Membership

Alis the Aviator

The CAHS has partnered with aviation historian and former President of the CAHS, Danelle Metcalfe-Chenail, and her publisher to be able to offer CAHS members and friends a discounted rate for Danielle’s latest book. Alis the Aviator is a delightful and colourful children's (ages 3-7) book that teaches ABCs by using aircraft names. At the back, for parents and older children, it has a glossary that gives a description of each type of airplane mentioned in the book. The main character, Alis the Aviator, is named for the real-life Dr. Alis Kennedy, one of the first Indigenous female commercial pilots in Canada; the book includes a mini-bio of Dr. Kennedy for readers to get to know this inspirational woman.

Danielle has kindly arranged with her publisher for the CAHS to be able to sell the book as a fundraiser at a discounted rate. Retail price online and at your local bookstore is $21.99 plus HST. The CAHS is able to offer each hardcover book for $17.00 (HST included), plus $6.78 (HST included) shipping to Canadian addresses. This fun book is a great gift for parents and grandparents to buy for their loved one, or for local libraries, daycares, and Kindergarten classes.

The deadline for this special offer has been extended to 20 September 2019.

To purchase your copy, click on the button below.

Alan Frederick Rust
August 22, 1950 - April 17, 2019

Further to our previous announcement in May of the passing of Alan Rust, we can now advise that a Celebration of Life has been planned. Alan was the CAHS Web Administrator, was a member of Air Canada Pionairs and created their original website that he administered until the end of last year, and was a collaborator and designer of the NetLetter layout. Alan was a great friend and member of the CAHS and his passion for Canadian aviation history and his dedication to the CAHS and the Air Canada Pionairs will be fondly remembered.

The details are as follows:

Sunday, September 8, 2019
2:00 - 4:00 p.m.
Semiahmoo Fish and Game Club
1284 - 184th Street
South Surrey, B.C.

Alis the Aviator

The CAHS has partnered with aviation historian and former President of the CAHS, Danelle Metcalfe-Chenail, and her publisher to be able to offer CAHS members and friends a discounted rate for Danielle’s latest book. Alis the Aviator is a delightful and colourful children's (ages 3-7) book that teaches ABCs by using aircraft names. At the back, for parents and older children, it has a glossary that gives a description of each type of airplane mentioned in the book. The main character, Alis the Aviator, is named for the real-life Dr. Alis Kennedy, one of the first Indigenous female commercial pilots in Canada; the book includes a mini-bio of Dr. Kennedy for readers to get to know this inspirational woman.

Danielle has kindly arranged with her publisher for the CAHS to be able to sell the book as a fundraiser at a discounted rate. Retail price online and at your local bookstore is $21.99 plus HST. The CAHS is able to offer each hardcover book for $17.00 (HST included), plus $6.78 (HST included) shipping to Canadian addresses. This fun book is a great gift for parents and grandparents to buy for their loved one, or for local libraries, daycares, and Kindergarten classes.

The deadline for this special offer is 15 September 2019.

To purchase your copy, click on the button below.

Above, Danielle and her son, Andre, are seen during a visit to Alberta in early August. when she gave a presentation about her new book at a store in Edmonton. (John Chalmers photo)

TOPPLE, George Henry

George, CAHS #3269, joined the CAHS in 1986. He was a National Director from 1995 to 2009, served as National Secretary from 1995 to 2008, and was also an Associate Editor of the CAHS Journal during that period. George was a Toronto Chapter Director from 2001 to 2017. He was in charge of videos and slides and recording the speaker presentations from 2001 to 2003. He was elected as 2^nd VP in 2006; 1^st VP in 2009; and in 2010 was elected Chapter President. In 2014, George stepped back to 1^st VP due to mobility problems and Sheldon Benner became Chapter President. George became a Past President in 2017.

George passed away at the family cottage on Sunday August 11^th, 2019 at the age of 76. Loving husband of Jean (nee Wallis) for over 50 years.

Much loved father of Kim Johnson and her husband Kirk of Whitby and Adam and his wife Bonnie of Pickering. Cherished grandpa of Danielle, Kylie and Tyler.

Dear brother of Anne Stiver (late Bruce) and their children Linda and Alan and granddaughter Rebecca and brother-in-law of Diane Sproat and her husband Bill and children Stephanie and Melanie.

Visitation was held at Barnes Memorial Funeral Home, 5295 Thickson Rd. N. Whitby on Thursday August 15th, from 5:00 p.m. until time of celebration of life service in the Barnes Chapel Thursday at 6:00 p.m.

In memory of George memorial donations to the Heart and Stroke Foundation would be appreciated.
Messages of condolence and shared memories can be left for the family by visiting barnesmemorialfuneralhome.com.

WISE, Louis Troiano

In the July National newsletter, we shared the obituray of Lou Wise.  Lou was a former Toronto CAHS member #3360. Please find below some photos from Lou's Celebration of Life that was held on July 31, 2019.

Photos of Lou through the years illustrate his remarkable career.

Lou was a dedicated advocate for the developmentally disabled.

Celebrating David Fairbanks –
An American in the RCAF

By John Chalmers
CAHS Membership Secretary

At the May 16 induction ceremonies for Canada’s Aviation Hall of Fame, held in Bombardier’s Laurent Beaudoin Completion Centre at the Montreal-Trudeau International Airport, one of the inductees to the Hall was David Charles Fairbanks, a native of Ithaca, New York.

An American who joined the RCAF in 1941 at age 18, before the United States entered the Second World War, David Fairbanks trained as a pilot in the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan. Posted overseas, he was attached to the Royal Air Force.

After shooting down one enemy aircraft while flying a Spitfire, Fairbanks then shot down 14 more as a pilot of a Hawker Tempest. His story, “Tempest Tiger,” by longtime CAHS member Hugh Halliday, appears in the Summer 1977 edition of the CAHS Journal.

Fairbanks eventually attained the rank of squadron leader and served as commanding officer of 274 RAF Squadron. Shot down himself and taken as a prisoner of war shortly before the war ended, he was a three-time recipient of the Distinguished Flying Cross. At war’s end, he was only 22 years old!

Squadron Leader David Fairbanks, DFC, is seen standing at far left in 1945 as commanding officer of 274 RAF Squadron, with a Hawker Tempest of the Squadron.

Post-war, David Fairbanks graduated in engineering from Cornell University at Ithaca, became a Canadian citizen, and worked for de Havilland Canada (DHC). He served as a test pilot and demonstration pilot for the company, and was closely associated with DHC’s Short Takeoff and Landing (STOL) aircraft – notably the Beaver, Otter, Caribou, Buffalo and the Dash-7.

As Manager of Flight Operations for DHC, Fairbanks died suddenly of a heart attack at the age of 52 in 1975. The following year he was posthumously awarded the Trans-Canada (McKee) Trophy, largely in recognition for his contribution to development of STOL aircraft.

Now a Member of Canada’s Aviation Hall of Fame, David Fairbanks will be honoured further in his home country on September 13 at an Evening Celebration of Aviation to be held at the Ithaca Tomkins Regional Airport. For more information and to order tickets, click here.

More information about David Fairbanks and the short video of him shown at the Hall of Fame inductions can be seen when you click here.

80^th Anniversary of the Harvard in Canada
Celebrated by CHAA

Report and photos by Gord McNulty, CAHS Vice President

CHAA Harvard Mk 4 Bessy, CF-UFZ,  taxis out with other Harvards on the flight line, July 20, 2019.

On July 20, 1939, the RCAF accepted its first Harvard trainer, RCAF 1321. The aircraft was flown up the Pacific Coast from the North American Aviation plant in Inglewood, California, to RCAF Station Sea Island (now Vancouver International Airport). 

It was fitting that on July 20, 2019, the all-volunteer Canadian Harvard Aircraft Association marked the 80^th anniversary of the classic “Yellow Peril” in Canada with a fly day and open house at its Tillsonburg, ON, Regional Airport base.

CHAA pilot Dave Martin arrives in beautifully restored
Harvard Mk 2 C-FMTA owned by Alf Beam of Fort Erie.

Sunny skies prevailed, though unfortunately a very low ceiling in the morning prevented many aircraft from flying in. Nonetheless, the CHAA enjoyed a productive day as no fewer than 18 back seat rides were provided after the sky cleared.

 CHAA volunteers remove the engine from a Harvard Mk 4
during the 80^th Anniversary celebration.

Attendees appreciated an unusual opportunity to see a Pratt and Whitney R-1340 Wasp engine removed from Harvard Mk 4, 20422/C-FRZW, by volunteers under the supervision of Shane Clayton, the CHAA’s tireless Chief of Technical Operations. The engine was placed in an RCAF container and will eventually be sent to an overhaul facility.

Bjarni Trygvasson, CHAA President, with David New in the back seat, taxis out for a flight.

CHAA President Bjarni Tryggvason, retired Canadian Space Agency astronaut, took Hamilton author David New for a ride in a Harvard Mk 2, AJ583/C-FHWX. David, who has presented his book An Ordinary Hero about Second World War Spitfire pilot Dave Goldberg to the Toronto Chapter of the CAHS, thoroughly enjoyed the experience.

Harvard Mk 2 C-FRWN taxis out during the
80th Annniversary of the Harvard.

CHAA pilot Dave Martin flew an impressively restored Harvard Mk 2, 2591/C-FMTA, owned by Alf Beam of Fort Erie, to the fly day. Displays about the remarkable history of the Harvard added to the occasion.

The CHAA is the subject of a six-page cover article, with many outstanding images, in the August issue of Britain’s FlyPast magazine. The same issue includes an article on the Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum in Hamilton, ON. Unfortunately, as the result of a photo editing error, the images in the CWHM feature are from the Canadian Museum of Flight in Langley, BC. It remains, however, an issue that aviation fans should check out.

The CHAA, in addition to its busy summer schedule of flight operations, is working hard to restore two Harvards to airworthy status.

Intrepid photographers Gus and Clara Corujo covered the
80^th Anniversary at www.gusair.com.

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 August are:

Question: What was the Kombinierte Nachtjagd that was formally introduced by the Germans during the latter half of 1941 and was it successful?

Answer: “A new system known as Kombinierte Nachtjagd(combined night fighting) was formally introduced by the Germans during the latter half of 1941 in an attempt to orchestrate the flak and the fighter assets as effectively as possible. These combined forces were to be concentrated around Bremen, Cologne, Darmstadt/Mannheim, Duisburg, Frankfurt, Hamburg and Munich in three sectors, each of which was equipped with a long-range Freya radar as well as two Wurzburg-Riese (Giant Wurzburg) units.” “However, for various reasons this system did not always work as its inventor had intended. Often the flak division commander, whether from personal ambition or through poorly interpreted data, failed to cease fire at the correct time, or else a fighter on a bomber’s tail would not break off before it flew into the flak zone. Thus, it was not rare for fighters to be shot down by their own flak. These losses ultimately led to the abandonment of Kombinierte Nachtjagd as a failure.”

Source: NO PROUDER PLACE – Page 43

Question: The raid on Mannheim on 16/17 December 1940 by the RAF Bomber Command was considered to be the first of its kind. Why?

Answer: “Because of bad weather the raid did not occur until 16/17 December 1940, when 134 Command aircraft were launched again Mannheim. For the first time, a British raid opened with an incendiary lay-down and subsequent crews were then instructed to bomb on the ensuing fires; an early and rudimentary form of target marking. While the damage was thought to be widespread at the time, subsequent analysis found it to be much less than had been claimed.”

Source: NO PROUDER PLACE – Page 36

Question: How many Canadians graduated from the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan? How many Canadians graduated as pilots, navigators, air bombers, wireless operators/air gunners, and flight engineers? How many Canadian graduates of the Plan were in England by mid 1941? How many Canadian graduates were serving overseas by the end of 1941 and how many of those Canadians at the time were serving in RCAF squadrons?

Answer: “By the end of November 1940 the first graduates of the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan (BCATP), possibly Canada’s most important wartime contribution, had made their way overseas. The initial thirty-seven observers were joined by the first pilot graduates of the BCATP on March 1941. This early trickle quickly became a steady stream and then a veritable torrent of aircrew, generated for the war against the Axis powers. The Canadian portion of the BCATP graduated 132,000 aircrew of all categories during the war, including 73,000 Canadians. These men of Canada included, in round numbers, 26,000 pilots, 13,000 navigators, 6000 air bombers, 26,000 wireless operators/air gunners and 2000 flight engineers. A majority of these airmen served in Bomber Command. By mid-April 1941 1680 graduates of the Plan were already in England. By year’s end nearly 6700 were serving overseas, and yet only 600 of them were serving in RCAF squadrons.”

Source: NO PROUDER PLACE – Page 44

Time to renew your membership!

This is the time of year to renew your CAHS membership, or buy a membership as a gift for a friend or family member. We welcome all renewing and new individual members who comprise our CAHS family. Welcome also are new and renewing Museum and Corporate Members who support our organization.

If you are unsure of your membership status or expiry date, click here to send an inquiry to membership.

Our CAHS Journal, included with your membership, remains Canada's premier publication of Canadian aviation history. Our online newsletter provides a means of sharing information from your CAHS chapters and museums. Your contributions of news, articles and photographs are always welcome. Let’s keep in touch!