I Flew on a Boeing 737-200 From a GRAVEL RUNWAY!

[@AverytheCubanAmerican]

Another reason Air Inuit has used the 737-200 for a long time isn't just for its gravel runway capabilities but also the amount of people it can carry as well as combi! As you've said, Air Inuit is a lifeline for the airports of these northern communities. Not just in the passenger sense, but also cargo. Without the airline, they wouldn't be getting ANY goods. But with everything coming in by plane, the products in the markets of these communities like Puvirnituq are more expensive as a result. It really puts into perspective just how isolated they are. Us in suburban and urban communities like to complain about a lot, but compared to remote places, it makes us consider just how lucky we are, and we should be thankful regardless for what we have.

[@jaysmith1408]

Isn’t the only slightly comparable replacement the -400? The other capable aircraft are the Bae-146 or a mad dog derivative (newest being the 717, not offered in cargo, never mind combi). Understandably a niche market for North America, but worldwide the lack of off field aircraft from this side of the Soviet Union are fairly limited, outside relics or turboprops.

[@Yukis.aviation]

@@jaysmith1408 i think with some extreme modifications they could convert a 737-700/800 or a318/a319 for these ops

[@thegotlandisfarmer8774]

⁠@@Yukis.aviationthe engines on the 700/800 are to powerful and would only suck up the gravel on the ground and destroy them sadly the same for the airbuses, it would be needed that line the 737 got smaller engines like those on the 732

[@gmitchellfamily]

6:05 Coolest airstair ever.

[@martman104]

As a kid I got to fly on a VistaJet 737-200 with my grandma for my first ever flight. Didn't really appreciate it at the time because I was a kid. This video inspired me to maybe try to fly on one of these 737-200 to appreciate the experience this time.

[@RichardoBrit]

Great videos - I love the balance of aircraft / flying details plus some insights into the areas you’re visiting. It makes me want to visit some of these more remote areas.

[@willarddevoe5893]

The Bobby 200 has an excellent glide ratio. It's also much lighter than any 737. Don't expect Inuit to pull the plug on their Bobbys when they have them so polished and wrapped around their pinkys. The cold air is very thick and gentle on those airframes and Pratt and Whitneys. Classy flight, matey.

[@AWoodford93]

As a fellow Alex, Pilot, and longtime subscriber; this is you at your best. You’ve taken your videos to a new level again recently, and I’m sure I speak for mostly everyone when I say that we’re loving it. Safe travels 🛫🛬

[@basvanderhoek9293]

The only 737 I ever liked, just because of the thrust reversers, and the eargasm sounds of the engines.. My "Caravelle" years so to speak. Even with 1 foot in the grave, this video really made me feel good, thanks Alex, and it is nice to read that I am not the only one that loves the "Bucket" reversers. Bas.

[@ABBADiego]

I was cabin crew for UK charter airline Britannia Airways 1986-1992. I flew on these all the time. We had 2 that were “freighters”, G-AXNA & G-AXNB. They were really noisy on take off and landing. Britannia Airways crammed 130 on to the 737-204 with 22 rows all one class.

[@SupremeLeaderKimJong-un]

While La Grande Rivière Airport and neighboring Radisson exists for the hydroelectric project, Puvirnituq has a different kind of history. Puvirnituq was constituted in 1989, but its history is older than that. In 1921, the Hudson's Bay Company established a trading post in the village, known as Povungnituk. This attracted the settlement of Inuit living in the region. In 1951, the HBC opened a general store. The closure of HBC stores in other nearby villages led to an influx of Inuit to Puvirnituq. Puvirnituq's name means "putrefied" because after an epidemic killed off most of the area's residents to the point where there were not enough people to bury the dead, the exposed bodies decomposed gave off a putrid smell. Dark, I know, but life can be that way.

[@williamgriffis8733]

Awesome video Alex!! Love the 737-200. Nothing beats the bucket reversers on landing. My wife and I are going to Vancouver in May. First time on Air Canada. Philadelphia to Toronto to Vancouver. 😊

[@fraserhenderson7839]

I expect you will enjoy your stay in Vancouver. It's been uncharacteristically cold here recently but the Ice and Snow are largely gone now. In May, you will see a thousand shades of green. while in Vancouver, in springtime, you can golf in the morning, sail on the Salish Sea in the afternoon and go skiing on the North Shore Mountains in the evening. I hope you like sushi.

[@Jaybro8]

I hope you enjoy your stay in the Fraser valley!

[@n4gix]

Thanks for featuring the B737-200C. I spent the better part of three years lovingly creating a 3d version for Flight Simulator X and Prepar3d whilst working for MilViz (Military Visualizations). Keeping to the spirit of the project, it features a fully functional "steam gauge" cockpit, and allows one to install the gravel kit or fly stock as desired. It comes with Canadian North, Air Canada liveries as well as several other iconic liveries, including the mysterious "Janet Airlines" (the notorious CIA livery)... 😃

[@heraldtim]

Thanks for another great video about northern Canada. As an only-modestly-traveled USA citizen, I'm fascinated by the "frozen north" and hopefully I can visit some of these beautiful locales for myself.

[@wotan10950]

Fascinating video! When I began flying as a pre-teen (late 1960s), most of the flights were on 707s, 727s, 737s, DC-8s, DC-9s. Flying was a very special experience in those days. The thought never crossed my mind that those planes would someday be only fond memories.

[@Flexflex744]

Don't worry, we enjoy those trips just as you do. You could upload 30 737-200 flight videos in a row, I'd watch all of them. Lovely plane, lovely airline. Great vid!

[@jacquesgiard6943]

Thanks!

[@RolandBizjets]

Thank you Alex. You always have exciting videos 😍 It's so interesting to see how people live and travel in frontiers somewhere far away in the world. 737-200 is definitely worth flying before they are retired.

[@nateye2450]

F1 season opener straight to a praglowski trip report! Pretty good Sunday

[@rachelehrenberg9231]

I have very few bucket list flights. This is one of them. Cheers, young man. I appreciate the reminder.

[@darthsidious6162]

Lovely machine! I had the privelege of riding this plane several times in the 90's before the -400/-500's took over.

[@davesaunders7080]

Great video, have been on the 200's a few times but non gravel kit varieties.

[@grantmitton6346]

Another Great Journey, Thanks Alex.

[@OHAREAVIATION]

Fantastic work! Love these planes. I got to fly jumpseat on a cargo 737-200 with Northern Air Cargo in 2018. Went ANC-BRW-ANC.

[@venomraptor8375]

I am a fan of the Boeing 737s. I dunno why, but they look kinda...adorable? It's like they're the younger siblings of the larger Boeing planes and do their best to imitate their elder family members. They're just the cutest large jets

[@alabama1413]

That was a great video Alex so much appreciated. The 200 is indeed a true workhorse & Air Inuit seems to be a great carrier. Best wishes 👍🍀

[@turk223]

Love watching your videos! And, I must say, I love the Air Inuit livery.

[@DeanCully]

I was fortunate to get hired at Anchorage-based Northern Air Cargo in late 2015, where I gained my initial 916 hours of 737 piloting experience in the gravel-kitted -200s, including the final flight on February 24, 2019 when I copiloted N321DL from Anchorage to Winston-Salem, North Carolina via Great Falls, Montana for refueling. It was to be refurbished and put to use as a combi for, yes, a Canadian mining company. It’s serial number sibling, N322DL had previously been salvaged for parts, particularly its gravel kit I assume, and the airframe scrapped, sadly. Only a very few others hired after me got to fly the -200s. By then, the only gravel runway NAC was operating on was at the Yukon River village of St. Mary’s, which the company abandoned as the second phase of NAC’s jet era commenced with an all -300 and -400 fleet, recently augmented with a like-new ex-Aeromexico NG -800 converted freighter, of which I’ve only flown as captain since upgrading late in 2022 shortly after its acquisition. I was fortunate to fly the last of that older technology of the jet-age, and while I “miss it”, I strongly prefer the greatly improved performance and reliability of the -300/400s and even more so with the vastly improved performance over those, of the -800. There are several photographs of the -200s and the others within my photography website, www.deancully.com .

[@sasharenier9900]

Kuujjuaq is now one of my dream destinations. I would love to fly on the 737-200 one day. Amazing video.

[@amtrakharry]

That was excellent Alex!!! I used to work "Shell Canadian Tankers" which is no more. :(:(:( We would bring up from the "Shell Refinery" in Montreal which is also gone there "year's supply" of gasoline, Diesel fuel for the power plants mostly, Jet fuel, and Ava gas for the turbo-props. We would gone for the whole year and make that same trip a year later!!! I don't who calculated how much they would need for the year but I hoped they were right!!! Thanks for sharing Alex...:):):)

[@joncalon7508]

Loving those 737-200 reverse buckets. I've spent so many flights as a much younger person aboard the 737-200's and usually ended up trying for row 16 or 17 which was right beside the rear of the engine. I too have to wonder how many times one can overhaul the airframe to keep them running - there will have to be a time when they can't fly these anymore, right? Or are Air Inuit and Nolinor committed to flying these birds no matter the cost?

[@mita6010]

One of my favorite trips that you have posted. Many thanks Alex.

[@user-st3nk9ui9j]

Great video as always, Alex! Yours has to be the most unique and interesting aviation channel around. During that amazing wing shot leaving Puvirnituq, I could almost feel the sensation of rising while sitting here at home.

[@frederickclause2694]

The feeling of power when flying in one of these from the old Edmonton city center airport was incredible.

[@2Stonefly]

10:30 The coolest reverse thrusters I have seen.

[@vincentseguin4199]

Thanks for the great video, was definitely a good timing. Went to see iit this morning in the Hangar.

[@wenlyluis6434]

That's some iconic reverse thrust

[@i_like_planes-os2nb]

You deserve so many more subscribers thank you for these awesome videos which are such good quality. Keep it up

[@davidcole333]

I have a lot of memories of the old 737's with the JT8D's. They make a sweet symphony of music and the exhaust smell is intoxicating. These were as common as today's 737-800's when I was a child. This was very interesting to see how these old planes are still being used,

[@mixedupmenopausaladhd3999]

What a great video! I miss hearing the sound of the flaps deploying and retracting on the -200. Maybe a future vid might include this?

[@Coastmac2001]

Brilliant food. Absolutely terrific aircraft for over 40 yrs old

[@sherylsmith4324]

Loved watching this. I felt like I was right there on the plane.

[@InukViking]

Make me miss seeing GOPW in YCB, I have been offloading and loading those 737-200's since 2007.

[@danalamborn4464]

Great video! I'm envious that you've been able to get on 737-200s during this millenium. I flew on 737-200's back when we all took their existence for granted. I believe my last 737-200 flight was Casino Express from LAS to ICT here in the States. Those tickets to the remote north can't be very cheap.

[@thelettuceconsumer]

Shame the 727 isn’t in scheduled passenger flights anymore, would’ve loved to see those here

[@AlexPraglowskiAviation]

I'd be all over those! I missed the boat with First Air's, unfortunately.

[@jasteamer]

Great video! Thanks so much. What will Air Inuit use once these are retired to service the gravel runway airports? 😊

[@barrel6468]

I don’t think there’s any modern aircraft that has the same capabilities as the 737-200. Nolinor has been refitting their aircraft with modern avionics and whatnot. I can’t tell you what they’ll be replaced with but I can confidently say the 737-200 will still be around for quite a while.

[@Mrskibidi8]

Amazing video as always 👍🏼

[@ericinzesky1077]

great video, the wiews are stunning ! I love these old 737, with their tiny engines 😀

[@StinkPickle4000]

Cool video! Jets on Gravel sounds like Ferraris on Logging roads

[@marksandstrom4248]

harder, actually - imagine trying to increase ground clearance when you have to have retractable landing gear. Jacking up a Ferrari and adding fat tires is a piece of cake in comparison.

[@heathertruskinger6214]

That's Alex. After a stressful day, it was good to relax watching this video, I love this model plane, especially as I haven't see them in Australia. They may exist here....I just haven't seen them 😅...and, wow....I didn't realise until you showed it here, that the rear staircase folds up into the fuselage of the plane !!!

[@michaelhusada]

Those reversers!! So cool to see it!

[@PLANEMANIA747]

Amazing 👏 Beautiful video ❤

[@knarf_on_a_bike]

Great video of my favourite aircraft. Thanks!

[@2strokemerc]

These airplanes are real work horses. PWA machine originally, they last forever. Worked on this one (C-GOPW) and all the other 737s CAI had back in the day.

[@salvatorecosenza727]

Alex, Beautiful and amazing! The people are so rugged they live in an environment us in the United States wouldn't last a day!

[@PapikPapikyan777]

Unbelievable! 43 years old Boeing and still flying from such dificult places

[@racer72]

When I started working on the Boeing 737 program in the early 80's, we built a number of planes that were designed for unimproved runways.

[@sveinovelorentsen3159]

This is the first time I noticed the onboard stears on the back door. I didn`t even know such exist.

[@stanleovart]

It’s great indeed

[@kenbarthSimAV8tor]

Nice!

[@brianhackett1024]

Another great Video Thanks Alex

[@sebavidaurre]

I worked for nearly 6 years as cabin crew in Chile many years ago, and we used to fly 737-200´s (also A320´s and B767). These were the best piece of machinery that I ever saw, but they meade me lose a lot of my hearing by fliying 2 years on the aft jump seats.

[@mikefladgate3714]

Cool! Wasn't that an old Pacific Western 200 (C-GSPW)?

[@mr.hockey7356]

That’s soo cool

[@crystalcheeseman2280]

You can’t miss the 737, 200 engines with the target reverse thrust

[@fraserhenderson7839]

I flew on a Boeing 737-? to and from a few gravel runways a dozen times in the early 1970s, before this plane was built. There wasn't much pavement up there 50 years ago.

[@jfontou]

Fantastic!!!

[@kevinheard8364]

I really enjoy your channel.... you do great work

[@MTAviationPhotoFilm]

Awesome video, I would love to ride on a 732. Ameristar has 2 of them based by my house at Willow Run but they are VIP config and used for charters

[@rafaelwilks]

It would be awesome if the B737-200 could be re-engined with the CF34-8, CF34-10, or Passport (which would be a really good option because it has at least about the same thrust as the JT8D-17 that powers these planes, it's much quieter, much more efficient, and has a debris rejection system) 😍😍😍 and, of course, I would have the current old interior kept completely as-is 😊

[@mrmarcrumbleton8300]

200s are amazing🤩🤩 wish I could fly on one! How much louder actually are they inside the cabin compared to a 733?

[@Trump145]

Well brother I really love your videos I wish I could go with you someday on one of your Journeys way up North, greetings from St Louis Missouri USA

[@432Point]

Long live the Jurassic!

[@Aaron007]

What do you think will replace the 737-200’s once they’re retired?

[@Jetlifeual]

Went to go look at taking one of these flights...close to $5,000 roundtrip. Does that sound about right? How do locals afford that? I must have been looking at the wrong thing, surely?

[@zacktong8105]

I suppose with enough maintenance these -200s Arctic equipped can go on forever and they certainly have excellent short field capacity as we've seen from time to time. Forget exactly what it is but the later versions apparently aren't suited for this type of work with different engines.

[@marksandstrom4248]

737-300 / 737-700 / 737-8 Max (the core models of the new 737 derivative families from respectively about 1984 / 1997 / 2017) each in turn introduced an engine type of increased fan diameter, a crucial factor in improving fuel efficiency. But in ingesting larger and larger intake air mass flows for a given thrust level with inlet lips critically close to the ground, the idea of suppressing dirt/gravel ingestion became less and less practical.

[@choppa2110]

Did you do this trip alright when you got stuck

[@F1_Continued]

Those engines 😍

[@jonm6756]

Great video Alex, anyone know why Air Inuit tickets are so expensive?

[@donnayhz3568]

If CN is retiring their 737-200, what will they use for larger transport on gravel runways out there? Another great video! I am so envious of your travel life haha!

[@keith6706]

They're using a mix of all-passenger ATR 24-300s and 500s, combi -300s, and all-freight -300s. The -300 configured for all freight can handle a surprisingly large quantity of cargo, which for the smaller communities can meet their normal resupply, but for significantly larger or bulkier loads they'll have to shipped by charters or dedicated air cargo companies like Buffalo.

[@piplotfs]

Personally, I love the 732's reverse thrust. Really wish I could fly on one someday

[@gustavo320]

First commercial plane i flew, back in 2001

[@christopherescott6787]

Dad the 200's flew for Transair in the 70's and landed at Fort Chimo as it was originally named , along with many more across the North. The Dew Line was another famous for gravel landings. Took many a ride in these including landing in the interior of BC where jet service is long gone. Cranbrook, and Penticton being 2.

[@triplecoutdoor7495]

nolinord have quite alot of them. I take em twice a month and we have problem every time. touch wood no major incident yet

[@eqplanes]

How much did you end up paying if you don’t mind me asking. Is it always like 4 grand or can it come much cheaper ?

[@aselwyn1]

would love to fly onboard this aircraft its just so cost prohibitive sadly

[@abcjelly]

if there’s r 737 planes that can go on gravel & snow, it’d b cool if the a320 can b modified to go on gravel & snow too r there night flights to & from these northern canadian airports?

[@jonc4719]

Airplaning looks neato.

[@AlonsoRules]

A one way flight is over $2,200!!!

[@jacquesmertens3369]

Can the Inuit really read that weird alphabet, or is it something to amuse the tourists, I wondered. Then I found the Unicode character set called Unified Canadian Aboriginal Syllabics, and even an extension to that set for specific dialects. Turns out the script is the work of James Evans, a missionary from England who created the Inuit alphabet around 1830. Thanks to him the Inuit can read and write their own language. The Hudson's Bay Company falsely accused James Evans to stop him from supporting the natives. He died of a heart attack at a young age.

[@joanassieannahatak139]

Are you gonna go to north again

[@carterpaulson2257]

The security situation makes no sense to me, isn't it inherently risky to have unscreened pax if even on a short leg?

[@joe_the_machine_dasher]

You already post this video why repost it ?

[@Alex-vr8gw]

What will they fly when the 732 is retired? Do newer aircraft have gravel kits?

[@jacrain9396]

Canadian North has switched to ATR turbo props for gravel runways. Some are converted for cargo. Probably what will happen to Air Inuit someday when the 737-200s are done. The 737-200s engine design makes it ideal for gravel but newer jets aren't really built for it.

[@scandinavianaviator8141]

Is there any hack to getting a discount on these flights? They are crazy expensive 😅

[@wu_1116]

How do you get affordable tickets for Air Inuit flights? Every time I check the website it costs about 4500 dollars for a return ticket between Montreal and Puvirnituq 😬 I have flown from the UK to the Falkland Islands and back for half the price 😅

[@christopherescott6787]

And to thinks, as a kid on my Dad's airline pass, we flew for a 10 dollar bill on them>>> Those were the days.

[@keith6706]

Welcome to flying in Northern Canada. Those of us who live up here usually say that when we head out on vacation or business travel, we're paying the ticket to get to Edmonton, Winnipeg, or Ottawa. Everything after that is so comparatively cheap it might as well be free.

[@brianmutcher9585]

I would sooner fly on a 40 year Boeing 737 than the new 737-900 max

[@hugolafhugolaf]

I take it their cars get delivered by boat? Fixing them and having parts available must be a real problem. As for the villages themselves, the lack of trees is depressing.

[@dacallp]

why do you gain so LITTLE POPULARITY :(((

[@Egg-um]

That’s crazy

[@gregormwalula7555]

Was it a gravel runway that can work in African cost effectivity..

[@ChristopherTindall]

Great video!