British Columbia, Canada
 Aircraft Companies,
 and Airplanes
ca: 1920's to 2012

Site Index

Aircraft Section Home Page

Airline Companies
Queen Charlotte Airlines
Associated Air Taxi
Conair Aviation Ltd.
BC Air Lines Ltd.

BC Airways Ltd.
Pacific Western Airlines Ltd.
Trans Provincial Airlines Ltd.

Western Straits Air
Westinghouse Airways
Air Caledonia
Canadian Pacific Airlines
Pacific Airways Ltd.

Helicopter Companies
Okanagan Helicopters Ltd.

Transwest Helicopters (1965) Ltd.
Vancouver Island Helicopters
Northern Mountain Helicopters
Quantum Helicopters Ltd.

Aircraft Repair Shops
Associated Aero Services

Aircraft Sales Company
Vancouver Aircraft Sales Ltd.

Airport-Seaplane Bases
Patricia Bay, Catalina Graveyard

Sea Island

Pilots - Owners Bios
Herman Joseph "Slim" Knights
Robert Benjamin "Bob" Gayer
Arthur John "Jack" Moul
Ashton James Ward "Jim" Spilsbury
Ronald F. "Ron" Connelly
Leslie George "Les" Kerr
Francis Russell "Russ" Baker
John Francis "Jack" McMahon
Edward Percy Hector Wells
William Frederick "Bill" Waddington

Misc
BA Concord and RAF Red Arrows
May 1985, taken from QE II

Bristol Type 170 Freighter
First Around the World Flight

Corporate Jets
BC Tel-Telus

External Links
(Note- NOT my sites)
Ext links

 


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E. P. H. "Billy" "Bill" Wells
Edward Percy Hector Wells

aka: Captain Wells, Captain Billy Wells
b- bet Jan- Mar, 1901, Chelsea Reg. Dist., London, England
d- Dec 21, 1979, Vancouver, BC, age 78

He married Evelyn May Holloway,
bet Jan-Mar 1924 in Elham District, Kent, England
b- Aug 31, 1901, in Folkestone, England
d- June 29, 1983, in Vancouver BC, age 81
daughter of Thomas Holloway, and Agnes Mary Constable

I know they had at least one son.


Bio

Shown from Seaford, East Sussex when he flew for TCA

Billy flew for the RAF in WWI.
Flew reconnaissance flights for Thomas Edward Lawrence,
the famous, "Lawrence of Arabia", during WWI.

May 28, 1926- the King awarded him the D.F.M. (Distinguished Flying Medal),
for gallant and distinguished service
 in connection with the operations in Kurdistan, (Chorta Region)
during the period June 6, to July 10, 1925.
Reg # 142494, Rank of Sergeant (Pilot)

Mar 6, 1932, Working for Canadian Airways Ltd. out of Burns Lake,
He was flying from Tatla Lake, to the home base at Burns Lake,
and ran into a blinding snowstorm.
He took a compass bearing straight south,
hoping to see the CNR tracks, and the Skeena River,
so he would know where he was.
He was flying low and late in the afternoon.
He seen lights in the Gitxsan Native Village of Glen Vowell, BC,
in the Kispiox Valley, approx 10 Km N of Hazelton, BC,
and landed on the frozen over Skeena River there.
On landing, he broke the skis on the plane, and had to wait for new skis,
to be sent to him, before he could take off again.
He was hired by a Vancouver and Victoria Syndicate,
who were flying close to 75 tons of supplies into their placer leases.
Just another flight for a Bush Pilot in Northern BC.

Sept 1932 he was flying from Stewart to Burns Lake,
and flew over New Hazelton, with a plane on pontoons.
he was the pilot flying mining men and material into McConnell Creek BC,
as described in article below, he flew 40,000 lbs of freight,
and 20 men, a distance of 250 miles
using a Fokker Super Universal, with a Wasp Engine. 

May 1937- Chief Pilot, Pacific Division, Canadian Airways Ltd.

Joined TCA in 1937

Sept 10, 1937, Captain on the the First Air Mail run
for TCA between Vancouver and Seattle,
He flew a Lockheed 10A, with Maurice McGregor as Co-Pilot
from old Sea Island Airport, for a 50 minute run.

1940- TCA Station Manager at Toronto

Dec 1942- Appointed Assistant Operations Manager
 for Trans Canada Air Lines (TCA) in Winnipeg, at the age of 41

father- Frederick John Wells
b- ca 1873, London, Middlesex, England, age 38 in 1911
d- Mar 1919, Sussex, age 46
General Engineer, (Gas, Plumbing),  in 1911 in Seaford, Sussex
family living at 1 Broad St, Seaford, Sussex, England

mother- Edith Wells, nee McKay (I think that is her maiden name)
b- ca 1876, London, Middlesex, age 35 in 1911

brother- Frederick William Wells
b- ca 1896, London, Middlesex, age 15 in 1911
Apprentice General Engineer

sister- Elsie Florence Wells
b- ca 1903, London, Middlesex, age 8 in 1911

brother- Herbert George Wells
b- ca 1906 London, Middlesex, age 5 in 1911

brother- Stanley John Wells
b- ca 1907, Seaford, Sussex, age 4 in 1911

Grandfather- John Wells
Grandmother- Mary E. Wells


Canadian Airways Ltd. was a Bush Flying Service,
formed in Nov 1930, that operated thru the 1930's.
It's Principal owner was James Richardson in Winnipeg,
who was also the First President.
In 1941 it became amalgamated with other airlines,
and became Canadian Pacific Airway.


Ext Links
note- not my sites

picture link below, Captain Wells on left
http://thenetletter.org/images/1145/vancouver.jpg

Canadian Airways article, 1933
Picture of mining men could be from article above
https://archive.org/stream/meccano-magazine-1933-03/mm193303#page/n27/mode/2up/search/airways

 

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Created Mar 14, 2014

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