CANADA 1932 Airmail FFC: LAC LA RONGE to PRINCE ALBERT Signed by PILOT Broatch

Item Specifics

Country

Canada

Condition

Used

Stamp Format

Single

Item Description

Condition: Clean, Very Well Preserved

Grade: VF (Very Fine)
CANADA 1932 Airmail FFC: LAC LA RONGE to PRINCE ALBERT Signed by PILOT B.W. BroatchBill Broatch was a pilot for Brook's Airways, which ran a fleet of Stinson Juniors float planes that flew cargo for Brooks Fish Company. Brooks continued to find new uses for his aircraft. The 1931-32 fur season was getting underway, and the early furs were stretched and ready for buying. Traders across the north were travelling to fur posts by dog team to pick up the catch. Newspapers that headlined their trips going through the "unknown dangers of the barrens, adverse weather, and treacherous snowdrifts." On June 7, 1932, the company inaugurated monthly airmail service. A test flight aboard a freshly rebuilt Buhl CA-6J Standard Airsedan plane in 1933 crashed and killed Bill Broatch age 42 along with Hiram Brooks, son of R.D., age 25; and mechanic Tom Forsythe, age 27. On June 21, Brooks' Buhl CF-AQG had just been rebuilt, and Bill Broatch prepared to make the return-to-service test flight. Watching from the dock was Broatch's fiancee, Helen Foley, along with manager Ken Brooks, pilots Bill Windrum and Bob Randall, mechanics Hiram Brooks and Tom Forsythe, and other Brooks staff.Hiram and Tom had spent many hours rebuilding the airplanes and were eager to go along on the test flight. Ken Brooks reminded everyone that it was against air regulations to ride along on a test flight. The young air engineers knew the rules, but they had rebuilt the Buhl and were confident about the plane's safety. After the engine was running, they dashed to the plane and jumped in.Broatch made a perfect take-off and flew overhead for half an hour, drawing the admiring attention of residents and vacationers at Emma Lake. The Buhl had passed its test, and now it was time to have fun. Back at altitude, Broatch put the big float plane into a spin, and then into a roll, considered by airmen of the day to be a severe test for the Buhl. The airplanes came out of the roll and went into another spin. Those who saw the shiny Buhl during its last seconds of the flight said it made a spiral "that covered an area of a quarter of a mile (about 400 metres), then, the big ship approached the ground at a clip estimated at 125 miles (about 200 kilometres) an hour."Onlookers, reported the Daily Herald, stated that "the pilot seemed to have almost regained control, then there was a sickening lurch and the plane swooped over the trees brushing the tops of those on the shoreline and nose-dived into about 10 feet (3 metres) of water some 50 yards (46 metres) from shore." A resounding crash could be heard for kilometres around.

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Missouri, United States

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