One of the good ones took his final flight. Someone who has forgotten more about airplanes, and war birds, than most people will ever know. The picture on the top left is the last time he piloted an aircraft. Teaching dad to fly the Beech 18 while flying formation off my wing. Always sharing his airplanes, and his knowledge bank, with anyone interested in learning. The picture on the top right is him imparting his endless wealth of knowledge on someone who was probably guilty of either “operator error”, or not holding 80 knots. Flying your approaches at 79 knots or 81 knots was reflective of “someone who didn’t care about living to die of old age.”
And the picture on the bottom is how we will remember him: Grandfather, professional football player, citizen of Louisiana, air racer, and aviator extraordinaire.
Off to say goodbye to a good friend of many years tomorrow. Absolute Prince of a man. One who was able to be successful in aviation and a great guy at the same time.
Dan Wuthrich was owner and builder of North Cariboo Air, officially of Ft St John but with bases in Edmonton, and a huge base in Calgary. I have had the pleasure of working with Dan for 25 years, helping him buy his fleet of King Air and 1900 aircraft. I also worked for him on a contract basis in maintenance at his base in Khartoum Sudan, Ft St John and Calgary. Dan passed away last Saturday suddenly at his home in Ft St John.
He will be missed by so many.
