After the First World War, Bishop and Bill Barker, Canadian fighter pilots who’d picked up medals sending German warplanes down, glided home as heroes on wings of glory. Lieutenant Colonel William G. Barker, from Manitoba, was the war’s most decorated Canadian. Bishop, too, was weighted down with medals. In spring 1919 the legendary war “aces” formed peacetime Bishop-Baker Aeroplanes Limited to fly Torontonians to Muskoka’s lakes.
Soon Sir John Eaton booked a flight. They landed at Kawandag, one of the Eaton Family’s two Muskoka estates. John rushed indoors. “Mother, will you come fly with me?”
“Of course I will. I have wanted to fly all my life.”
Bishop, having just flown one Eaton from the city, now toured two high above Muskoka’s lakeland. “From the heights I discovered unknown lakes hidden in the woods,” Margaret thrilled, after landing. “I realize for the first time what a bird’s eye view really means.”
From then on, Lady Eaton was a regular customer, raving about how quickly she reached Muskoka not crawling on land. Canada’s reigning society queen became Bishop-Barker’s PR department. She paid for air delivery of her summer guests. Toronto plutocrats began reaching their Muskoka summer estates off their docks.
Bishop piloted a bi-plane with pontoons and landed on water, taxiing to wharfs and docks. Depending on winds, it might only take one hour; today’s turboprop flight, 20 minutes. Sometimes a lone passenger climbed out after Bishop landed; customers on Porter’s inaugural flight today, a couple dozen.
Comparisons aside, what’s brought this welcome resumption of summer flights?
In1923, just when Barker and Bishop folded their company after a disastrous crash to lead separate careers, Bob Deluce was born into a northern Ontario aviation family, son of Angela and Stan Deluce. Bob and their eight other children grew up inland from Lake Superior at White River, a CPR rail town inaccessibly by car. Trains and planes were the only links to the world beyond. Bob and brother Peter had their pilot’s licences as teens.
After the Second World War, when Stan returned from national service in the RCAF and resumed civilian flying, he was keen to expand operations. In 1951 the Deluces formed White River Air Service, flying summer vacationers to Lake Superior, Bob at the controls. In 1971the family bought Austin Airways. In 1981, added Air Ontario and Superior Airways. In 2006 Porter Airlines was launched and has steadily expanded its routes. Throughout, Bob Deluce, now joined by his son Michael, has been innovative running Porter Airlines. He’s still flying summer vacationers to the lake, now from the corner office, not the flight deck.
William Avery Bishop is memorialized in the Canadian War Museum, Robert J. Deluce is now inducted into Canada’s Aviation Hall of Fame, and a century after Bishop bequeathed this route its Canadian record, Deluce resumes Toronto-Muskoka summer service.
For despite all that’s changed, people still want to reach Muskoka as fast as they can.
