We received the following picture from Mary (Kushnir) Lebans, daughter of Alex and Dora (Lukain) Kushnir. There was no information on the back of the picture but we can recognize most of the people in the picture. They are starting on the left: unknown to me, Dora and her son Bill Kushnir, Irene Serediuk (Dora’s sister) and child Rosie?, Anne Nidle (Dora’s sister) and her child Fred?, Alex Kushnir, John Serediuk, unknown to me, unknown to me, Dan Kushnir (Alex’s brother), Mary Kushnir in front with probably one of the Nidle boys Bill?, and George Nidle and one of his sons Steve?

The year was 1929 and the rest of the story is that the pilot who was flying the plane when it crashed at Valemount was Captain Hoyt. Captain Hoyt was a test pilot with the American Air Corp and he was on a mission. Captain Hoyt had previously been a pilot on the famous “Question Mark” flight, which sought to establish records for sustained flight.  The mission was to accomplish a return flight from New York to Nome Alaska, a distance of approximately  9,000 miles. The objectives were stated as “to connect the United States with a foreign possession by air, and to test the plane, motor and equipment”.

The plane was a Curtiss “Hawk” otherwise known as a Curtiss Conqueror, with had a 600 hp engine. In order for the long flight the fuel tank capacity was increased from 100 gallons to 250 gallons. In addition larger than standard tires were installed. While the engine had completed its ground testing it had not at this time been put through “strenuous testing in actual flight”.

Captain Hoyt left Michel Field, New York on the 18^th of July 1929 at 1:40 p.m. EST. He flew to Minneapolis, then to Edmonton, to Whitehorse , then to Fairbanks and finally into Nome. The flight took approximately 38 hours, included the time breaks.

Seventeen minutes after landing in Nome Captain Hoyt started his return flight. I am not sure of the reasoning, but he took a different route on return. “About half way between Prince George and Jasper, the Newlaska engine sputtered. Captain Hoyt looked for a landing field and spotted a clearing within gliding distance below him. The field proved to be of soft sand with mounds two to three feet high. The right wheel struck a mound in landing, throwing the left wing into the ground and damaging the plane.”   Well, that field was the clearing close to where the current Valemount library is located. There is a picture extant of Captain Hoyt kneeling beside his overturned plane, as well as the one above. Captain Hoyt said the problem was caused by moisture in the gasoline.

This flight was a significant flight, to the extent that it was included in the “Aircraft Yearbook for 1930” as one of 18 “History Making Flights of 1929”, as follows:

Graf Zeppelin Girdles Globe

Yellow Bird Flies to Spain

Yancey and Williams Span Atlantic

Spaniards Fly South Atlantic

Two Others Span Atlantic

Trans-Atlantic Attempts

Moscow to New York Flight

New Speed Record (357.7 m/hr)

Schneider Cup Race

Record Altitude Flights (39,144 ft)

Duration Records (35hrs 33min 22sec)

Record Distance Records (4,877 miles)

Hawks Cut Trans-Continental Records (NY to LA in 36hrs 46min 48 3/5 sec)

New York to Nome Alaska

Southern Cross Flies to England

London India Non-Stop Flight

Dornier Carries 169 Persons

Byrd Flies to South Pole.