DEPARTMENT OF LANDS AND FORESTS FOR 1929 117 



principles of the constitution of Ontario, its aims and ambitions and its duty to 

 the public. 



Though the flying personnel of the Service achieved their part it was insuffi- 

 cient to cope with the daily increase of fires and subsequent demand for more 

 machines or flying. The complement of machines in some districts was in- 

 adequate to deal with the abundance of work accumulating, and to relieve the 

 congestion, commercial flying was purchased by the Forestry Branch. 



The pirating of Provincial Air Service personnel by commercial operators 

 in the Dominion of Canada continues. The result of these persistent appeals 

 from commercial operators coupled with the monetary gain by the personnel 

 creates a number of vacancies in our Air Service each year. To meet this exigency 

 the Service has adopted a policy of training a limited number of pilots and 

 engineers so as to ensure that at the commencement of the operating season 

 there will be a full complement of crews with pilots and engineers in reserve. 



The Department made purchase of four aircraft during the operating 

 period of 1929; one Vickers' Vedette Amphibian with hull modifications to permit 

 of photographic operation, either oblique or vertical, a type that has been 

 required in connection with our photographic and timber inventory programmes 

 for the past three years. I am very happy to report that this year with this 

 better performing aircraft a more efficient photographic programme was carried 

 out, more square miles photographed in a lesser time and at a lesser cost. Three 

 moth aircraft were purchased and added to the detection fleet. 



The D.H. 61 was reconditioned during the overhaul period to permit of an 

 extensive dusting programme. At the conclusion of the dusting programme and 

 while this machine was enroute cross-country, from Muskoka to Sault Ste. Marie, 

 the Bristol Jupiter engine installed in the D.H. 61 failed. This was the second 

 major engine failure in this aircraft during the 1929 operating period. The first 

 failure occurred when the machine was on aircraft and engine test early in the 

 spring. The manufacturer replaced the first engine without cost. VVhen the 

 second failure occurred after very careful investigation of operation conditions 

 and upon dismantling of engine, it was decided that a new or different engine 

 was required. During the summer months a Pratt & Whitney Hornet air-cooled 

 engine of 525 H.P. replaced the former Jupiter engine. Thus far an improved 

 performance has been recorded. 



During the reconditioning period, 1928-29, the Service replaced the Cirrus 

 Mk n air-cooled engine of 80 h.p. with the Gipsy air-cooled engine of 100 h.p. 

 This additional horsepower gave the moth a much better performance, permitting 

 this light aircraft on pontoons to get in and out of small bodies of water, an 

 essential requirement in connection with the detection and suppression flying 

 programme. During the operating season moth aircraft with this installation 

 flew 5481.25 hours with no major engine failure or a forced landing which could 

 be attributed to engine trouble. 



One accident of major category was encountered during the operating 

 season of 1929, that of the complete loss of one H.S.2 L. flying boat at Goose 

 Island, Lac Seul, Western operating district. Aircraft G-CAOF had just been 

 refuelled and was standing by awaiting pilot and crew to carry out a flight 

 requisition in connection with a suppression flight. In refuelling, the main tanks 

 had overflown and the surplus gasoline ran down the side of the hull on to the 

 water. A match tossed thoughtlessly into the water was responsible for the fire 

 igniting the gasoline on the surface and the flames on the water soon enveloped 

 the hull, an entirely wooden structure. No part of the aircraft or equipment 

 thereof could be salvaged. 



