Howard Watt: Air Mail and Bush Pilot 1926-1941

By Diana Trafford

I'll be giving a talk on my uncle, Howard Watt at Venturing Hills, Luskville, Quebec, on Thursday 28 May 2015 at 1900 hrs.

Uncle Howard flew in the Red Lake Gold Rush of 1926 in a Curtiss JN-4, then owned a Standard J-1 based in Toronto, flew a Ryan M-2 out of The Pas which he later bought, then flew mainly Fairchilds for Canadian Transcontinental and Canadian Airways on the Quebec North Shore mail service, and finally set up in the Lower St. Lawrence as an independent operator with 2 Fox Moths and later a Dragon.

The talk - very much a story telling approach - will last 45-50 minutes, probably with a break in the middle to allow people to talk to each other. I have about 100 slides and hope to show video clips as well so that people will get a feel for those early planes. Technical details for the planes I mention are given on the slides.

I'll be giving a 30-minute version of this talk at the 2015 convention of the Canadian Aviation Historical Society in Hamilton on 18 June 2015.