It’s Wayback Wednesday, sponsored by Jamie Lockwood, broker/owner of Sutton Group Muskoka Realty!
Airplane on Hunters Bay in front of the Muskoka Wood Manufacturing Company in the early 1930s.
From Huntsville With Spirit and Resolve by Susan Pryke, c 2000.
From October 1927 to the summer of 1928, the Huntsville Council launched an aggressive campaign to secure a landing field near Huntsville. Councillors had been discussing the benefits of an airfield with the Jack Elliott Air Service. In spite of their best efforts, no landing site could be found. In July 1928, they passed a resolution stating their appreciation of the enterprise of Elliott Air Service but they stated they could not make a definite guarantee in assisting with the matter of the landing area. “Council is in sympathy with the development of aerial commercial navigation and will lend cooperation to bring service to the Lake of Bays district.”
The Huntsville Forester published the following on January 16, 1930:
“Captain Dingwall, pilot of the Moth planes now in this region, will be glad to make an appointment with you either to take you to Toronto or any other outside point, or for a sightseeing tour of 15 minutes over the town and its adjoining district. For these 15 minute trips the charge is $5. The planes in use are the latest models in two-seater aircraft. They are swift and reliable…Capt. Dingwall may be reached by phone at Limberlost Resort or you may meet him in Huntsville on Saturday and Sunday afternoon, which he has specially set aside for sightseeing trips. The planes land and take off at Hunter’s Bay, close to the CNR station.”
See more Wayback Wednesday photos here.
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As a note of change, the plane might have trouble finding enough good ice these days to use Hunter’s Bay. Last year the river seemed to be open a lot compared to the past years and I’m sure Hunter’s Bay is nowhere near as safe in winter as it used to be.