DEDICATED TO WEST COAST AVIATORS
The Port Hardy Mural, now mounted on the wall of the Norseman Room at the BC Aviation museum, is a fourteen foot wide hand-painted tribute to the aviators flying the coasts of British Columbia in the years between 1945 and 1981. It depicts the airlines operating in Port Hardy, some of the aircraft in use, and the names of more than 200 people involved in aviation. Little vignettes illustrate some of the tasks undertaken by these people.
Aircraft were invaluable in the development of British Columbia. They carried survey teams to chart the landscape. They ferried miners and prospectors in search of mineral wealth, and brought supplies to their claims. They serviced fishing lodges, fish farms and logging camps. They brought remote settlements closer to centres of civilization and provided medical evacuations, sometimes under conditions of great risk. The unique and dedicated pilots, who braved hazardous fog and winds to fly the mountainous terrain of coastal British Columbia, and the aircraft they flew in these decades, are an important part of the history of aviation in British Columbia.
The mural was originally painted in 1981, by pilot, author and artist Jack Schofield in the pilots’ waiting room at Port Hardy Airport. In anticipation of Jim Pattison taking over most of the airlines, it had been deemed expedient to denude the wall of its previous array of pin-ups. Jack painted the Canso in the top left hand corner with no particular plan in mind, other than to relieve the boredom of a “green Department of Transport wall”. Villi Douglas, the base manager, was so delighted that he provided the paint and commissioned Jack to paint the entire wall. A few budding artists offered their assistance, but this was Jack’s project.
When, at a later date, the wall was taken down, the panels were re-assembled and mounted in the passenger baggage area in the main waiting room. In 2022 when the Airport was renovated, the mural was donated to the B.C. Aviation museum and was replaced at the airport by a copy printed on glass.
Blackie's Coast
There is a British Columbia Knowledge Network documentary, ‘Blackie’s Coast’, following Jack (Blackie) Apsouris, as he flies amongst the bays, inlets and islands of the B.C. Coast in his beloved Beaver ‘Blossom’. A short extract from this documentary, which was shown regularly on television as ‘A Canadian Moment’, can be viewed below for a taste of the mesmerising scenery that was the home of these West Coast aviators.