Ronald Frederick Connelly (1931 - 2011)
Ron Connelly bought a surplus World War One trainer before he knew how to fly. He moved to the Yukon in 1955 after flying float planes on Vancouver Island and being a bush pilot in Ontario.1) He became a Whitehorse-based pilot with Pacific Western Airlines.2)
In 1958, with his wife Dawn Dawson, Connelly was a founding partner of Connelly-Dawson Airways (CDA) with the purchase of Callison Flying Services in Dawson. In 1960, CDA began flying to Old Crow from Dawson and acquired the DC-3, CF-CPY, for charter flights out of Dawson. In 1962, the company expanded to Inuvik and Sachs Harbour. In 1965, CDA merged with Range Airways in Calgary to purchase Yukon Flying Service in Whitehorse and the company became the Great Northern Airways (GNA). In 1966, Ron sold his share of GNA, the largest air charter company in Yukon with bases in Whitehorse, Mayo, Dawson, Ross River and Inuvik.3)
In 1966, Ron trained as a helicopter pilot in Whitehorse and in 1967 formed Trans North Turbo Air (TNTA) with partners Chuck Hankins, Alex Kapty, and Gordon Davis. TNTA was the first in Yukon to own turbine equipment with the Jet Ranger. In 1969, Ron was a founding partner of Conair Aviation Ltd of Abbotsford, BC. In 1984, Conair had the world's largest fleet of fire-fighting aircraft with 50 fixed wing and 15 helicopters. In 1978, Conair bought Frontier Helicopters of Watson Lake. Ron served as vice president of Conair from 1972 to 1994. In 2015, TNTA operated 15 helicopters from 7 Yukon bases. Ron served as president of that company from 1967 to 2005.4)