Eagle Biography
C. H. "Punch" Dickins
Captain C. H. "Punch" Dickins, who was born in 1899, is a Canadian ace of World
War I and one of his country's most famous pioneer bush pilots. In 1917 he transferred
from the infantry to the Royal Flying Corps and flew 83 combat missions in the DH-9
reconnaissance bomber. He was credited with destroying seven enemy aircraft in the air
and, in 1918, was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross. He served in the Royal Canadian
Air Force until 1927 when he began to fly as a bush pilot for Western Canada Airways. In
a lifetime dedicated to flying, "Punch" Dickins chalked up many "firsts
" in Canadian aviation.
He opened country's first municipal airport in 1927 and flew
the first flight over the desolate Barren Lands of the Northwest Territories in 1928. In
the following year, he delivered the first furs by air and piloted the first commercial
flight along the McKenzie River basin and to points north of the Artic Circle. Operating
in temperatures as low as minus 62 degrees Fahrenheit, Dickins also pioneered new airmail
routes, carried out several rescue missions, and flew into numerous locations where
inhabitants had never seen an aircraft.
Although the Eskimos called him "Tingmashuk
" (birdman), they were often very skeptical of his airplane because "the wings
don't flap." Prior to his retirement in 1966, he held positions ranging from pilot
to vice president and director in several aviation companies, including Canadian Pacific
Air Lines and the de Havilland Aircraft Company of Canada. Endowed with uncommon courage
and an explorer's spirit, "Punch" Dickins won the Trans-Canada "McKee
" Trophy in 1928 and was selected as one of the first elected members to Canada's
Aviation Hall of Fame.
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On 28 August 1928, "Punch" Dickins departed Winnipeg on an
exploratory flight that gained him a permanent place in Canadian aviation
history. Flying a Fokker Super Universal Seaplane with markings
G-CASK, he made the first reconnaissance flight across the largely unmapped
and unexplored Barren Lands of Canada's Northwest Territories. He followed
a route with few known landmarks and often had to use the sun as his primary
navigation aid since the magnetic compass was unreliable in the northern
latitudes. Upon his return 12 days later, he had covered 3,960 miles in 37
hours flying time. Previous modes of travel would have required 18 months to
cover the same route. "Punch" Dickins was awarded the McKee Trophy
in recognition of this pioneer flight.
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