Welland Wilfred Phipps

Welland Wilfred (Weldy) Phipps, C.M., was born in Ottawa, Ontario, on July 23, 1922. He attended school there until 1940 when he joined the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) as an aero-engine mechanic. The following year he was posted to No. 409 Squadron, RCAF, in England, and a short time later transferred to night-bombing duties as an aircrew Sergeant with No. 405 Squadron. On the night of April 1, 1943, while on his 28th operational flight, bombing a target in Germany, his aircraft was shot down. He was forced to parachute and landed safely, but was captured and held as prisoner-of-war for the next two years. In 1945 he returned to Canada for his discharge as a Warrant Officer First Class.

Phipps joined Atlas Aviation, a charter company in Ottawa, and was encouraged to earn both his pilot and engineer licences. He became a partner in the company, along with Angus Morrison, and remained there for two years. In 1947 he joined Rimouski Airlines of Quebec, where he flew as staff pilot for two years. He became associated with Spartan Air Services at Ottawa and during the next eight years he rose to Chief Pilot, Operations Manager, and finally Assistant General Manager. His main task with Spartan Air Services was to develop their high altitude photographic operations. He introduced the use of the Lockheed P-38 Lightning which he personally modified and flew as a two-place machine capable of 35,000-foot (10,668 m) altitude photo survey work. This was especially important for the preliminary work in establishing the Distant Early Warning (DEW) Line which would be built in the early 1950's.

While on Arctic research operations he conceived the idea of using lightweight, super-size balloon tires, allowing his small aircraft to operate on tundra, snow, and rock-strewn ground. In 1958 he joined Bradley Air Services at Ottawa as Vice-President and Operations Manager. He worked to perfect the balloon tire type wheels: his design consisted of greatly oversized balloon tires—25 inches (64 cm) on a tour-inch (10 cm) hub—using seven pounds air pressure per square inch. The big wheels cushioned the aircraft and prevented jarring shocks from boulders, and prevented the plane from sinking into boggy ground. He soon enlarged the company's fleet to ten aircraft. During the summer of 1958, he took a PA-18 Piper Super Cub into the Arctic for the use of two geologists, who were able to cover 30,000 square miles (78,000 km2) in 300 hours of flying over a period of three months. Prior to this, geologists used dog teams and canoes and were restricted mainly to the coastal areas.

In 1959 Phipps returned to the Arctic with five Super Cubs, using improved gear: tires were increased to 35 inches (89 cm) and pressure reduced to four pounds per square inch. As a result of survey work showing the presence of oil and minerals, land was beginning to be staked in the Arctic. For the 1961 season, Phipps extended his development to two de Havilland Otters, using larger tires. These flew on Polar Shelf expeditions very effectively, and enabled geologists to work extensively on oil explorations in the Arctic.

For his development of the super-balloon tires and his research into their various arctic uses, he was awarded the Trans-Canada (McKee) Trophy for 1961. Being able to land where other aircraft could not, Phipps was called upon to use his aircraft to fly rescue missions. He once flew a doctor into Grise Fiord on Ellesmere Island, a community 3,100 miles (5,000 km) north of Ottawa, to deal with a deadly whooping cough outbreak.

In 1962 he formed his own company, Atlas Aviation, based at Resolute Bay on Cornwallis Island in the Northwest Territories. He bought a Twin Otter in 1967 and persuaded the Department of Transport officials to allow his initials as a special registration for the aircraft. They assigned call-letters CF-WWP, and the airplane became known as 'Whiskey Whiskey Papa'. While his company's operations were confined mainly to transporting passengers, fuel and supplies through the Queen Elizabeth Islands and north Greenland, he did make several extended flights to the North Pole for scientific purposes and in support of expeditions.

He ended his flying career in 1971 with the sale of his company to Renting Aviation Limited at Toronto. He bought a sailboat he named 'Whiskey Papa', which became the Phipps' home for parts of each year.

Phipps was named a Member of the Order of Canada (C.M.) in 1976 for his contributions to Arctic aviation, particularly in developing techniques to allow landing on rough terrain. He died in Ottawa on October 29, 1996.

"Weldy" Phipps brought his family, Fran and most of their eight children, to live in Resolute year-round. Those of their children who had completed grade six had to continue their education 'on the outside'. Fran became the first woman to land on the North Pole.

On April 15, 1971 she accompanied "Weldy" and co-pilot Jack Austin when they flew there in a Twin Otter to prepare for an upcoming publicity flight with Commissioner Stu Hodgson of the Northwest Territories and a Vancouver reporter, Pat Carney. Ms. Carney was very disappointed when she learned that she would not be the first woman at the Pole!

Welland Wilfred (Weldy) Phipps was inducted as a Member of Canada's Aviation Hall of Fame in 1974 at a ceremony held in Edmonton, Alberta.