the use of aircraft for this purpose had never before been seriously tried anywhere in Canada and certainly not on this scale. Although the idea was being developed in several parts of the U.S., Skyway and B.C. were now leaders, at least in Canada, with the idea. Trial and error played a big part in the development of the equipment and the bombing technique. While others were attempting the same procedures, it was not just unwillingness to pass on secrets but a lack of communication that resulted in uncoordinated developments. By and large therefore, Skyway was on its own in finding the right equipment and techniques for the task. |
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