Page 5 - July 18

With only the ordinary engine cover over her nose, SK sat
through eleven months of Arctic blizzard, drifting sea-
fogs, salt spray, and the scorching twenty-four-hours-a-
day sunshine of the short Arctic summer. “Apart from a
little rust, there were no signs of damage; even the floats
were in perfect condition. The engine was started up
without any difficulty and the machine taxied into the sea
within two and a half hours of our arrival.” The museum’s 1942 Ford four-wheel drive fire truck
After flying south to Fort McMurray, a safe prophecy is missing the two CO2 hose reels that would have
would have been that SK would proceed to Winnipeg and been mounted on top and connected to the
take her place on regular commercial runs. However, fate pressure tanks.
ordained otherwise and in three days, with a renewed
certificate or airworthiness, SK headed north for Hunter
Bay on Great Bear Lake. Although her motor had not
been changed since the beginning of the long flight
around the Yukon, by September 15, SK was flying over
the North Magnetic Pole, the first aeroplane to do so, and
had landed at Victory Point and Terror Bay. An intense
visual and photographic search was made for evidence
bearing on the history of the Sir John Franklin Expedition.
Returning to Winnipeg, SK was checked over and already
We would like to obtain a pair of these reels with or
has been out on a tour of inspection of the Air Mail
without the original hoses to complete its static
emergency landing grounds.
restoration. The fire fighting unit on the truck is a:
Seldom, if ever, in the history of commercial aviation has C-O TWO HOSE SYSTEM LOCAL CONTROL TYPE -
opportunity knocked so often at the one hangar door. Let ULHR Size (100) Made By C-O TWO FIRE
us hope the story is as yet only begun. EQUIIPMENT LTD of Canada, Toronto Canada Do

This article originally appeared in October, 1930 edition any of our members know of collectors of antique
of The Bulletin, the Western Canada Airways publication. vehicles who might have extra parts for this type of
wartime fire truck? YOUR HELP WOULD BE M
Postscript: Fokker Super Universal, G-CASK, one of the
most historic Canadian civil aircraft, burnt accidentally
while refuelling at Fort McMurray, Alberta on March 31,
1933.
The image is of Fokker Super Universal, G-CASK,
unloading passengers and luggage at Oxford Lake in
January, 1929. The photo is from the museum’s library
and archives.