Loran Tower Ikaluktutiak Nunavut

The Loran Tower was constructed on the east side of Cambridge Bay on a rocky rise. It was built to guide aircraft flying from points in Canada and the USA to Europe on the Arctic pathway. This tower is over 800 feet high and is a free standing structure. The tower was built by the USA and Canadian military and civilian interests.Hundreds of aircraft flew this route weekly.

Nearly every plane travelling that route used this beacon as a guide as magnetic compasses were next to useless in that part of the world. The true north was miles north of the magnetic north pole which has a habit of moving constantly. Presently it is near the south area of Ellesmere Island.

The tower was a main guide for the SAC B52's which flew continuously during the years of the cold war. The tower was strobe lighted and on a clear night could be seen for fifty miles. Once I was partially lost returning from the mainland ,travelling across the NWP (north west passage}. Fog and wind obstructed my ability to get my bearings. I had no compass that day and began to become concerned.

I stopped my snow machine and began a search of the horizon with my spy glass. It was totally dark and after a short search I spotted the strobe lights of the Tower. I arrived home safely 5 hours later. That experience was repeated thousands of times since by the locals.

The tower was taken out of service years later in the 1980's and the local people petitioned the government of Canada to leave the tower and keep it lighted. After much discussion the tower remains but with lighting at a lower level. This provided a beacon for the Inuit hunters and visitors but at a reduced service. A friend of mine did the maintenance on the tower and changed the lights. He free climbed that tower without safety harness and was fearless. We were all afraid and concerned just watching him.

It is amazing how a tower can be the focal point of a community but it was and still is. Many communities have other beacons like lighthouses and church steeples but none are more outstanding the the Loran Tower of Cambridge Bay.