Yellowknife Air Show Mike McBryan of Buffalo 02

''Ice Pilots NWT'' (known in the UK and the US as ''Ice Pilots''''Ice Pilots''
at Quest TV) is a

reality Reality is the sum or aggregate of all that is real or existent within a system, as opposed to that which is only imaginary. The term is also used to refer to the ontological status of things, indicating their existence. In physical terms, r ...

television series broadcast on

History Television The History Channel (also known as History) is a Canadian English language specialty channel that primarily broadcast programming related to history and historical fiction. It is owned by Corus Entertainment, with the History branding used under ...

that portrayed

Buffalo Airways Buffalo Airways is a family-run airline based in Yellowknife, Northwest Territories, Canada, established in 1970. Buffalo Airways was launched by Bob Gauchie and later sold to one of his pilots, Joe McBryan (aka "Buffalo Joe"). It operates charte ...

, an airline based in

Yellowknife Yellowknife (; Dogrib: ) is the capital, largest community, and only city in the Northwest Territories, Canada. It is on the northern shore of Great Slave Lake, about south of the Arctic Circle, on the west side of Yellowknife Bay near the ...

Northwest Territories The Northwest Territories (abbreviated ''NT'' or ''NWT''; french: Territoires du Nord-Ouest, formerly ''North-Western Territory'' and ''North-West Territories'' and namely shortened as ''Northwest Territory'') is a federal territory of Canada. ...

, Canada. Buffalo mainly flies WWII-era piston powered propeller planes as well as

Lockheed L-188 Electra The Lockheed L-188 Electra is an American turboprop airliner built by Lockheed. First flown in 1957, it was the first large turboprop airliner built in the United States. Initial sales were good, but after two fatal crashes that led to expensiv ...

turboprop aircraft year-round in

northern Canada Northern Canada, colloquially the North or the Territories, is the vast northernmost region of Canada variously defined by geography and politics. Politically, the term refers to the three Provinces_and_territories_of_Canada#Territories, territor ...

. The show ran from November 18, 2009 to December 17, 2014, comprising six seasons.

History

''Ice Pilots'' premiered on November 18, 2009. The show was renewed for a second season with filming completed on August 2, 2010. The season premiere was aired on History Television January 12, 2011. Season 3 was

greenlit To green-light is to give permission to proceed with a project. The term is a reference to the green traffic signal, indicating "go ahead". Film industry In the context of the film and television industries, to green-light something is to ...

on August 18, 2010 and began airing on October 12, 2011. In the UK, series 2 was shown on

Quest A quest is a journey toward a specific mission or a goal. The word serves as a plot device in mythology and fiction: a difficult journey towards a goal, often symbolic or allegorical. Tales of quests figure prominently in the folklore of ever ...

commencing May 2011. The episodes in season 4 have been shown on the Discovery Channel in the UK. Season 1 of ''Ice Pilots'' began airing on the

National Geographic Channel National Geographic (formerly National Geographic Channel; abbreviated and trademarked as Nat Geo or Nat Geo TV) is an American pay television television network, network and flagship (broadcasting), flagship channel owned by the National Geograp ...

in the US on April 22, 2011. Both Season 1 and 2 have aired in Australia on National Geographic Channel and National Geographic Channel HD, and currently air on the digital channel 7 Mate. On February 2, 2012

The Weather Channel The Weather Channel (TWC) is an American pay television channel owned by Weather Group, LLC, a subsidiary of Allen Media Group. The channel's headquarters are in Atlanta, Georgia. Launched on May 2, 1982, the channel broadcasts weather forecas ...

announced that it was adding Ice Pilots to its primetime lineup. On March 5, 2012 the show started airing on

, starting with seasons 1 and 2. The National Geographic Channel no longer airs the show regularly, though it does occasionally broadcast episodes. ''Ice Pilots NWT'' has been recognized with two

Gemini Award The Gemini Awards were awards given by the Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television between 1986–2011 to recognize the achievements of Canada's television industry. The Gemini Awards are analogous to the Emmy Awards given in the United States ...

s in

2011 File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrate ...

for Best Original Music for a Lifestyle/Practical Information or Reality Program or Series and Best Photography in an Information Program or Series. On July 27, 2012,

Bruce Dickinson Paul Bruce Dickinson (born 7 August 1958) is an English singer who has been the lead vocalist of the heavy metal band Iron Maiden from 1981 to 1993 and 1999–present. He is known for his wide-ranging operatic vocal style and energetic stage ...

, lead singer of

Iron Maiden Iron Maiden are an English heavy metal band formed in Leyton, East London, in 1975 by bassist and primary songwriter Steve Harris. While fluid in the early years of the band, the lineup for most of the band's history has consisted of Harri ...

, flew up from

Edmonton Edmonton ( ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Alberta. Edmonton is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Alberta's central region. The city ancho ...

to Yellowknife with Buffalo Airways. On July 28, Dickinson, who holds an airline transport pilot's license, flew a

Douglas DC3 The Douglas DC-3 is a propeller-driven airliner manufactured by Douglas Aircraft Company, which had a lasting effect on the airline industry in the 1930s to 1940s and World War II. It was developed as a larger, improved 14-bed sleeper version ...

to Yellowknife and spent a day being filmed as a guest star for a season four episode.A maiden voyage for rock star
On September 24, 2013, the Ice Pilots NWT Facebook page aired the first season 5 trailer, as well as the season 5 premiere date of October 23, 2013. On January 15, 2014 the season 6 production was announced. Promos for season six stated that it would be the final season. It premiered on October 29, 2014. The final episode aired on December 17, 2014. The final episode covered a parachute jump over the D-Day remembrance period of June 2014.

Cast

The cast/crew of ''Ice Pilots NWT'' consists of the following people:

Aircraft featured

Episode listing

Seasons 1 through 5 each have 13 episodes. Season 6 only has 8. It was explained that season 6 has fewer episodes than other seasons because the filming decision for a season 6 was made later than the others, leading to less footage and materials being available.

Accolades

''Ice Pilots NWT'' won several

Leo Awards The Leo Awards are the awards program for the British Columbia film and television industry. Held each May or June in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, the Leo Awards were founded by the Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Foundation of British C ...

Gemini Awards The Gemini Awards were awards given by the Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television between 1986–2011 to recognize the achievements of Canada's television industry. The Gemini Awards are analogous to the Emmy Awards given in the United States a ...

, and was nominated for the

Canadian Screen Awards The Canadian Screen Awards (french: link=no, Les prix Écrans canadiens) are awards given for artistic and technical merit in the film industry recognizing excellence in Canadian film, English-language television, and digital media (web series) p ...

References

External links

Buffalo Airways
website
''Ice Pilots NWT''
website {{Aviation reality television Aviation television series Bush pilots Documentary television series about aviation History (Canadian TV network) original programming Culture of Yellowknife Television shows set in the Northwest Territories Television shows filmed in the Northwest Territories 2000s Canadian reality television series 2010s Canadian reality television series 2009 Canadian television series debuts 2014 Canadian television series endings Television series by Corus Entertainment 2000s Canadian documentary television series