Events

DC-3's find new life in New Zealand

Halfway between Taupo and Wellington, there is a famous DC3 aeroplane hanging over State Highway 1.

ZK-APK has many faces over the years. First landing in Mangaweka in 1986, she had the colours of her previous top dressing job. Then in early 2000, she was painted with cookies, long holding the fun name of “The Cookietime Plane”.

She now sports the Blue and tan Mangaweka Adventure Company regalia, in an attempt to restore her dignity reminiscent of her service as an NAC passenger liner.

Source

No need for take out!

Photo source: HotSpot Media

Forget the drive-thru, you can eat your Big Mac and fries at an air-mazing McDonald's restaurant on this decommissioned aircraft.

For the last 27 years the disused DC-3 plane has been parked beside the McDonald's restaurant in Taupo, New Zealand.

The grounded passenger plane, with its refurbished red and silver interior and seating for 20, is very much a part of the restaurant and customers can enjoy their meal within the comfort of the cabin.

Source: Daily Mail

427 Squadron 75th Anniversary

Tickets for the 75th Anniversary Gathering of the Lions Gala are now on sale! This all-ranks dinner event will take place Saturday 14 October 2017 in Ottawa. For full information, contacts and to order tickets, click here.

Seeking The 1,000^th Mosquito Album

Good Day:

My father (Fred McKee) was Production Control Manager at DH during the war, and as a very young child, I remember going to the plant often to see the Mosquitos. In fact at the end of the war, I sat on my Dad’s knee in the right seat for my first airplane ride in a Mosquito. One of my other memories was a photo album titled “The 1,000^th Mosquito” which we all enjoyed looking at many years after. Unfortunately, it has gone missing for many years, and I am inquiring as to the possible existence of such an album in someone else's collection that could be shared by reproducing a copy for me.

Please contact Barry McKee at virbar2@cogeco.ca.

Aviation materials for sale

Andy Anderson has the following materials for sale. If interested, please email him at: anderson61@eastlink.ca.

Magazine - High Flight Vol. 1 issues 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 Vol. 2 issues 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, Vol. 3 issues 1, 2, 3, 4 $15.00 plus shipping (if any distance involved)

Aeroguide Classics - Supermarine Spitfire Mk. V
Squadron Signal Publications – Aircraft No. 39 Spitfire in action
Arco Aircam Aviation Series No. 8
Supermarine Spitfire Mk. X11
24 Seafire Mk. 1 – 47
All Spitfire pubs are soft cover $12.00

Carl F. Burke MBE by Allan MacNutt $12.00

Our Flying Heritage by Ross Smyth (signed) $8.00

1929 Schneider Trophy Contest The Royal Aero Club Official Souvenir Programme
Very minor marking Front and Rear covers
Slight rusting of staples (Not marking any paper)
Good colour in illustrations
All interior pages quite clean

2 8 ½” x 6 5/8” photos (sepia) 1 head-on S6B 1 ¾ front view (Port side) S6B (both on beaching gear).
Both mounted in 12” x 10” mats head-on has slight mark on mat ¾ views has minor wrinkling lower corner.
Could have been dropped.
Both mats have tape marks on reverse (probably mounted on wall or similar) ½” wide by up to 3 ½” long.

5 ½” x 3 ½” postcard S6B on water – pilot standing in cockpit. Very slight creasing (does not detract from picture).

All Schneider Trophy material $65.00

The Canadian Aviation Moments were submitted by Dennis Casper from the Roland Groome (Regina) Chapter of the CAHS. The questions and the answers are now being published together in the same e-newsletter, rather than questions one month and the answers the next. We are hoping this instant gratification might encourage more interest and research by our readers. Spoiler alert - if you read any further than each question, you will find the answer to the questions directly below. Good luck and have fun!

The Canadian Aviation Moments questions and answers for August are:

Question: Why did Rockcliffe in 1919 “become the focal point for aviation in the capital”? 

Answer: “The following year, after Parliament passed the Air Board Act to regulate flying, Rockcliffe “became the focal point for aviation in the capital. The reasons were obvious – flat land for wheeled aircraft, the river for seaplanes, and safe flying in the country side, away from dense population.”

Source: Airforce – The Magazine of Canada’s Air Force Heritage – Fall 2004 – Vol 28 No 3 – Page 9

Question: When and where the first Canadian experiments in aerial photography conducted?

Answer: “The first Canadian experiments in aerial photography were conducted at Rockcliffe in 1920.”  

Source: Airforce – The Magazine of Canada’s Air Force Heritage  – Fall 2004 – Page 9

Question: How many incendiary balloons were launched by the Japanese during WWII and for what reason?       

Answer: “Commencing Nov 3 1944, and continuing to mid-April 1945, Japan launched between 9,000 and 10,000 incendiary balloons from their home islands in an attempt to set North America’s forests alight from Alaska to California.”                              

Source: Legion Magazine – July-August 2009 –– Page 46

NEWSFLASH!

For those of you who did not make it to London this year (great time, guys, thanks again!), the 2018 Convention and AGM is in Calgary from May 30 to June 3. Our host hotel will be the Sheraton Cavalier. They have a free airport shuttle, lots of free parking and a great meeting space. The staff is friendly, knowledgeable and very helpful. We know you will all enjoy your stay.

We are working on tours, a special location for the opening night meet and greet and of course speakers, speakers, speakers! So, keep your eye on the newsletter; there will be more news soon.

See you in Calgary in 2018,
The 2018 CAHS AGM Committee

No. 6 RCAF Bomber Group Celebrated

Story and photos by
John Chalmers, CAHS Membership Secretary

In the town of Nanton, Alberta, on the weekend of August 18 and 19, the Bomber Command Museum of Canada (BCMC) marked the 75th Anniversary of the formation of No. 6 (RCAF) Bomber Group of RAF Bomber Command, established in 1942 during the Second World War. Flying Wellington, Halifax and Lancaster bombers, No. 6 Group flew 39,584 operational sorties and suffered the lowest loss rate of all Bomber Groups at 2.0 per cent. For more info about 6 Group, click here.

Known also as the Canadian Bomber Group, operating from Yorkshire, England, and starting with twin-engine Wellington bombers, 6 Group grew to 14 heavy bomber squadrons flying four-engine Halifax and Lancaster aircraft. In the first presentation of the formal program, museum secretary Karl Kjarsgaard spoke of the great contribution of Canadians in the attacks of 2,000 bombers on Duisburg in 1944, when 501 RCAF bombers contributed to the effort. See www.raf.mod.uk/history/bombercommandno6group.cfm

The “Salute to 6 Group RCAF” began on the Friday evening with a meet and greet social event that concluded with a spectacular night run-up of the museum’s Lancaster bomber.

Saturday presentations included speakers, tributes, live music and all displays on view, including the restoration of a Mosquito fighter bomber through the efforts of the Calgary Mosquito Society. Also under restoration at the museum are an Avro Anson and a Cessna Crane. Saturday, morning and afternoon engine run-ups were done of the Lancaster, a Fleet Fawn trainer, and a Bristol Hercules engine, the type used on Halifax bombers.

The annual August weekend special event is one of the biggest of the year for the Museum, which has over a dozen special events from April to November. See www.bombercommandmuseum.ca.

Nanton Lancaster Society president Rob Pedersen is seen with a new display panel of squadron badges of No. 6 (RCAF) Bomber Group, including the No. 6 Group badge. Rob served as announcer and chairman for the program events. In the background is the museum’s restored Bristol Blenheim twin-engine bomber.

Karl Kjarsgaard gave an illustrated presentation about the role and importance of Canadians serving with the Royal Air Force and in forming their own No. 6 (RCAF) Bomber Group during the Second World War, with a battle record second to none.

Dan Fox, vice-president of the Society, spoke about the Fraser-Nash rear gun turret of a Lancaster and the risks to men who operated it. At right is reenactor Matt Heinz, who entered the fuselage section on display to demonstrate gun operation.

During operation of the rear gun turret on a section of Lancaster fuselage, not only does the turret turn, but the four guns pivot up and down. Installation in the gun muzzles of LED lights synchronized with sound effects makes for a very convincing demonstration when the guns are fired.

This year’s big August weekend celebrations featured performances by the RCAF 4 Wing Brass Band Quintet from Cold Lake, Alberta, base. Left to right are: Amanda Carter (French horn); Todd Farrell (trumpet); Doug Sirant (tuba); Bandmaster Jeremy Duggleby (trombone); Zennon Szabo (trumpet).

Two new display panels provided details of RCAF squadrons in No. 6 Bomber Group and illustrated Wellington Z1604, the first aircraft to take off as part of an RCAF 6 Group operation.

Three RCAF veterans from Vernon BC were in attendance at Nanton. At left and centre are flight engineer Duke Dawe, and engine technician Gordon Redman, post-war airmen. At right is 96-year old wartime navigator F/L Joe Monteyne, DFC, who flew in both “Operation Hurricane” massive bombing raids within 16 hours on Duisburg, Germany, October 14-15, 1944.

The Friday night run-up of all four Merlin V-12 engines of the museum’s Lancaster, FM159, is a spectacle worth seeing. Always on hand for such events is the “crash crew” – members of the Nanton Volunteer Fire Department. The aircraft is named for Lancaster pilot S/L Ian Bazalgette, killed in action and the only Albertan to receive the Victoria Cross in the Second World War.

Naming over 10,600 Canadians lost during the Second World War while serving with Bomber Command, the memorial at the museum is illuminated at night. Additional names which had been previously unknown were unveiled at weekend ceremonies. An RCAF CF-100 Canuck is mounted next to the memorial.

Major Bill March, Historian for RCAF Heritage and History, spoke at the Bomber Command Memorial, paying tribute to the RCAF members who flew and fell in the Second World War, and praising the service still given today by the Royal Canadian Air Force.

CAHS member and author, Shirlee Smith Matheson of Calgary, displayed her several books as one of the writers at the commemorative weekend.

Calgary’s Anne Gafiuk, a CAHS member and author, was present with her books published by the Nanton Lancaster Society, including her newest, scheduled for release in November.

Wartime navigator F/L Joe Monteyne laid a wreath at Canada’s Bomber Command Memorial in memory of RCAF air crew lost during the Second World War.

Honorary Colonel Paul Storwick brought greetings from 4 Wing Cold Lake.

Retired Lieutenant Colonel and author David Bashow was the featured speaker on the Saturday afternoon program. He spoke about the development of RCAF 6 Bomber Group and its great contribution to victory in the Second World War. Bashow serves as Editor-in-Chief for the Canadian Military Journal, published by the Canadian Forces and the Department of National Defence.

Special events at the Bomber Command Museum of Canada always bring a large crowd, shown here listening to the presentation by David Bashow, who in 2016 published an updated edition of his latest book, All The Fine Young Eagles, about Canadian fighter pilots in the Second World War.

The loud and powerful Halifax bomber's Hercules 14-cylinder radial engine with its shortened propeller impresses the onlookers. At rear of the engine is BCMC director Derek Squire, a member of the engine crew. At right is Karl Kjarsgaard, who is heading up efforts to recover a Halifax from Swedish waters to be placed at the museum. See: www.57rescuecanada.com.

Seated in the cockpit of the museum’s airworthy Fleet Fawn biplane trainer is BCMC director Charles Logie during the run of the aircraft’s five cylinder radial engine.

Adding colour to the events of the weekend program were reenactors in wartime RCAF uniforms, flying gear and parachutes. Left to right are Frederick Carsted, Adrian Kerschbaun and Matt Heinz.

Prior to the morning and afternoon run-ups of the Lancaster’s four engines, the 4 Wing Brass Quintet from the Cold Lake base provided music for the appreciative crowd.

Nanton, Alberta, does much more than preserve and celebrate aviation history at the Bomber Command Museum of Canada. It is known also for its antique stores and is one of the few towns left on the prairies that has kept and preserved its grain elevators. The big orange elevator is also the Canadian Grain Elevator Discovery Centre, a popular site for visitors during its annual Nanton Celebrates History day.

Until October 31, to see a six minute video of the 4 Wing Brass Band Quintet and the engine start-ups described above, click here.

Account of the Trethewey Airfield Plaque Unveiling

Photo credit: John Bertram

Diana Trafford is a retired Civil Servant who has a boundless interest in Canadian aviation history... perhaps because her Uncle Howard Watt was one of the three bush pilots that flew the first Air Mail into Red Lake during the 1926 Gold rush.

Diana attended the Trethewey Airfield plaque unveiling, and this is her account of the July 15th event. Click here to read the full story.