Amherst -
(Editor's note: Following is the fourth of a five-part series of articles looking back at Amherst's aviation history with former pilot Bob Barnes. The fifth and final article will appear in next week's Citizen.)
Bob Barnes knew very little about the Trerice brothers until an old, tattered postcard came his way a few years ago.
"The photo in the card involved a tall, handsome pilot standing by his Stearman biplane on an airstrip near what would become Amherst's wartime airport," recalled Barnes. "The pilot's mother, a fine lady by the name of Mrs. Trerice, was my Sunday School teacher when I was 12. I was at the time vaguely aware that she had a flyer in her family."
In fact, she had two sons that had become pilots. Burton and Nelson combined for over 50,000 flying hours before finishing their astounding aviation careers.
The eldest of the two, James Burton Trerice, was born in Amherst in 1913, and took an interest in technology and mechanics as a child. At the age of 14, with financial support from his father, he began flying training at the Moncton Flying School.
As he built on his flying experience, flying around the Maritimes mainly on a Fairchild 71 based in Rimouski, Que., he worked as a night watchman and later a mechanic with Canadian Airways. By November, 1929, he had earned his commercial pilot's license, and he delivered mail and passengers throughout the Maritimes, becoming well known in the region for barnstorming and taking part in medical emergency flights, such as delivering a doctor to perform emergency surgery on a little girl in Shippagan, N.B.
In 1935 he was sent with a Fox Moth on floats to Chibougamau in Northern Quebec, where he carried in and supplied prospectors who were exploring for minerals in the region.
"He quickly made a name for himself as a pilot who was not only always safe, but one that was always sober, a trait that was quite uncommon in the harsh bush country," said his son, Bob Trerice, who also became a pilot and is now a project officer with the Canadian air force.
In 1936 Burton moved to Charlottetown, and the following year left Canadian Airways to work for Tom Wheeler's Grey Rocks Air Service, flying a Waco out of St. Jovite, Que. and the Gray Rocks Inn on Lac Ouimet, transporting freight and passengers to a number of campsites for hunting and fishing.
In July of 1938 he joined a successful expedition to Antarctica under the command of Lincoln Ellsworth, with the purpose to claim Enderby Land for the United States.
After returning to Grey Rocks Flying Service, he would soon find himself doing what he could to assist with Canada's efforts in the Second World War. He worked with new airline Trans-Canada Airways, becoming captain on a Lockheed 10A in 1940, based in Charlottetown. On one memorable flight he spotted a U-boat in the Gulf of St. Lawrence.
In 1944 he began flying four-engine Lancasters, transporting VIPs across the Atlantic for the rest of the war. On one flight to London they had been given the wrong codes by mistake, and came under friendly fire.
"Fortunately, the allied gunners were not great shots and they were able to convince them they were friendly, before any damage was done," said Trerice.
After the war he stayed with long-range flying, across the Atlantic and to the south, moving from the North Stars to the Super Constellations and finally the venerable DC-8, which he retired on from Air Canada in 1973. He then extended his flying career an extra 15 months, working for Air Jamaica, before finishing his career with over 31,000 flying hours, and having never had one accident.
His brother Nelson was seven years younger, born in Amherst in 1920, and a bit more daring. Having taken his initial flying training at Moncton, he built up his hours toward his commercial license during the 1930s by doing maintenance flights and aircraft deliveries for Gray Rocks Air Services, where Burton was already working as a pilot.
While doing circuits in a Curtis JN-4 at St.-Jovite, Que., still only a teenager, Nelson was in a serious flying accident, crashing into a lake. A canoeist found him sitting on top of the mostly submerged aircraft, with no idea how he got unbuckled and out of the cockpit, as the impact resulted in the permanent loss of that 12 or so minutes of his memory. The cause of the crash was later determined to be water in the fuel tanks.
During the Second World War, Nelson enlisted in the Royal Canadian Air Force, and was posted to CFB St. Jean D'iberville as a flying instructor. He instructed on the de Havilland Tiger Moths throughout the war, and he always kept things interesting. One of his primary duties to test pilots in training was to teach them how to dive their aircraft in order to use airflow to restart their engine. Rather than do this from the recommended altitude of 4,000 feet, however, Nelson had his students do it from 1,500 feet.
After the war, Nelson began working for Trans-Canada Airways, upgrading to captain in only six months. Over his career, he flew the Super Electra, the North Star, and then the Vickers Vangaurd. Whether it was the secret compartments he utilized to get his favourite duty-free items past customs, or the trick he used to start all four engines simultaneously, he "never let too many rules get in the way of having fun and getting the job done," according to Bob.
On Oct. 17, 1970, Nelson completed his last flight in typical style, canceling his instrument flight rule (IFR) on approach to Bermuda, circling the island to show his passengers where he was going to live in his retirement. There he retired after 25 years with TCA/Air Canada, logging more than 25,000 hours of flying time, and he continues to live there today with his wife Kay.
