Midnight Sun Fly In returns to Yellowknife after pandemic hiatus

Larry Buckmaster grew up around planes and fell in love with flying early on. He says his family even claims they brought him home in a World War 2 aircraft. 

Buckmaster would go on to become a pilot. He's now retired, but this week he's looking forward to the Midnight Sun Fly In, a festival in Yellowknife where pilots from across North America can meet and mingle with each other. 

"We catch up on some old times and tell some stories and have a really good time," said Buckmaster, who lives in Kelowna, B.C. and has been attending the event for 15 years.

The festival is held every two years, but was put on hold in 2021 because of the pandemic. It's making its return on Thursday and will run until Sunday. 

The event is aimed at celebrating the bush plane heritage, and is a gathering place for aviation enthusiasts and pilots from across North America. 

Pilots will fly their aircraft to Yellowknife for the gathering. Some of the events featured this year include a barbecue lunch, meet-and-greets, a tour of an aircraft fleet, and a memorial to honour past bush pilots.

Organizers are expecting around 20 private aircraft to come in for the event, and about 50 people.

Some events are open to the public in Yellowknife, such as the pancake breakfast and barbecue, and are expected to draw up to 300 people. 

Cynthia Levy, the vice president of the Midnight Sun Fly In Association said the event is important because Yellowknife wouldn't be what it is without bush pilots and aircraft. 

"It's these types of aircrafts that opened up the North to development," said Levy. 

"There were no roads, there were no railroads, it was all just vast, distant wilderness," she said, adding that the area was first accessed by bush planes. 

The historical significance is not lost on Mikey McBryan, the general manager of Buffalo Airways in Yellowknife. 

He said he will be at the gathering with two aircraft owned by his family. He said the planes at the event will be the same as those used between the 1950s and '70s. 

"Going back to the heritage of landing on water versus landing on ground is an important part for you know, the historical importance of Yellowknife," he said.