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Dear Members,
It may be 40 below here in Dawson City, Yukon as I write this, but the warm wishes I’ve received since the inaugural newsletter are keeping me toasty.
Your comments on the website have also been much appreciated and we’ve been working on incorporating your corrections and suggestions. Some of our work in progress is outlined below, including our new presence in the world of social media.
In the print world, the Summer 2010 Journal will be headed to your mailboxes shortly. I’ve seen the proofs and I hope you will agree it was an edition worth waiting for. Keep reading for a sneak-peek at the featured stories.
The next Journal will also contain a membership renewal form but you can easily and securely take care of this on our website, www.cahs.ca. The only difficulty will be choosing among all the membership options!
You can also help keep the CAHS moving onwards and upwards by including us in your charitable donations. Membership fees simply don’t cover all our expenses and special projects. During this holiday season we’d like to give you a little gift back: your donation before December 31st gets your name in a draw for ten prizes, including one grand prize!
We may almost be at the end of 2010, but I feel – as do many others – that this is just the beginning of a new, revitalized CAHS. Thank you again for your support and enthusiasm, and please don't hesitate to get in touch with any comments or questions.
Sincerely,
Danielle Metcalfe-Chenail,
CAHS National President
National News
Journal Updates
The Summer 2010 issue is at the printers and will soon be in the hands of Canada Post employees.
I’ve had a look at the proofs and hope you’ll agree it was worth the wait. Dick Pickering’s photo-filled account of the 47th Annual Convention in Ste-Anne-de-Bellevue, Que. brings back fond memories and makes me excited for next year’s event. Mat Joost explores “The RCAF and the Civilian Flying Clubs” and Hugh Halliday looks at “The Crash of EW148” in two thoroughly-researched pieces. Finally, John Chalmers, Canada’s Aviation Hall of Fame historian and CAHS member, provides a terrific run-down of this year’s induction dinner in Vancouver and the CAHF’s newest inductees.
Conference Updates
Speaking of the 2011 convention, our team will continue accepting presentation proposals until January 15th, so if you have a talk you'd like to do on the theme of "Edmonton: Gateway to the North" be sure to send a 200-word proposal and 50-word biographical note to me at daniellemc@gmail.com.
For those of you keen to reserve your accommodations, we have a block of rooms booked at the Chateau Nova Hotel and Suites, just up the road from the Alberta Aviation Museum. We've secured a special rate too: approximately $97 for a single queen room and $103 for a double queen room (taxes included). When you reserve, please quote the group name CAHS and number 576.
The hotel's website is: www.chateaunovahoteledmonton.ca
CAHS Online
You may have noticed that the member login isn't activated yet on the website. We’re moving ahead with creating member’s only content including a forums space and historical databases. The web developers are working on these exciting features and we'll let you know as soon as they're available!
In the meantime, we invite you to connect with us online through our newly-activated Facebook group: Canadian Aviation Historical Society (National). I'd also be chuffed if you decided to “friend’ me (Danielle Metcalfe-Chenail)!
Also wanted to mention I’m “tweeting” as CanAvHistSoc on Twitter, a great way to get bite-sized updates to members and the public about our activities, as well as re-send relevant news about aviation and its history.
Chapter News
Rachel Lea Heide at her Ottawa Chapter talk- "The Professionalization
of the RCAF, 1939-1945" - in October (Don MacNeil)
New Brunswick in the News
A recent Times & Transcript article - “Diary chronicles successes and tragedies of Moncton flight training from 1940 to 1944” – features current NB CAHS member Everett McQuinn. It also mentions the Don McClure Aviation Gallery in the Moncton Airport, which the chapter helped to establish in 2003.
Don McClure served as president of CAHS NB for five years and was inducted into  Canada’s Aviation Hall of Fame in 2002. For the full story, please click here.
Manitoba Screens Mynarski Film
The Manitoba Chapter screened a preliminary form of the film, "As Close as Brothers," at its November meeting. As secretary Bill Zuk noted, “The director, Jeff Riddell, was on hand to direct a question-and-answer and provide a detailed description of the planning and production. It was a full house on a blustery winter night, and was warmly received.”
For more information on the film please click here to see the full Winnipeg Sun story.
More great meetings on the way:
Calgary: December 16th 7pm “The Japanese Aircraft Industry 1912-1945 by Dr. John R. Ferris
Toronto: December 18th 1pm “Buffalo 115461 – Tragedy to Tribute” by Wally Adam of the Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum
Member News
As promised, here's an update on Bill Wheeler’s upcoming induction into Canada’s Aviation Hall of Fame: I’ve learned the induction dinner is to be held at the Warplane Heritage Museum in Mount Hope, Ont. May 25th 2011. Mark your calendars!
Calgary's Dr. Stéphane Guévremont (congrats on the PhD!) was recently involved in Canada's first aviation film festival in Fort MacLeod, Alberta. As he relates:
"The festival was great, over 250 people the first night and some 200 the second day! The session with the veterans on November 11th was very memorable. I blew the roof on the first night and started the festival in a grand manner, followed by the famous Peterson stage actor who did "Billy Bishop Goes to War."
For more details and photos, please see this MacLeod Gazette article and the upcoming Fall 2010 Journal where Richard De Boer gives us a taste of the full programme.
Announcements
The University of Calgary and the Calgary Military Museums Society are hosting an evening colloquium featuring RAF historian Sebastian Cox and Professor Richard R. Muller of the School for Advanced Air and Space Studies, USAF. The event, "The Battle of Britain: The RAF and the Luftwaffe, 1940," will be held at the Aerospace Museum of Calgary December 9th at 6:30pm, and the talks will be followed by a reception. Admission is $10 for non-CMMS members. More info at: www.hist.ucalgary.ca/hgsu
CAHS member Jean-Claude Marcoux brought the recent Aérovision induction dinner to my attention (and supplied these images). Held on November 23rd in Longueuil, Que. seven new members were inducted including Johnny May, Julie Payette, and Chubby Power. For the whole list and more details, please click here.
CAHS member Paul Gagnon and wife Lucille at the Aérovision book fair. Gagnon released his book, Mémoires du pilote du Jet à Lesage, this year.
Two new publications for your enjoyment...
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There's a new magazine out of the UK you might want to check out: Military Times. You can access an interactive sample by clicking here.
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Doug Mackey, a North Bay, Ont. based writer, has collected some of his favourite regional columns into Voices from the Past: Heritage Perspectives 1. Some topics that might interest you include: plane crashes; war and veterans; ship wrecks; trains and railways; mining; and logging. If you're in the North Bay area, there will be a signing at the North Bay Museum December 10th. Go to www.pastforward.ca for more information.
And one you might not have heard of...
If you're interested in Quebec's aerospace industry and can read French, you may want to take a gander at Plein Vol, which has just released its Dec 2010-Jan-2011 issue.
News from our friends at Vintage Wings
Vintage Wings of Canada announced it plans to dispose of two aircraft from its collection - the De Havilland Fox Moth and the WACO Taperwing - because of their lack of a Canadian connection. This will also make room for aircraft with a closer link to Canadian aviation history (a Fleet Finch and Fairchild Cornell). The Fox Moth in the collection never saw service in Canada, having been custom-fitted for the Prince of Wales (the future Edward VIII).
2011 will be a huge year for Vintage Wings as it honours the accomplishments of the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan. To learn more about the events and how you can participate, please visit www.yellowwings.ca or contact Ulrich Bollinger at ubollinger@vintagewings.ca. As you'll note on the site, the CAHS is already partnering with VWC and we'll be sure to keep you updated on our involvement. with a coast-to-coast fly-in celebration.
They kicked off their BCATP fundraising with last month's “Victory Gala.” If you weren't able to attend you can still read all about it (and see lots of photos) by clicking here.
History in the Making
The CAHS's newest member, Jacques Chenail (my dad), sent me an article from Le Droit announcing that Saint-André-Avellin in the Petite Nation region of Quebec, has finally had its airstrip approved. As Jacques explains:
"The Marcotte decision, at the Supreme Court of Canada level, nails the door shut on other naysayers wanting to prevent the legitimate operation of an airfield. It is a landmark decision that states clearly, once and for all, that air navigation is a federal jurisdictional issue and no regional or provincial court or organization has any power over it."
Organizer Richard Marcotte will inaugurate the light- and ultralight aircraft-accommodating airstrip December 11th. For more information on the judicial decisions that led to this, and COPA's involvement through the Freedom to Fly Fund, please click here.
Researcher-to-Researcher
I was recently contacted by Jim Howie of Toronto who is working with the Canadian Air and Space Museum to research his father’s (Huebert Russell Howie) aviation activities. According to Jim, his dad was active in Toronto’s aviation scene in the 1930s, flying out of Dufferin Airport, De Lesseps, and Barker field. He owned Latcham Airways in 1930, which he renamed Air-Tec Flying Services Ltd. (1930-1937).
He has a copy of the March 1986 CAHS article mentioning “H.R. Howie” but would be grateful for further assistance. Please get in touch with him at jimhhowie@aol.com if you have any suggestions.
Skyward: George Georgas
 On November 12th former TorChap president George Georgas passed away at North York General Hospital. Current president Dr. George Topple remembers “he was a real gentleman and was invaluable to the CAHS and Toronto chapter.”
To honour his outstanding service and dedication to the CAHS – including organizing numerous national conventions – the Toronto chapter gathered October 30th at Georgas’s bedside to present him with a plaque.
Georgas grew up in Lindsay, Ont. and graduated from the University of Toronto Aeronautical Engineering School. During his studies he joined the RCAF University Reserve Training Plan where he was trained on the Texan, Harvard, T-33 and Vampire. After receiving his wings and Queen’s commission as a Pilot Officer he joined 400 City of Toronto Aux. Sqn. flying Harvards, T-33s, Expeditors and DHC Otters for 22 years. He was CO of 400 Sqn from 1957 to 1970 and posted to No. 2 Air Reserve Wing (Downsview) which he commanded from 1973 until he retired from the Air Reserve in 1976.
In addition to his distinguished service with the reserves, Georgas was employed by deHavilland Canada from 1955 to 1990. There, he worked in the Engineering Design Department on the Caribou and in the Engineering Experimental Flight Test Department on the Caribou, Turbo Beaver, Buffalo and FHE Hydrofoil.
Donations can be made in his name to Sick Kids Foundation.
Hope you enjoyed the second newsletter, {tag:email}. If you have any questions, comments, or items you would like to contribute to the next issue, please contact Danielle at info@daniellemc.com
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