Russell Francis Baker (1910–1958) was a Canadian

bush pilot Bush flying refers to aircraft operations carried out in the bush. Bush flying involves operations in rough terrain where there are often no prepared landing strips or runways, frequently necessitating that bush planes be equipped with abnormally ...

and founder of

Pacific Western Airlines Pacific Western Airlines Ltd (PWA) was an airline that operated scheduled flights throughout western Canada and charter services around the world from the 1950s through the 1980s. It was headquartered at Vancouver International Airport in Ri ...

Early life

Baker was born in St. James, Manitoba (now part of

Winnipeg Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the province of Manitoba in Canada. It is centred on the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine rivers, near the longitudinal centre of North America. , Winnipeg had a city population of 749,60 ...

) on January 31, 1910. The boy attended Isaac Brock Elementary School and finished his public education at age 14. He then took up shorthand, typing, penmanship, English, spelling and bookkeeping at Success Commercial College in 1924/5. He worked in the offices of

Western Canada Airways Canadian Airways Limited was a Canadian regional passenger and freight air service based in Winnipeg, Manitoba. It was founded by James Armstrong Richardson Sr. in 1926 as Western Canada Airways (WCA), was fully established in 1930 following ...

. In 1928 he began

flight training Flight training is a course of study used when learning to pilot an aircraft. The overall purpose of primary and intermediate flight training is the acquisition and honing of basic airmanship skills. Flight training can be conducted under a str ...

with that company at

Kirkfield Park Kirkfield Park is a provincial electoral division in the Canadian province of Manitoba. It was created by redistribution in 1979, and has formally existed since the provincial election of 1981. The riding is located in the westernmost tip of t ...

. He obtained his

commercial pilot licence A commercial pilot licence (CPL) is a type of pilot licence that permits the holder to act as a pilot of an aircraft and be paid for their work. Different licenses are issued for the major aircraft categories: airplanes, airships, balloons, gli ...

on October 29, 1929. However, from 1931 to 1933 he worked for his father's company, Western Gypsum Products.

Airlines

Baker got his start as an entrepreneur in aviation by restoring a

De Havilland Fox Moth The DH.83 Fox Moth was a successful small biplane passenger aircraft from the 1930s powered by a single de Havilland Gipsy Major I inline inverted engine, manufactured by the de Havilland Aircraft Company. The aircraft was designed late in 19 ...

for Ginger Coote at

Gun Lake (British Columbia) Gun Lake, often spelled Gunn Lake and also known as Big Gun Lake, is a lake and unincorporated community in the Bridge River Country of the West-Central Interior of British Columbia, Canada, located 5 miles northwest of the community of Gold Br ...

in the winter of 1936/7. Later Baker made

Fort St. James Fort St. James is a district municipality and former fur trading post in northern central British Columbia, Canada. It is located on the south-eastern shore of Stuart Lake in the Omineca Country, at the northern terminus of Highway 27, which conn ...

his base as he freighted supplies to mining operators in the North. He worked for

Grant McConachie George William Grant McConachie (24 April 1909 – 29 June 1965) was a Canadian bush pilot and businessman who became CEO of Canadian Pacific Airlines (CPA). He was born in Hamilton, Ontario, and grew up in Calder, Alberta. He developed an i ...

's company United Air Transport. Later

Punch Dickins Clennell Haggerston "Punch" Dickins (12 January 1899 – 2 August 1995) was a pioneering Canadian aviator and bush pilot.B-26 bombers that had made an

emergency landing An emergency landing is a premature landing made by an aircraft in response to an emergency involving an imminent or ongoing threat to the safety and operation of the aircraft, or involving a sudden need for a passenger or crew on board to term ...

between

Fort Nelson, British Columbia Fort Nelson is a community in northeast British Columbia, Canada, within the Northern Rockies Regional Municipality (NRRM). It held town status prior to 6 February 2009, when it amalgamated with the former Northern Rockies Regional District to f ...

and

Watson Lake, Yukon Watson Lake is a town in Yukon, Canada, located at mile 635 on the Alaska Highway close to the British Columbia border. It has a population of 790 in 2016. The town is named for Frank Watson, an American-born trapper and prospector, who settled in ...

where there was a refueling station. The mishap occurred the 16th of January, and Russ eventually located the planes and crews. To an improvised

runway According to the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), a runway is a "defined rectangular area on a land aerodrome prepared for the landing and takeoff of aircraft". Runways may be a man-made surface (often asphalt, concrete, ...

he flew a dozen missions over several days to extract 24 crewmen and two officers. The

Norden bombsight The Norden Mk. XV, known as the Norden M series in U.S. Army service, is a bombsight that was used by the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) and the United States Navy during World War II, and the United States Air Force in the Korean and ...

s were recovered from the downed aircraft. He was recommended by Lt. Robert O. Cork for the

Air Medal The Air Medal (AM) is a military decoration of the United States Armed Forces. It was created in 1942 and is awarded for single acts of heroism or meritorious achievement while participating in aerial flight. Criteria The Air Medal was establish ...

which Russ was awarded March 22, 1948, in Vancouver by the U.S. consul George D. Andrews. In February 1947

Pierre Berton Pierre Francis de Marigny Berton, CC, O.Ont. (July 12, 1920 – November 30, 2004) was a Canadian writer, journalist and broadcaster. Berton wrote 50 best-selling books, mainly about Canadiana, Canadian history and popular culture. He also ...

was assigned the northern beat by Hal Straight of the

Vancouver Sun The ''Vancouver Sun'', also known as the ''Sun'', is a daily broadsheet newspaper based in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The newspaper is currently published by the Pacific Newspaper Group, a division of Postmedia Network. Published s ...

. Russ took Pierre across the

Rocky Mountains The Rocky Mountains, also known as the Rockies, are a major mountain range and the largest mountain system in North America. The Rocky Mountains stretch in straight-line distance from the northernmost part of western Canada, to New Mexico in ...

and up the "headless valley" of the Nahanni River. The newspaper series was named Best Adventure Series of 1947 by

International News Service The International News Service (INS) was a U.S.-based news agency (newswire) founded by newspaper publisher William Randolph Hearst in 1909.

. Pierre wrote the foreword to ''Wings over the West'' (1984) by John Condit. Berton described Russ' mountain flying: :Baker flew his Fox Moths and ancient Junkers through the angry ocean of peaks that sprawl across the midriff of British Columbia. He knew these mountains as well as we know our own street corners. When the fog hung heavy on the cordillera, he found his way home by recognizing the granite tips of the mountains that poked above the cloud blanket. The dreadful downdrafts that have caused more than one pilot's death held no terror for him. These Niagaras of air, pouring off the ridges, can send a plane plummeting a thousand feet in a minute, but Baker wrestled his aircraft through the turbulence like a horseman on a bronco. He had the physique of a boxer and the strength of an ox and needed both in that tempest-tossed land. Russ Baker died of a

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when blood flow decreases or stops to the coronary artery of the heart, causing damage to the heart muscle. The most common symptom is chest pain or discomfort which may tr ...

on November 15, 1958.

References

* John Condit (1984) ''Wings over the West: Russ Baker and the Rise of Pacific Western Airlines'',

Harbour Publishing Harbour Publishing is a Canadian independent book publisher. The company was founded in 1974 by Howard and Mary White, and is based in Pender Harbour, a small town on British Columbia's Sunshine Coast. Harbour mainly publishes books on British ...

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Russell Francis Baker
from Canadian Aviation Hall of Fame {{DEFAULTSORT:Baker, Francis Russell 1910 births 1958 deaths Businesspeople from British Columbia Businesspeople in aviation Recipients of the Air Medal Bush pilots Commercial aviators