Thurston Blakey

Thurston 'Rusty' Blakey, C.M., was born on December 12, 1911, in Ravenna, Ontario. After the death of both his parents, he lived in Bruce Mines, Ontario, with an aunt and uncle. He attended Worthington Public School and then graduated from Sudbury High School in 1930. He spent considerable time with pilots, mechanics, and airplanes on the shore of Ramsey Lake while working for the near-by Sudbury Boat and Canoe Company.

In 1932, Austin Airways, a charter service and flying school, was opened at Ramsey Lake. The owners of this charter service were Jack Austin, and his brother Charles Austin, with Leigh Capreol joining them for a short while. They hired Blakey as dock and office boy in 1935. In 1937, he earned his Air Engineer's Licence, which enabled him to check out and service his own aircraft throughout his long flying career. Matt Berry gave him his first airplane ride there in 1937. Blakey became a Commercially Licensed Pilot in March of 1938.

Rusty Blakey in winter garb standing on steps of aircraft CF-JKT on skis
Austin Airways

Rusty Blakey standing on skis of CF-JKT
Austin Airways

In March 1939, Blakey opened the Biscotasing, Ontario, base for Austin Airways to serve mining ventures, and in September, Charles Austin left the company to serve with the Royal Canadian Air Force. This left Blakey with the added responsibility of meticulously photographing vast areas from the air for the Ontario provincial government. The contract was for forestry and future road building purposes. In addition, Blakey flew many rescue missions and medical evacuation flights from Hudson Bay and northern areas to the nearest hospitals. For this, he was well known in northern Ontario.

In 1940, Austin Airways purchased a Noorduyn Norseman, registered CF-BSC, which Blakey flew for twenty years. His flying experiences were wide ranging, and included freighting supplies and mail to the Inuit along the coast of James Bay. He delivered men and equipment to mines in northern Ontario. In 1948 he was the first to drop dry ice pellets from an aircraft in an attempt to cause rain, a technique that revolutionized forest fire suppression.

Throughout his career of nearly 50 years of accident free flying, Blakey flew in excess of 30,000 hours. Over 10,000 of those hours were flown in Austin Airway's Norseman, CF-BSC.

In 1978 he received an Honourary Life Membership from the Canadian Owners and Pilots Association. In 1985 he was named a Member of the Order of Canada (C.M.)

Blakey's last flight was October 10, 1986. The following day he died on his way to work.

The Rusty Blakey Heritage Aviation Group erected a monument in 1988 to honour Blakey. The sculpture was unveiled on August 27 at Science North on the shore of Ramsey Lake, Ontario, and each year the Rusty Blakey Air Show takes place at this site.

Throughout his long flying career, Blakey flew by his own rules, which he said always worked for him 'fly in good weather', 'there's always tomorrow', and 'don't be overload'.

Thurston 'Rusty' Blakey was inducted as a Member of Canada's Aviation Hall of Fame in 1992 at a ceremony held in Wetaskiwin, Alberta.

Rusty Blakey in aircraft, earphones on