A new RCMP plane is flying over Northern B.C.
A general service aircraft has been missing for the region's Mounties since September, 2008 when the force's Turbo Beaver crashed while landing on Level Lake (near Dease Lake) while on a joint enforcement mission with the BC Conservation Service.
There were no injuries and the Beaver was not totaled, but the plane was no longer up to RCMP standards for duty flight. It was refurbished and sold to the private sector, but it left a hole in the sky for the region's police.
"We now have a [Quest Aircraft Company] Kodiak, and it is a beautiful plane - very capable for our needs," RCMP Chief Supt. Barry Clark told The Citizen last week on the day of his retirement. It was one of his great hopes before closing his RCMP career to get a police plane back into service in the region.
"The plane was designed to do long missionary delivery trips in less fortunate countries," said Staff Sgt. Peter Gibbons, pilot and commander of RCMP North District's Air Section. He said it was an improved and modernized tip of the aviation design hat to the old DeHavilland Beaver.
"For me, I like its manoeuvrability. It can do a lot of different things for us, it has excellent visibility, a lot of passenger comfort in the seats, and a lot of cargo space in the back. It will provide front line support."
It will be used primarily to transport police members between communities, but will also do things like surveillance of stolen vehicles, observe criminal activity and crime scenes from the air, monitor vehicles for speed infractions, help Conservation Officers with environment law enforcement, perhaps help border patrols along southern Alaska, look for missing persons, and a big emphasis will be put on servicing remote communities.
The plane arrived in Prince George at the beginning of the month and has already been used for an investigation in Hudson Hope on Aug. 11.
"I landed on Decker Lake the other day and we have been on Babine Lake as well, as part of our orientation with the plane," said Gibbons. "To me, the bush plane and the RCMP have such a wonderful history together going back to the mad trapper [the 1932 Albert Johnson manhunt - the first in Canada to use a plane]. North District covers about 70 per cent of the geography of the province, so this is a great example of that sort of air policing still very much in action."
"The RCMP has extensive experience operating aircraft in remote locations and under challenging conditions," said Paul Schaller, Quest's president and CEO. "The fact that they selected the Kodiak as a key addition to their fleet is a testament to the capabilities and the rugged reliability inherent in the aircraft."
RCMP North District's new Kodiak police plane
Built in Sandpoint, Idaho by Quest Aircraft Company
Pontoons (with built-in wheels) by Wipaire of Minnisota
Powered by a Pratt & Whitney PT6 turbine engine
Instrumentation: Garmin G1000 three-screen suite
Seats six plus cargo
Came with four-blade propeller, being converted to three-blade prop
140 to 145 knots top travelling speed
Approximately five hours of air time between fuellings
Can take off in under 1,000 feet when loaded
Can climb at more than 1,300 feet per minute when loaded
Loaded: full gross takeoff weight of 7,255 pounds
