Helio Courier C-FNNB

[Graeme Faris]

new to this site, first post

wondering if any one would be interested in photographs of C-FNNB taken at Cullaton Lake NWT in the summer of 1967.  I think I have photos of it on floats, up on the beach while we tried to find the source of an oil leak and of it semi-submerged after an engine failure and a hard (wet) landing.

I visit the site from time to time just to see if the plane still exists. Spent many hours in it that summer on an airborne uranium survey.

Graeme Faris

[Doug Johnson]

Graeme,
Welcome to the site.

Below is what I have on c/n 1006. If you were doing a uranium survey in 1967 I'm sure you can make some corrections in my info. I have it being sold by Maurice Air Transport in '67 to unknow person then sold to Paul Collard who sold in 1974.

Were you using a scintillating device on the survey?

Maybe you can eliminate some of the other ? marks.

I have one picture do you know anything about it or the person in it?

I would like to see your pictures hope my picture isn't one of yours.

C-FNNB c/n 1006, built 06/61, model H-395A, factory sold St Maurice Air Transport co ltd MA, export as CF-NNB St Maurice Air Transport co ltd QC returned to Factory 11/63, rereg N8754R Helio Aircraft corp (Factory) export 05/66, rereg CF-NNB St Maurice Air Transport co ltd QC sold '67, ? '74, rereg C-FNNB Paul Collard sold '?, accident very hard landing unknown place and time, canceled reg ?, Apco Holdings Canmore AB sold '09, currently on floats in process of being repaired, rereg 07/12  Michael Witherell Sudbury, Ontario

Doug

[Graeme Faris]

Doug:

the picture posted is definitely not one of mine.  Here is what I remember about C-FNNB.  I was in my first year of University studying geology and a family friend who owned a company called Northwest Whirlybirds thought it would be a good idea to send me North for the summer.  I can't remember whether the plane was owned by Northwest or by a company called SpectroAir Aviation who were also in the Cullaton Lake camp that summer. The pilot was a fellow named Barney Cooper from Fort Smith NWT.  We started the summer with NNB on wheels using the dirt airstrip at Cullaton Lake and then when the ice went out the plane went to Winnipeg to transfer to floats and came back. Shortly after returning from Winnipeg the aircraft developed an oil leak which made for an interesting oil covered windshield landing.  One of the pictures is the plane up on the beach with the cowling off while we found and fixed the problem.  A few weeks after that it suffered an engine failure resulting in a hard landing in a unnamed lake which caused the float spreader bars to separate and left the plane partially submerged on one wing.  There is a picture of that too.  In the aircraft salvage that followed an single Otter from Quebec arrived with assorted bits and pieces to build an A frame derrick to lift NNB out of the water. We finished the survey using a Beaver from Quebec. By then it was time for me to return home but I think NNB spent the winter in the barrens and was repaired and flown out the next Spring. When I geet home next week I will dig out and scan the pictures.  Graeme Faris

[Dominic Richer]

Hi I searched Google and one of the returns was your forum.
FYI It Was "Saint-Maurice Air Transport", located in Lac-à-la-Tortue, in Québec, Canada. The company was founded in 1963 by my father Gustave Richer and his associate.
He bough two brand new Helio Courier for bush operations.
Since i was a little boy at the time and my father died in 2006, I have not much information other than he loved them and that I took many rides in those planes :-)

[Doug Johnson 1]

see history file here as well as more pictures

click on link to history paragraph http://flyhelio.com/smf/index.php?topic=914.msg4074#msg4074