Ice Pilots Spinoff In Production

Editorial Staff

Wednesday, September 07, 2011 at 12:00 AM ET

Verified

Key Takeaways:

A dramatic spinoff of "Ice Pilots NWT" called "Arctic Air" is currently in production in Vancouver and will air on CBC starting in January.
The show's star is a former Canadian-registered DC-3 aircraft that had been retired for 17 years and required significant effort by Dan Gryder and others to prepare for filming.
The DC-3 was flown from Colorado to Georgia for restoration, then disassembled and transported by truck to Vancouver for the filming of 30 episodes.

See a mistake? Contact us.

Don’t see a video screen?
Try disabling ad blockers and refreshing this page.
If that doesn’t work, click here to download the video directly.

Fans of Ice Pilots NWT can look forward to a sequel of sorts. A dramatic spinoff of Ice Pilots, called Arctic Air, is now in production in Vancouver by OMNI Film and will air on the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation starting in January. Ice Pilots NWT, which is airing on the National Geographic Channel in the U.S. and was shown on the History Channel in Canada, followed the real-life exploits of Buffalo Joe MacBryan and his Yellowknife-based Buffalo Airways. The airline operates the last scheduled passenger service with a DC-3 and also flies C-46 Commandos and DC-4s. Arctic Air will mirror the reality show and the star of the program is a former Canadian-registered DC-3 that flew for Whitehorse-based Air North before being retired 17 years ago. Getting the plane ready for prime time was an adventure in itself and DC-3 buff Dan Gryder played a starring role.

The plane was parked in Colorado and hadn’t been flown for 17 years. Gryder and some friends got it in flying shape and ferried it to his hangar in Griffin, Ga. There, the wings and horizontal stab were removed and the aircraft fuselage readied for a flatbed truck ride to Vancouver. The fuselage, which is still decked out in its Air North passenger format, is now on the set and being used to film 30 episodes. The CBC has purchased the program but there’s no immediate word on whether it will be aired on a U.S. channel.