Andrew Bradley

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From 1936 through the 1990s, Ottawa's Laurentian Air Services was a prominent player in Canada's developing aviation industry. Throughout that time, LAS was headquartered at the Ottawa Airport’s north field and indeed, for a time they actually owned the Ottawa Airport.

The history of LAS has now been told by aviation researcher, historian and author, Danielle Metcalfe-Chenail in a new book titled For the Love of Flying: The Story of Laurentian Air Services. As a feature presentation at the October 24^th meeting, Danielle spoke to Ottawa Airport Watch members about some of the history, aircraft and personalities of this pioneering and innovative company in stories drawn from her book.

Danielle gave an excellent overview of her book, including how she came to author an aviation history, how she now has the aviation 'bug' and how Laurentian Air Services, as a major tenant and one-time owner of the Ottawa Airport, was a pioneer for some 60 years in the field of bush and northern flight in Canada. She highlighted the significant contributions of LAS owners Barnet Maclaren and John Bogie, including the intriguing story of how Maclaren's order for the Cessna Crane/Bobcat early in the war has been recognized internationally as a life-saving move for the Cessna Company.

Danielle also previewed the three projects she currently has underway: a novel about a female Canadian bush pilot, a book on the history of northern flying in Canada, and researching and writing her grandfather's wartime experiences in Bomber Command (an internal family project). She solicited input from any Watch members who might have material related to the first of these projects.

Danielle coped wonderfully with the failure of her laptop computer (thus her PowerPoint support show) by handing out copies of her book to everyone in the room so they could view the photos relevant to her talk.

Following a question-and-answer period, Danielle autographed and sold copies of her book (at a reduced price) to a number of the members. She also kindly donated an autographed copy for use as a future door prize.

The Ottawa Airport Watch expressed to Danielle its sincere appreciation for sharing the LAS story, and presented her with a small token of thanks. Thanks also to Jacques Brunelle, Airport Watch National Coordinator, for setting up the visit by Danielle.

Anyone wishing to contribute material to any of Danielle's projects may contact her at:

         http://www.daniellemc.com        or         http://www.laurentianstory.com/Home

or follow her interesting blog at:

         http://www.dmchenail.blogspot.com

Text and Photos : Rod Digney