Ice Pilots NWT is a 13-episode real-life docu-series about an unorthodox airline in the Canadian North. Yellowknife-based Buffalo Airways flies WWII-era propeller planes – big old aircraft built by “Rosie the Riveter” that have remained virtually unchanged over the years. Rookie pilots defy bone-chilling temperatures to fly cargo and passengers through blizzards, breakdowns and transatlantic journeys. It’s an impossible job in a merciless place.
website: Ice Pilots NWT
:: I hate reality television shows.
Ice Pilots NTW (that’s North West Territories) is good televison.
“If you really want to experience flight in this life then you have to strap a DC-3 to your ass.”
- “Buffalo” Joe McBryan
Flying for Buffalo Airways has been compared to joining an airborne bike gang. The show dramatizes the everyday challenges of operating amazing piston workhorses like the DC-3, DC-4, and the C-46 in some of the most extreme weather on the planet.
Save The Radials
Wait… A TV show with DC-3′s?
Yes.
The show is fun to watch. (maybe sometimes from the, “sure glad that ain’t me,” perspective.) Each episode is a mix of drama in the air, and on the ground. (real or imagined) The amped up narration, and the occasional silly animation explainer, are nods to the required reality show cheesiness… but the editing is mercifully restrained, keeping it watchable.
Not like I’ve seen any of the show or anything… If you live in Canada, you can watch the show on History Television. Even you you don’t have cable, you can watch entire episodes online at www.history.ca. But… if you’re in the states, you’re out of luck. The suits-to-the-north have taken the very special precaution of blocking folks from outside Canada from streaming the video. (this really frosts my cookies)
So if you’re lucky enough to someplace where you can watch the show, (or sneaky enough) I recommend it. The show has proven to be popular, the first season has earned the highest ratings of any Canadian show on History Television. It was recently confirmed there will be a second season.
The producers need to get on the stick and get the show onto a US network. (or even just Hulu) It’s good stuff.
Oh, and you can buy the sweet t-shirt online here, trip to Yellow Knife not required.
