Facing blizzards, breakdowns and the prospect of flying World War Two planes over icy tundra, the stars of History Television’s new 13-part series, Ice Pilots NWT, have a life not many would envy.

Debuting Wednesday at 10 p.m. ET, the show by Vancouver-based Omni Film Productions depicts the professional lives of a group of elite pilots from Yellowknife-based Buffalo Airways. The pilots face all manner of weather while flying vintage planes in and out of mining sites in the Far North.

‘It’s a chaotic high-wire act of cargo deadlines, sick crew members, late arrivals, breakdowns of temperamental planes and stormy Arctic weather,’ said series producer David Gullason, in a statement.

The show — targeting 25- to 54-year-olds, skewing male — mirrors Ice Road Truckers, a similar reality show about trucking life, seen here and in the U.S.

From Media in Canada