Alfred Beebe Caywood | |
Birth Date: | 22 January 1910 |
Birth Place: | Oelrichs, South Dakota, U.S. |
Death Place: | Victoria, British Columbia, Canada |
Alfred Beebe Caywood (January 22, 1910 – May 23, 1991) was a Canadian aviator.[1]
Born January 22, 1910, in Oelrichs, South Dakota, Caywood relocated with his family to Edmonton, Alberta, in 1911.[2] In 1925, he graduated from the McTavish Business College, subsequently becoming comptroller of a mine in the Coal Branch in New Brunswick and later working with the Alberta Land Titles and Provincial Income Tax. in 1933, he became a prospector in British Columbia, northern Saskatchewan and the Northwest Territories. He decided to take up flying in support of this career, but after receiving pilot's certification in 1937 took a job as a pilot with Canadian Airways. When Canadian Pacific Airlines was formed, he became one of their leading pilots in the Yukon, Alaska and the Northwest Territories, surviving a 1942 crash that killed one person.[3]
In 1944, Caywood became involved with air services for Eldorado Mining and Refining, resupplying the uranium mine on Great Bear Lake as part of the Manhattan Project. He acquired a Douglas DC-3 for Eldorado, the first to be licensed commercially, using it to haul freight and passengers. During this time of his career, he set a number of records in aviation. In 1958, Eldorado formed subsidiary Eldorado Aviation, bringing on Caywood as President[4] and General Manager, a position he maintained until his retirement in 1965.[5] During his retirement, Caywood was an aviation consultant for the World Bank. He died on May 23, 1991.