Far North Rambles: Wiebenville Bump
Something that pilots don’t care for are bumps on an airstrip. One of the big mythological (?) bumps I heard about was on the Wiebenville airstrip (CXX2), located north of Pickle Lake (Photo1).
Photo 1: Road side sign announcing Wiebenville - the location of an airstrip located about 90 kilometres north of Pickle Lake, Ontario, Canada. Photo by Andy Fyon, spring 1977.
When I worked out of Pickle Lake in 1976-1977, I heard a lot about aviator Mr. Wieben and the Wiebenville airstrip. I don’t think I met Mr. Wieben, but I believe I saw him in the distance. My only recollection about him was his short, round stature. He was a well known aviator in northwestern Ontario. I believe was the owner of Superior Airways (https://airfactsjournal.com/2020/06/adventures-of-a-canadian-bush-pilot/). The Wiebenville airstrip is located about 90 km north of Pickle Lake area and is visible on Google Earth (Photo 2).
Photo 2: Location of the Wiebenville airstrip, northwest Ontario, Canada. Google Earth image, Sept 25/20.
Someone in Pickle Lake told me to visit Wiebenville to see the “all the crashed aircraft”. I thought that sounded dramatic, possibly an exaggeration, but definitely worth the visit, which we did in the spring of 1977. The airstrip appeared to be functional, but we did not see any airworthy aircraft beside airstrip. I say “no airworthy” aircraft because there was at least one, possibly two, non-airworthy C-47 (a DC-3 variation) aircraft on the side of the airstrip (Photo 3). I recalled the other comment shared with me. There was supposed to be a bump in the middle of the airstrip. The story went pilots unfamiliar with that airstrip, who were not aware of the “Wiebenville bump”, would experience an interesting ride! I was told that several plane crashes were attributed to that bump.
Photo 3: A damaged C-47 aircraft on the side of the Wiebenville airstrip. If you look carefully, you see another damaged aircraft wing on the centre right of the photo. The C-47 aircraft crashed into trees on the left side of the runway after lift off from Wiebenville Airport.Although the pilots were injured, there were no fatalities (https://www.baaa-acro.com/city/kenora). Photo by Andy Fyon, spring 1977.
Was the bump real or mythological? I have no idea. I am not an expert. I don’t recall seeing a bump and I don’t have a photo of any bump. Regardless, there was one, and likely two, C-47’s on the side of the airstrip that had experienced an interesting ride.
I was intrigued by Wiebenville airstrip and Mr. Wieben as a northern aviator. To actually visit Wiebenville, see the damaged aircraft, and wonder how the crash(es) happened was over the top; although that visit did not help my fear of flying.
Andy Fyon, Sept 25, 2020 (Facebook, September 25, 2020).
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