Nils Christensen

Born in Berum, Norway, near Oslo, on August 15, 1921, Nils Christensen began training as a mechanic while attending school. In 1939 he joined the Norwegian Merchant Navy, sailing on Norwegian and Allied ships in the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans and the Caribbean Sea. When Nils left the navy in 1942, he joined the Royal Norwegian Air Force at the age of 21 and came to Canada to train in Toronto as an aircraft mechanic.

Back overseas in 1943, he joined No. 333 Norwegian Squadron as a flight mechanic engineer for Mosquito aircraft at bases in Scotland. Following air gunner school in 1944 in England and operational training in Ireland, he flew on Catalinas with the squadron as a flight mechanic/air gunner on convoy duty and submarine patrols.

After the Second World War, Nils trained in England on aircraft engines, then instructed on engines and aircraft for the Royal Norwegian Air Force. Leaving the air force in 1947, he flew as a flight engineer with a Norwegian company, Braathens South-American & Far East Airtransport. He also served as a station engineer for the company at Schipol Airport in Amsterdam, flying and maintaining Douglas DC-3 and DC-4 aircraft.

In 1951 Nils emigrated to Canada, and was employed by de Havilland Canada. His first job "was converting Lancaster bombers to air sea rescue by upgrading engines. In 1952 he was hired by Sault Airways Limited in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, maintaining Norseman and Cessna aircraft, and earned his Aircraft Maintenance Engineer (AME) license. For the next four years, he worked at Sault Airways as Chief of Maintenance, servicing Norseman, Cessna, Piper, Stinson and Seabee aircraft used in bush flying operations.

In 1956 at the age of 35 he moved to British Columbia to be Chief of Maintenance at the Victoria Flying Club. There he serviced club aircraft, as well as Harvards and Beech 18s maintained by the club for the Royal Canadian Naval Air Reserve Squadron VC 922. On March 28, 1957, Nils became a Canadian citizen at ceremonies held in Victoria.

In 1959 Nils joined Forest Industries Flying Tankers as Director of Maintenance and Chief Flight Engineer on the Martin Mars water bombers. His work included sorting and cataloguing parts, and training six new flight engineers. In 1965 he joined Fairey Aviation, doing overhauls and maintenance on Catalinas, Beechcraft, Harvards and DC-3s. He also worked at applying his ingenuity and skill in converting Cansos, Avengers, Mitchells and Junkers to water bombers. Two years later he became manager of McKinnon Enterprises, rebuilding and converting 10 amphibian Grumman Goose aircraft to turbine power and upgrading Grumman Widgeons.

When McKinnon Enterprises closed, in 1970, Nils started his own company, Viking Air Limited, and located it in a wartime air force hangar at the Victoria airport. With partners Courtney Griffiths and Claude Butler, his new company acquired equipment from McKinnon Enterprises and focused on overhaul, maintenance and conversions of various aircraft, specializing in flying boats. That same year, Nils bought Victoria Flying Services and its 11 aircraft. In 1971, Viking Air donated a Viscount aircraft to the Canadian Forces Fire Service for training purposes.

With Nils as president of Viking Air, the company obtained the parts manufacturing rights from de Havilland for Beaver, Otter and Turbo Beaver. Starting with three employees, Viking grew to 50 employees from 1970 to 1987, when Nils left the company and retired. In 2006 the company acquired Type Certificates for seven de Havilland heritage aircraft: Chipmunk, Beaver, Otter, Caribou, Buffalo, Twin Otter and Dash. Today Viking Air has 450 employees at its headquarters in Sidney, British Columbia and 200 employees in Calgary, Alberta.

Although he retired as president of Viking Air in 1987 and sold his 90% interest in the company, Nils remained engaged in the business as it embarked upon production of the Twin Otter. His expertise is still sought and he continues to provide assistance and advice in response to requests he receives from around the world.  His lifetime involvement with aviation continues with association in several organizations, including life membership in the Royal Air Force Association of Norway and the Royal Canadian Legion. For 40 years he has been a member of the Quarter Century in Aviation Club of Vancouver

In November 2011, as a former member of the Norwegian merchant marine, Nils was invited as guest of the Norwegian government to attend the rechristening of the merchant ship, the D/S Hestmanden, restored as a memorial ship. The ship was built by Norway in 1911 and provided service during the First and Second World Wars. The Hestmanden was rechristened by King Harald V, who then greeted personally the 240 merchant marine veterans who attended the ceremony held in Kristiansand, Norway. Nils first met the King, who was a Crown Prince at the time, at the "Little Norway" air force camp in Toronto, 70 years earlier.

Nils held current AME license, highly respected for his knowledge, expertise and support as a mentor in assisting others in becoming trained to serve in the industry. He founded a successful aviation manufacturer that continues to build aircraft. In 1997 he was awarded the Robert Hope Pursuit of Excellence Award from the Pacific AME Association. In 2003 he was one of the first three members inducted into the Canadian Aircraft Maintenance Engineers Hall of Fame. In June, 2012 Nils Christensen returned to Norway for a celebration of 100 years of Norwegian military aviation and 70 years of 333 Squadron of the Royal Norwegian Air Force, with which he had served in the Second World War. In July, 2012 he was awarded an Honourary Lifetime Membership in the British Columbia Aviation Museum Society.

Nils met his wife, Sheila, in England in 1946 when he was attending Engine Instructors' School. She was the daughter of W/C William Wolfenden, OBE, who served with the Royal Air Force during the First and Second World Wars. Sheila learned Norwegian when she moved to Norway, a language in which she and Nils are still fluent. The couple married on May 31, 1947. They have two daughters, Randi and Marit, and one son, Erik, and lived on Salt Spring Island, British Columbia from 1993 to 2016. Nils Christensen passed away in August 2017 in Abbotsford, British Columbia.

Nils Christensen was inducted as a Member of Canada's Aviation Hall of Fame at a ceremony held in Montreal in 2012.