Barkley Grow Aircraft

The Hangar Flight Museum - Please have a look at this post: "What's more Canadian than being able to operate on snow, water, and dry ground?"

Air Service, Inc.

Happy Easter, dear visitors and followers of our fbsite!

It took me quite a long time to clarify a little piece of the history of the Barkley-Grow T8P-1 #1!
It is the period between 1945 and 1964 when it was registered in the USA.
During this time it changed hands several times for shorter periods of time! (Chandler Evans Corp. / Air Taxi, Inc. / Dayton Airways, Inc. / Mishawaka Airport, Inc. / South Bend Tool & Die Co., Inc. / Thomas J. Smith / Dayton Aircraft Sales)

Today I want to cover the period 1954 when it belonged to Thomas J. Smith! During this time he was the owner of #1 and chairman of the small airline "Air Service, Inc." in Bridgeport, CT. Al Wheeler was the president.
This airline operated regional charter flights on the East Coast.
During this time, Air Service Inc. owned a Howard DGA-15P, a Cessna 195 and the Barkley-Grow T8P-1 #1 with registration N18388.
The three photos (different sources!) that I am attaching to this post also come from this time.
I found a crucial clue in this investigation in two short articles by Al Wheeler in 'Vintage Airplane' magazine Dec 1980 and March 1981!

Yukon Southern and Canadian Pacific Air Lines Barkley-Grow T8P-1 (CF-BQM, CF-BMG and CF-BLV) - and this is the link to a very short clip -

Yukon Southern and Canadian Pacific Air Lines Barkley-Grow T8P-1 (CF-BQM, CF-BMG and CF-BLV) Barkley-Grow Aircraft of Detroit, Michigan produced only 11 of the T8P-1 ("Transport, 8 Passengers") beginning in 1937. Designed to be rugged and simple, it ...