In 1926, when a Vickers Viking floatplane touched down on Cooking Lake after a failed search for a legendary lost gold mine, Canada's oldest operating airport was born. A century later, Wind Beneath Their Wings tells the story of that remarkable airfield and the rich aviation history of the Edmonton region that surrounds it.
Drawing on extensive archival research, museum collections, newspapers, and intimate personal interviews, author Kimberly Fraser traces the evolution of flight in this region from the stories of pioneering bush pilots and visionaries, through the turbulence of two world wars, to the golden age of commercial air travel, and into the complex challenges of the modern era. The author highlights the glory days of bush pilots like Wop May, Leigh Brintnell, Grant McConachie and later visionaries like Max Ward, Along the way, she explores the stories of others who made aviation history, including the often overlooked contributions of women in aviation. She recounts stories of incidents, near-misses, and moments of triumph that defined flight in the Canadian North.
Structured around the metaphors of aviation itself, the book mirrors the challenges and momentum of both flight and history. Fraser brings a uniquely informed perspective to her subject as a former northern nurse who flew countless medevacs and wife and mother of bush pilots with whom she flew over 3,000 hours in the right seat as the family co-pilot.
Wind Beneath Their Wings is a love letter to Canada's aviation heritage and to the community airport that, against all odds, is still flying.