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Ice Pilots NWT

2009

Seasons & Episodes

  • 6
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  • 3
  • 2
  • 1
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EP1 A Ball O'Snags Oct 29, 2014

It’s Buffalo’s busiest winter yet, and they roll out the C-46, TXW, to fly all the freight up the Mackenzie Valley. But when one of TXW’s engines catches fire, Buffalo scrambles to find a backup plane in time for Christmas deliveries. They look to their newly purchased Electra, XFC, to fill the void, but Adam, Chuck, Brian and Mikey discover it has a cracked windshield and cannot be flown safely. Joe, Brian and Cory fly to meet Rod in Red Deer to grab a replacement windshield. When they arrive, Joe first reveals his other plans—he wants the second Electra ZFE dug out of the snowbank where it’s been sitting for months and get it up and running so that it can replace XFC on the Valley run. Rod’s upset that he wasn’t given more notice, and unloads on Mikey about Joe’s reactionary management style. Back in Yellowknife, Buffalo’s newest rampie, Prefkar Mony, is a determined young pilot from India who’s got his eyes on flying Joe’s prize planes. But first he has to adjust to life in the North—and purchasing proper winter gear is the first thing on his list
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EP2 Ice Storm Nov 05, 2014

Chief Pilot AJ Decoste is flying up the Mackenzie Valley with Buffalo’s newest Electra, XFC, for the first time. Mechanic Cory Dodd is along for the ride to do some training as a Flight Engineer. They try to make their deliveries before a storm rolls in but when they land in Norman Wells, they are faced with gale force winds. When their takeoff is delayed by two incoming planes, AJ is forced to shut down and wait out the storm in Norman Wells. Later, on their approach to Tulita, they face even stronger winds gusting over 40 knots. Over in Hay River, things go from bad to worse when a warm weather system brings the threat of a rare ice storm. Two daily skeds arrive from Yellowknife and the rampies have to batten down the DC-3s in preparation for a long, rough night—the worst storm in fifty years. And the newest rampie, CJ Asaf, just can’t seem to fit in. Rampie Prefkar is tasked with training CJ on the Hay River delivery route, but Prefkar can’t handle CJ or his attitude.
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EP3 Old Dogs Nov 12, 2014

When Buffalo’s newest Electra, ZFE, lands in Yellowknife with only three functioning engines, mechanic Chuck Adams comes to the rescue to replace a brand-new $29,000 regulator on engine number three. It’s been slow for the airline and delivering a load of building supplies to the RCMP up in Ulukhaktok, NWT, might help keep Buffalo in the air. Spurred by a recent crash landing and two engine fires, an audit team from Transport Canada descends on Buffalo Airways. With their long and tumultuous history with Joe, they demand that Buffalo appoint a new “Accountable Executive” within 72 hours, or risk being shut down. But Joe isn’t about to hand over the keys to the kingdom—not even to Rod, his oldest son. Mikey worries that if they don’t meet the deadline, Buffalo Airways could become Buffalo Spare Parts. Transport Canada isn’t the only thing on Joe’s mind; it’s becoming apparent that Joe’s 16-year-old rescue dog, Sophie, is on her last legs. One morning Joe finds Sophie lying under a plane, unable to stand up. Joe realizes that her time has come—he calls the vet.
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EP4 Checkflight Nov 19, 2014

Buffalo Joe has been a captain on the daily sked for 34 years and his 70th birthday is next week. Joe might have to stop flying if he doesn’t pass his medical and that could spell the end of Buffalo. Before Joe leaves to undergo five days of medical tests at the Mayo Clinic in Phoenix, Arizona, he calls two rampies, Sam Storm and Jeff Tapper, into his office to greenlight their DC-3 checkflights. Both Jeff and Sam have slogged away for eight months waiting for this chance. But on flight day, Sam is sick to his stomach from eating bad eggs the night before. Sam is not about to let a bad egg beat him and he helps Jeff prep DC-3, LFR. Just before takeoff, nausea wins—Sam has no choice but to back out and there’s no telling when he’ll get another chance. Jeff, on the other hand, has to overcome the jitters that have haunted him ever since he was in a crash landing earlier in the year. Mikey, Rod and his family prepare to greet Joe with a birthday cake shaped like a DC-3. At the last minute, Mikey gets a call that Joe isn’t coming back today; instead he’s decided to celebrate his own way—going for a ride in a classic 1940 Boeing Stearman biplane.
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EP5 Second Chances Nov 26, 2014

Newly minted copilot Jeff Tapper is excited for his first revenue DC-3, but his inexperience shows when he botches the approach and bounces the landing three times, nearly running off the runway. Meanwhile, for new rampie Prefkar Mony to realize his dream of becoming a DC-3 pilot, he needs to first pass the written IATRA test. He’s been studying for months, but on his first attempt, he fails. With the help of pilot/mechanic Chris Staples, Prefkar retakes the test and passes, but his victory celebration is short-lived when he’s blamed for leaving an expensive shipment of medicine marked “Do Not Freeze” in a courier van during a minus 30 weekend. Later, Mikey and Katie decide to find Joe a new dog and choose Muffy, a three-year-old dog from the SPCA who is ready to leave her pups. They bring her back to the hangar for a test drive. Joe brings DC-3 CUE out of retirement to test fly the plane for Buffalo’s summer sked duty and he brings along Jeff—and Muffy—to see if they’re Buffalo material.
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EP6 Big Plans, Bad Luck Dec 03, 2014

Mikey talks to a 15-year-old aviation buff in England via Skype, who has discovered that Buffalo’s DC3–WZS–flew on D-Day. This inspires Mikey to do something special for the 70th anniversary. He invites Cory to do a tandem parachute jump and finds out that Cory’s grandfather was a paratrooper at the invasion of Normandy. Meanwhile, Mikey takes mercy on Prefkar, working the ramp in Hay River, and offers him a chance for some pilot training on the morning DC-3 freighter. But when the time comes, Prefkar learns that he’s been bumped for pilot David Alexandre. It gets worse for Prefkar when he’s given another chance and this time the fog rolls in. Prefkar might not stick it out at Buffalo. Mikey’s D-Day plans get even bigger when he contacts the Princess Patricia Canadian Light Infantry, who were part of the Allied airborne forces that dropped behind German lines in 1944. He pitches his plan—a reenactment jump from WZS, an actual D-Day plane. But there’s a hitch: the plane needs to pass inspection, and Mikey needs to lose weight to make the cut for tandem jumping. Mikey tries everything he can think of—from juicing, working out with Dan at the gym and even sweating it out in spin class. Cory and Mikey go over what they need to refit DC-3 WZS for a static line jump. Cory is sent on a scavenger hunt for parts in Red Deer and finds a brand-new bracket from the 1940s—but they still need to find the missing rear bracket, and nobody even knows what it looks like.
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EP7 Dogfight Dec 10, 2014

Mikey shows a veteran Buffalo’s DC-3, WZS, Buffalo’s very own vintage plane from the Second World War. It is being fitted with a special ‘static’ line, which paratroopers will clip onto for a D-Day reenactment jump. But army inspectors tell Mikey a modern military needs a modern line with a winch system in case they need to retrieve a “hung-up jumper”. Cory and Mikey scramble to build the retrieval line before the inspector comes back to test it. But with their bumbling and fumbling, it doesn’t look like they will make the cut. Meanwhile, Chris Staples and some of Buffalo’s pilots head down to Fullerton, California, to Air Combat USA, where pilots get to experience aerial dogfights in real fighter planes. The pilots do yo-yos, spins and pull Gs to out-maneuver their opponent. First up in the dogfights are newly checked-out co-pilot Sam Storm versus longtime co-pilot David Alexandre. Sam wins the fight due to David’s inability to hold down his breakfast. Next up is cocky co-pilot Chris Staples versus his C-46 captain Devan Brooks. But Devan’s many years in DC-3s and C-46s have left him unprepared for the video game pace of dogfighting and he quickly loses 3-0. Finally, the two top guns return to the sky. Sam scores first, but Chris is not about to get beaten.
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EP8 D-Day Dec 17, 2014

The Buffalo boys gather in Red Deer for Mikey’s D-Day tribute jump. Joe and Sam scout out the designated military drop zone over Abraham Lake in the Rockies only to discover the canyon is too narrow for the DC-3. So Joe cancels the whole thing—it’s too dangerous. Mikey uses Joe’s own philosophy against him: at Buffalo, there’s always a backup plan. Joe flies out to scout a new location for the drop on the lake but hits bad weather. As Joe is about to scrap the trip, twenty paratroopers from the Canadian and American armies arrive for the big jump and are ready to go. They board WZS and Joe takes off to a site he hasn’t scouted, in weather that just keeps getting worse. As they near the drop point, he finally calls it—no jump tonight. They turn back, with all the troops still on board. Mikey’s only hope is a narrow window first thing the next morning—but only if Joe gives the final okay.
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7.6| 0h30m| TV-PG| en| More Info
Released: 18 November 2009 Ended
Producted By: Omni Film Productions
Country: Canada
Budget: 0
Revenue: 0
Official Website: http://www.icepilots.com/show.php
Synopsis

Ice Pilots NWT is a reality television series broadcast on History Canada that portrays Buffalo Airways, an airline based in Yellowknife, Northwest Territories, Canada. Buffalo mainly flies WWII-era propeller planes year-round in the Canadian North. It premiered on November 18, 2009. The show was renewed for a second season with filming completed on August 2nd, 2010. The season premiere was aired on History Television January 12th, 2011. Season 3 was greenlit on August 18th, 2010 and began airing on October 12, 2011. In the UK, season 2 was shown on Quest 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 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.

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Reviews

wsawyer2 This is clearly a show for aviation enthusiasts, and particularly for that specific subset of those enthusiasts who really like older (rotary engine) aircraft. I am, and I do, so I am positively biased. Honestly, it is probably not the best viewing choice for people who don't understand or appreciate that mindset. The show also offers an example of how many people make their living, and the effort they put forward, the hardships they endure, and the sacrifices that they make, to earn that living. It possibly could serve as a lesson for many young people, although I doubt that those who might benefit from such a lesson are included in the target demographic for the show. :) This series is not a video game, and may not be appealing to them.Any reality show must rely on a certain level of artificial drama, and Ice Pilots NWT is no exception. At times, the contrived drama is a bit much. But, the reality of the flying, business, social and personal environments nonetheless comes through. I, for one, am delighted that such an airline can continue to function, and not be squeezed out of existence by needless, and oppressive regulation. Frankly, I would consider it money well spent to travel all the way to Yellowknife, just to take a flight on the 'sched'. I love flying on DC-3's anyway.I agree with other reviewers, that Joe McBryan would not be a boss that I would ever care to work for. Or, for that matter, a pilot with whom I would care to share a cockpit as a right-seater. But, guess what? It is a REALITY SHOW, and I think viewers are seeing a taste of reality - I seriously doubt McBryan put on an affect just for the cameras, while in 'real life' he is a tender, thoughtful, considerate manager, who regularly gives hugs to his employees. Unfortunately, I have seen more than a few instances where regulatory agencies such as the FAA (and TC), not infrequently populated by a number of overzealous bureaucrats, target individuals such as a Joe McBryan because they just can't stand the notion of the kind of independence he displays (rightly or wrongly). Don't misunderstand, I have high regard for many things that the FAA does, particularly their aviation safety education initiatives. But, people like Joe McBryan do rub some regulators the wrong way, and they respond inappropriately (and unfairly at times). There are only so many unique and broadly interesting situations that such an operation faces that can be turned into dramatic moments for a show such as this, after which repetition inevitably sets in. But, the seasons that were produced are nonetheless well worth watching.
terryfilkins I love aviation and enjoy much of this series. Grew up around airplanes, friends & family are pilots. Most of the people in aviation where I'm from are pretty good people. I guess Joe is up North because nobody in the South will put up with him, he's gotta be the worst boss I've ever seen, no wonder all the pilots and maintenance guys leave as soon as they have enough hours. That guy should have learned by now that you can't treat people like that when the live in a cold, boring, isolated place in the middle of nowhere, if work sucks, there's no reason to stay. I like the show, but can't stand listening to all the drama, peoples personal problems, "buffalo is my family" etc... Seeing the old planes fly & get repaired is interesting. Watching Mike do nothing but cost the company money and screw around... really infuriating, especially when you see good employees busting their hump to get the business to make money, get crapped on by Joe, while his family does whatever they want. What a horrible, hostile, dysfunctional workplace. I'm surprised anyone would apply to work at Buffalo after watching this TV show! it definitely doesn't promote the company. More attention should be on the planes and waaaaay less on all the peoples problems that work there, and get Joe off camera!!! my goodness, I want to fly up there just to punch that guy every time I see him being a grouch on the show!
headfella So if you're reading this you've probably already checked out all the other web references for this Canadian reality based TV show. I'm not sure who the intended target audience for this program was, but as a retired aviation professional and former Canadian "bush" pilot when I was in my 20s, I'm favourably biased in my opinion of this program. I totally enjoyed each & every episode of season one. I understand a 2nd season is in the works. I'm looking forward to adding those episodes to my existing DVD archive of these broadcasts. If you don't have an aviation interest, then this program isn't for you. But if you've ever wondered what it's like to operate ageing aircraft in the Canadian arctic during winter conditions, then this program is the closest you'll probably ever get to "freezing your ass off" without actually signing on at Buffalo. And -40 degrees Celsius is also -40 degrees Fahrenheit and if there was even a whisper of a breeze, it's what my friend George used to call, "knee snapping, eye gouging, snot flinging cold out there!" You had to be young, you had to be keen, you had to be building hours, you didn't mind the meager wages, coming to work in the dark on 'square tires', going home in the dark dead tired, and you had to love climbing into that freezer of an airplane each and every day because nothing, absolutely nothing could top that exhilarating view from the pointy end of the airplane. It was great to be alive. Kudos to all involved with the production and especially to all Buffalo staff for permitting such an intimate look at their flight ops.
laura-halliday These pilots fly neat old planes in one of the most hostile (and spectacular) environments on the planet, operating Buffalo Air out of Yellowknife, NWT.Their planes are chosen for toughness, reliability and cargo capacity. It can't be that cheap to run a DC-3 or a DC-4 nowadays, but the only reference to this was the owner grumbling about one newer plane that turned large quantities of jet fuel in to black smoke.With these ingredients it would be hard to make a show like this dull. I have seen it described as Ice Road Truckers in planes, but aviation in the north is a completely different animal, and can never be taken for granted.