Antique seaplane makes stop in Labrador before ocean hop
A vintage plane touched down in Happy Valley-Goose Bay this week, stopping over during a transatlantic flight.
Brad Blois and Taigh Ramey are flying from Vancouver Island to Belgium in a 1952 Beech 18 seaplane.
Blois is a Canadian bush pilot and Ramey owns a vintage aircraft company in California. They love flying the antique plane, which they say is much better quality than most modern aircraft.
"It comes from an era when they made airplanes by hand and with special care. It shows when you fly it. It's just a joy to fly," said Blois.
"An older airplane has twice as many rivets and twice as many bolts as newer airplanes. That's why they're still here 50 years later."
The Royal Canadian Air Force used the aircraft as a navigation trainer for years, before it was sold and converted into a seaplane. It's been a popular seaplane on the west coast for two decades.
Blois and Ramey have been flying for around seven hours a day for the past three days. Their stopover in Labrador marked the halfway point of their journey.
Once in Belgium, the plane will be parked at large wildlife park and museum, where it will continue to fly.
The aircraft they are flying is one of few. There are less than a half dozen Beech 18 floatplanes operating in Canada, and only around 200 Beech 18 planes left in the world.
Ramey said that while Beech 18s might be numbered, this plane will be in the skies for a long time.
"A lot of modern airplanes will be dead and gone and this one will still be around," he said.
