A replacement DC-6 was sourced from KLM (PH-DFN
became CF-CPI) with a three-year conditional sales agreement
costing $300,000, which was five times better than the previous
deal. The following year Wardair repeated the Atlantic trip, but
this time with an almost 100% load factor. In 1964 the company
saw its first profit out of the Atlantic service.
In 1963 the hard-working DHC-3 Otters and DHC-2 Beavers
were replaced with DHC-6 Twin Otter turboprops. The DC-
charters had opened up additional business insofar as all flights
were over the North Pole, which resulted in the government
selecting Wardair (among others) to survey the Canadian north.
The DC-6 was fitted out by Dominion Observatories with a
specially-designed magnetometer.
Jet Age
With northern operations still thriving, Wardair looked to the
future and made yet another historic move when Max leased
a $5.5 million Boeing 727-100 (CF-FUN) on April 28, 1966.
Named Cy Becker after a famous bush pilot and Great War
fighter ace, CF-FUN was the first Boeing jet to be operated by
a Canadian airline, and the first on the Canadian register. This
was a good year for Wardair as the combined flights of the DC-
and the 727 pushed passenger numbers to 12,047.
To close out a tremendous year, Wardair went public, selling
$3.5 million convertible debentures and 350,000 shares. A loan
from the Industrial Development Bank for $4.2 million, along
with equity capital, was acquired to fund a Boeing 707 with two
spare JT3D turbofan engines. Registered CF-FAN, Wardair’s
first big jet arrived the following year. A second, CF-ZYP
(originally destined for uebecair), was added in 1969.
The next two years saw business continue to grow, with the
Trans-Atlantic charters utilising the new 707s to the full. Alarm
bells started to ring, however, when Transport Canada stepped
in and ordered that affinity charters had to stop.
Many thought this was the beginning of the end for Wardair.
Max seriously considered selling one third of the shares to
the national carrier (Air Canada) with a suggestion ofThe summers of
1959 and 1960
saw Wardair using
CF-BXO, a former
RCAF Supermarine
Stranraer f lying boat,
on northern freight
operations. It now
resides in the R AF
Museum at Hendon.A • In
1963 the hard working
DHC-3 Otters and
DHC-2 Beavers
were replaced with
DHC-6 Twin Otter
turboprops.A • On
May 3, 1970, Wardair
Bristol 170 CF-WAG
fell through the ice
of Great Slave Lake
near Snowdrift in the
North West Territories
and could not be
recovered.http://www.airlinerworld.com 9