Saunders Aircraft ST-27 013 C-GCAT / DH Heron DH114 14051

Saunders Aircraft ST-27 013 C-GCAT / Dehavilland Heron DH114 14051

in service with ON AIR out of Thunder Bay, Ontario Canada 

Saunders Aircraft ST-27 013 photo by Ruben Husberg

 It so happens that most of the information for ST-27  013 fell into place first. Ray Fread's (of Habitual Lawbreaker book fame  ) photos of De havilland  Heron 14051 G-AZSO on the apron at Gimli are priceless, his photos place Heron 14051 G-AZSO at the Saunders Aircraft factory at Gimli in around 1974.

Dehavilland Heron DH114 14051 G-AZSO at Gimli CYGM - Ray Fread photo

Dehavilland Heron DH114 14051 G-AZSO at Gimli CYGM - Ray Fread photo

 The British CAA (Civil Aircraft Authority) only issued registration marks (letters like G_AZSU)  to only one aircraft. IF that aircraft was destroyed or left the UK those registration letters were cancelled and not used again.

the UK CAA registration details from the UK CAA website

Heron 14051 G-AZSO in the UK, photo courtesy of Keith Sowter

the Transport Canada registration details for Saunders Aircraft ST-27 013 C-GCAT

ON AIR ST-27 013 on the ramp at Dryden, ON - Hugh McCallum photo

ON AIR purchased Saunders Aircraft ST-27 013 from an investment company. On Air took over some routes from Transair:  Dryden - Winnipeg, Red Lake - Winnipeg. 

On Air says the ST-27 was a fine aircraft, easy to fly, fast, stable, a better aircraft on these routes that using a De Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter.  In around 198?  Bearskin Airlines buys On Air.

In 1977 ON AIR ST-27 013 C-GCAT caught fire during evening maintenance work while on the Dryden Airport CYHD  apron in 1977  and it so happens that Ray Fread took photos of 013 the morning after the fire. What a coincidence for Ray to have photographed Heron 14051 in Gimli and then ST-27 013 at Dryden!! Ray's account of the incident is below.

Saunders Aircraft ST-27 013 C-GCAT post fire Dryden Airport CYHD - Ray Fread photo

Saunders Aircraft ST-27 013 C-GCAT post fire Dryden Airport CYHD - Ray Fread photo

Saunders Aircraft ST-27 013 C-GCAT post fire Dryden Airport CYHD - Ray Fread photo

Saunders Aircraft ST-27 013 C-GCAT post fire Dryden Airport CYHD - Ray Fread photo

Ray Fread's account on this Saunders ST-27 013 fire:

 "in 1977, I show up for work in the Dryden Airport Weather office and see this on the tarmac. This ST-27 had a failed fuel pump. The owner Fritz Meier and his engineer Marty Doyle showed up to change it. Airports closed, it's dark and cold, they are working with a little generator to run a trouble light. Fuel on the tarmac from pulling the pump. As they walk away, wearing heavy boots and parkas, one of them kicks the cord and breaks the trouble light bulb...KABOOM!!!!!! Parts of this plane landed on the runway, hundreds of feet away."

There was a court case about this aircraft being repaired after the fire damage basically spelling the end of this airframe use, we hope to post that story when we can get more info, and where this 013 airframe finally ended up at.

PS - order a copy of Ray Fread's book, "The Habitual Lawbreaker" - it's a great read!
https://thedrydenobserver.ca/2017/07/19/the-wild-northwest-fread-autobiography-a-page-turning-look-at-the-once-lawless-world-of-bush-aviation/

updated on 2019-02-04 from additional notes from conversations and emails received:

On Air was owned by R.J. Ball (R.J.) who also owned Ball Electric and a few other heavy duty construction companies in Thunder Bay. Fritz Meier was the President of On Air. On Air also operated a few Piper Apache airplanes in aerial photography roles. 

After the apron fire, On Air asked that the insurance company to declare the aircraft as a write off and pay out the policy. On Air had purchased the airplane at a time when the ST-27's future looked bright and On Air paid the full price for their ST-27 from Saunders in Gimli. At the time, 013 caught fire on the apron, Saunders Aircraft had closed the Gimli factory and the ST-27's were worth considerably less than what On Air owed on it, thus a policy payout would have been good for On Air based on what On Air paid for their ST-27.

The insurance adjuster was a young, relatively new on the job, named Mr. Linden Reese. Mr. Reese decided to "protect" the insurer's interest and thought the insurer could get ST27-013 repaired for less than the policy payout. Mr. Reese got bids from a few smaller repair shops in Ontario and after 6 months of negotiating prices, the repair was contracted to Survey Mods in Kingston to repair Saunders ST-27 013. Repair progress was slow and On Air was growing impatient.Survey Mods hired David Saunders as a consultant and D.E.R. to guide and approve the repairs. By that time Dave Saunders had been out of the Saunders Aircraft company for many years. 

When repairs were finally complete, On Air contacted ACS (Aero Consulting Services) of Gimli  to conduct an acceptance inspection. ACS provided a very thorough inspection report that 

outlined numerous mechanical and design defects that in their opinion rendered the airplane non-airworthy and the 013 was not put into service and from there negotiations started between lawyers representing both parties and bills started to add up. Finally On Air decided to take the insurance company to court. The case was help in the Ontario Superior Court in Thunder Bay. Douglas Crane, Q.C. from Toronto represented On Air, while Bruce McLean represented the insurance company. ACS was a technical witness for On Air. Several witness from from Transport Canada Winnipeg were called as was John Hamilton and witness from Transport Canada Ottawa, the court case was around March of 1981 and lasted for ~ four weeks.

The court agreed that the Survey Mods repairs did not return an airworthy airplane to On Air, however Mr.Reese on behalf of the insurance company would not concede to a loss of aircraft payout. On Air was given some compensation for loss of service as On Air agreed to let the insurance company take 013 to a reputable, qualified shop for remediation.

Field Aviation of Toronto was contracted to repair  the repairs done by Survey Mods on Saunders Aircraft ST-27 013. Field Aviation were a very qualified shop and conducted a thorough inspection of the airplane. Field Aviation prepared a cost estimate to re mediate the unsatisfactory work done by Survey Mods. A meeting was called, and Field Aviation presented their findings to all parties involved. Field Aviation found more severe structural deficiencies from the apron fire than previously found by Survey Mods, David Saunders, Transport Canada and ACS. 

Field Aviation found that the wrong aluminium alloy was used by Survey Mods for the wing stringers  (some of the structure was repaired with US Spec aluminium vs. the original British Spec aluminium (2024 vs. L73,US spec 2024 aluminium had a lower compression allowable). This made the Survey Mods rebuild under strength and TC refused to issue the C of A, and also the cross section of the repair parts was smaller than the original.

Field Aviation quoted a substantial fee to repair and certify the airplane. Mr. Reese still refused to concede to full hull loss payout and thus contracted Field to repair the aircraft, probably bringing the Insurance Company's total cost on ST-27 #013 to ~ over  a million dollars, well above the original payout value of the insurance policy 

2019-03-12 last update was that Field Aviation did not repair 013, the aircraft was disassembled and put on a flat bed semi trailer and returned to Thunder Bay where is sat for many years and what happened to 013 we do not know at this time. 

to be updates / continued as more information comes in.

FYI - Fritz Meier was the pilot that flew one of  On Air's Piper Apache with the IMAX camera in the nose when "North of Superior" was filmed for IMAX.  North of Superior film maker clip

photo of ON AIR C-GCAT provided by Terry Baker

YOUTUBE video of ON AIR ST-27 013/14051  ON AIR ST-27 013/14051 video