Membership

The Canadian Aviation Moments were submitted by Dennis Casper from the Roland Groome (Regina) Chapter of the CAHS. 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 November are:

Question: Al Lily was Canada’s first pilot to break the sound barrier in early August 1950. Another Avro Aircraft Ltd pilot broke the sound barrier in 1952 and was hailed in error in 1989, by the press as the first Canadian pilot to break the sound barrier, which has since been retracted. Who was the famous Canadian pilot who was deemed, in error, to be the first to break the sound barrier?

Answer: “Later however, media would confuse Al’s accomplishment with that of Jan Zurakowski, a Polish native who moved to Canada in 1952 to join Avro Aircraft Limited in Toronto as chief development pilot. That year, Zurakowski flew supersonic in the Canadair CF-100 Canuck fighter, the first straight-winged jet aircraft to achieve this feat. At the time of his passing in 1989, the press hailed Zurakowski as Canada’s first pilot to break the sound barrier – a factual oversight that had since been retracted.”

Note: Janusz Zurakowski was the chief development test pilot for the Avro Arrow program and flew the Avro Arrow on its maiden flight in 1958.

Source: Airforce Revue – Summer 2010 – Page 23

Question: What caused the Japanese to accelerate, in 1942, the development of the Japanese incendiary balloons (known as Fu-Go Weapons)?

Answer: “Balloons delivering bombs date from 1848 when Austria attempted to bombard rebellious Venice using such ordnance. Japanese design and testing of incendiary balloons (known as Fu-Go weapons) began in 1933. Development of them picked up following the first direct American attack on the home islands (the famous Doolittle Raid of April 18, 1942) and the crippling of the Japanese carrier Flett at Midway in June 1942. Lacking any long-range bombers, Japanese authorities saw the balloon bombs as a chance to strike back, even create Havoc in North America. Their meteorologists were aware of the high-altitude winds that swept across the Pacific, and these winds would be used to deliver the balloons.”

Source: Legion Magazine – Jul-Aug 2009 – Page 46

Question: What does the 419 Squadron motto (Moosa aswayita) mean and what language was it written in?

Answer: “The 419 Squadron motto written in the Cree Indian language was, and still is to this day, Moosa awayita ( Beware of the Moose) in honour of the nickname acquired by the first Commanding Officer, Wing Commander John “Moose” Fulton, Distinquished Service Order (DSO), DFC, Air Force Cross (AFC).”

Source: CAHS Journal - Spring 2010 – Page 17