Are you a fan of vintage aircraft? Always wanted to see a historic aircraft like the DC-3 in action? Then you have come to the right place at Buffalo Airways. The Canadian airline operates several old types of aircraft and even had its own reality TV series called “Ice Pilots”. Let’s take a quick look at Buffalo Airways’ classic fleet.
The airline has four Douglas DC-3 aircraft in its fleet. Photo: RAF-YYC via Wikimedia Commons
The Buffalo Airways fleet at a glance
Let’s first take a look at the composition of the airline’s entire fleet. With data from ATDB.aero and the airline’s own website. The aircraft types are listed below with quantities in brackets:
- Douglas DC-3 (4)
- C-46 Curtiss Command (2)
- Lockheed L-188 Elektra (4)
- Beech A100 Kingair (4)
- King Air 90 (2)
- Beechcraft Baron (2)
- Double Commander 690C (2)
- CL-215 (4)
We should note that there are discrepancies between the two sources, with several types listed on the airline’s website that do not appear to appear on ATDB.aero.
The airline operates under difficult winter conditions in the north of Canada. Photo: TravellingOtter via Wikimedia Commons
As seen on TV
For those who watch the History Channel (History Television), The Weather Channel, or National Geographic on television, Buffalo Airways had its own reality series. This show was known as Ice Pilots NWT in Canada, but was known as simple Ice Pilots in the UK and US. The Canadian-only NWT stands for Northwest Territories – a huge territory in northern Canada.
The series followed the challenging activities of the Yellowknife-based charter airline and ran from November 18, 2009 to December 17, 2014 and comprised six seasons.
One notable episode was filmed in 2012 and resulted in Iron Maiden frontman (and pilot) Bruce Dickinson visiting the airline in Yellowknife. The musician and 747-certified pilot flew the Douglas DC-3 C-GWZS from Buffalo Airways, the last commercially flying DC-3 from D-Day. The airline is now calling this particular aircraft “Ed Force 3,” a nod to Dickinson’s naming of a chartered Boeing 747 called Ed Force One that was used on an Iron Maiden tour.
Nowadays, when it comes to catching the one-of-a-kind series, it looks like full episodes of this series can be found on YouTube on the channel known as Wonder.
Connect northern parishes
There comes a point at which an airline’s old fleet is no longer referred to as “aging”, but rather as “classic” or “vintage”. Wherever this threshold lies, Buffalo Airways seems to have exceeded it by far and certainly operates a classic aircraft fleet.
In fact, ATDB.aero notes that the airline’s Lockheed L-188 Electras are now an average of 61 years old.
While many of the planes are well over 60 years old, the airline itself is a little younger. In fact, it has served northern Canada since 1970 and later launched a courier service, Buffalo Air Express, in 1982. Buffalo Airways claims to be the largest courier company in the Northwest Territories, “offering a door-to-door network of over 400” communities in Northern Alberta. “
The airline’s overall goal is to “feed and thrive” the northern communities. This goal is achieved with its diverse fleet of aircraft for charter operations as well as freight and freight transport. The airline also uses its King Air 100 for passenger flights.
Do you know Buffalo Airways? Did you see this airline on TV in the above TV series? Let us know by leaving a comment.
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