Canadian Warplanes 4: Barkley Grow T8P-1

Barkley Grow T8P-1

(RCAF Photo)

Barkley Grow T8P-1, RCAF (Serial No. 758), ca 1940.

Barkley Grow T8P-1 (1), (Serial No. 758).  The one RCAF Barkley Grow T8P-1 aircraft was sold to Central Maritime Airways of Summerside, PEI, in 1941 as CF-BMV.  While flying near Greenland it had to force land on an ice flow on 23 Dec 1941. The aircraft broke through the ice and sank but the crew was rescued by local Inuit.

           The low-wing, twin-engine Barkley Grow was an airliner designed in the USA before the Second World War to carry eight passengers and was used as a communication and transport aircraft.  The Grow was powered by a pair of Pratt & Whitney Wasp Junior SB engines.  No. 728 was the only one purchased by the RCAF in 1939, and it was used by No. 12 (Comm) Squadron.  The Grow had fixed landing gear, and was used successfully as a Bushplane in Canada, often mounted on skis or pontoons.  (Wikipedia)

           There are three survivors in Canada, with one in the ASMC, Calgary, Alberta, Barkley Grow T8P-1 (Serial No. 8), CF-BQM.  AAM, Edmonton, Alberta, Barkley Grow T8P-1, CF-BLV, Yukon Queen.  R-AM, Wetaskiwin, Barkley Grow T8P-1 (Serial No. 1), CF-BVE, prototype of 11 built.

(Library and Archives Canada Photo, MIKAN No. 3223865)

Barkley-Grow T8P-1, c/n 5, CF-BMV.

Registered as CF-BMV to Canadian Car and Foundry Co. in 1939. With the Test and Development Flight and No. 12 (Comm.) Squadron, RCAF Station Rockcliffe, Ontario. Flew high ranking officers to Calgary and Lethbridge, Alberta, 7 to 15 November 1939, 10:20 flight time. Flew Governor General Lord Tweedsmuir from Ottawa to Camp Borden on 24 November 1939. Sold to Maritime Central Airways of Charlottetown, PEI on 30 October 1941, again registered as CF-BMV. Sank after forced landing on ice pack, due to fog, near Angmagssalik, Greenland on 23 December 1942.

(City of Vancouver Archives Photo, AM640-S1-: CVA 260-1371)

Barkley Grow T8P, "Yukon King", CF-BMG, on the runway in Vancouver, BC, 26 March 1940. (Kurt Ruhwald)

(Library and Archives Canada Photo, MIKAN No. 3223866)

Barkley-Grow T8P-1, CF-BMV.

(Library and Archives Canada Photo, MIKAN No. 3223867)

Barkley-Grow T8P-1, CF-BMV.

(Library and Archives Canada Photo, MIKAN No. 3388053)

Barkley Grow T8P-1, RCAF (Serial No. 758), Uplands, Ontario, 6 Dec 1939.

(Daniel Photo)

(Author Photos)

Barkley Grow T8P-1 (Serial No. 8), CF-BQM.  Calgary, Alberta.

Barkley Grow T8P-1 (Serial No. 8), CF-BQM.  Barkley-Grow # 8 (CF-BQM) was constructed in 1940 and left the factory under the control of an Aviation Hall of Fame member, Lee Britnell, for Mackenzie Air Service in Edmonton. This aircraft served many Canadian companies, including Pacific Western Airlines, Canadian Pacific Airlines, Parson Airways, Sioux Airways, Northland Airlines Ltd and Associated Airways. It has also been privately owned several times.

Recovered in Quebec by one of the Museum’s founding members Roy Staniland, CF-BQM was flown on floats to Calgary in 1979, landing on Chestermere Lake. Roy donated it to The Hangar Flight Museum for restoration and preservation.

(Author Photo)

Barkley Grow T8P-1, CF-BLV, Yukon Queen, on permanent loan from the ASMC.  The Barkley-Grow company manufactured this airplane to compete with the Beech 18 and the Lockheed 10 Electra. Canadian Car and Foundry of Montreal bought licensing rights and three of the aircraft. Edmonton’s Grant McConachie liked the design because the fixed landing gear allowed the use of skis and floats for his Yukon Southern Air Transport routes. In 1939 he persuaded Canadian Car to sell him the three airplanes, valued at $70,000.00, for $1 each, the balance to be paid monthly from operating revenues.  Alberta Aviation Museum, Edmonton Aviation Heritage Centre, Edmonton, Alberta.

During the Second World War McConachie’s Yukon Southern was absorbed into Canadian Pacific Airlines which operated the Barkley-Grows on northern routes. It proved to be a sturdy and reliable aircraft for those conditions. Yukon Queen (CF-BLV) was sold to Associated Airways in the 1950s, then carried Pacific Western Airlines livery after PWA acquired Associated in 1956. CF-BLV crashed on takeoff from Peace River in 1960 and was restored by a British Columbia group who gave it to the Aerospace Museum of Calgary. It is on permanent loan to this museum. Only 11 Barkley-Grows were built and all three survivors are located in Alberta.

(Library and Archives Canada Photo, MIKAN No. 3388057)

Barkley Grow T8P-1, CF-BTX, c1945.

(Library and Archives Canada Photo, MIKAN No. 3388056)

Barkley Grow T8P-1, CF-BQM of Pacific Western Airlines, 1957-1958.

(Library and Archives Canada Photo, MIKAN No. 3388054)

Barkley-Grow floatplanes, Three Mile Island, Fort Smith, NWT.

(Library and Archives Canada Photo, MIKAN No. 3223868)

Barkley-Grow T8P-1 aircraft, CF-BMV, rear view.

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