Darryl Owens Darryl Owens

SONS OF MEN — A Thanksgiving Day Story

As the warbird made its final pass overhead Thursday, two men watched, one marvelling and one wishing. For Gregory Kenny, seeing his dad back in the saddle of a P-51 Mustang heightened the admiration inspired

Read More
Dave O'Malley Dave O'Malley

BUT SIR, I’M A RESERVE!

"But Sir, I m a reserve". Back in the Fifties, that little phrase struck terror into the hearts and minds of Royal Canadian Navy Permanent Force officers and petty officers. It was a great way “out” for those of us

Read More
Dave O'Malley Dave O'Malley

“NOW I HAVE VINTAGE WINGS”

On Wednesday, August 20th, 2008, Robert “Bert” Joss died suddenly at the age of 83. Bert, as we all knew him, was a great friend of Vintage Wings of Canada. He was a Fairey Swordfish pilot during the Second World War -…

Read More
Dave O'Malley Dave O'Malley

“HAP” KENNEDY DIES AT 91 YEARS

If I had a dollar for every time someone asked me, during a tour of Vintage Wings of Canada or at an air show: “Whaddya call that bullseye thingamajig there?” or “How come the bullseye on the wing …

Read More
John and Jim Taylor John and Jim Taylor

A LINK TO VICTORY

About an hour's drive south and west of Ottawa lies the idylic little town of Gananoque. Unknown to most people and even the citizens of the town today, one small factory there played a significant part during the Second World War….

Read More
Mike Potter Mike Potter

THE TEARS AND THE SILENCE

With the Spitfire scratched on that gorgeous Sunday morning due to a pneumatic system failure, I was the guy who had to (reluctantly) do a quick change from my flight suit to blazer and tie —…

Read More
Dave O'Malley Dave O'Malley

REQUIEM FOR A WINGMAN

The weather on July 26th, 1944 was clear, warm, and windy from the Normandy coast all the way to Paris. It was a good day for hunting and 401 Squadron was up for the second time that day. Pushing closer and closer to Paris each day,…

Read More
Shannon Gray Shannon Gray

THE GRAY GHOST - A Small Town With a Big Heart

0800 hours, August 9th 1945 – In the far reaches of the Pacific, Robert Hampton Gray, a Canadian fighter pilot in the Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm, takes off from the aircraft carrier HMS Formidable…

Read More
Michel Coté with Dave O'Malley Michel Coté with Dave O'Malley

REDTAIL - The Story of the Tuskeegee Airmen

At a very young age I was fascinated by aviation, especially the aircraft of the Second World War and the men who flew them into history. One group was the Tuskegee airmen known as the Red Tails …

Read More
Dave O'Malley Dave O'Malley

BRAVERY IN BRONZE

Across the English Channel, not much more than two hundred miles away from Paris, the City of Lights, lies London, "The City of Monuments" as I like to call it. Both are magnificent world metropolises, but …

Read More
John Herbert John Herbert

A THUNDERING HART - The Hart Finley Story

During the Second World War, more than 72,000 young men served as pilots, navigators, air gunners, bomb aimers and flight engineers with the Royal Canadian Air Force, but following the end of hostilities, the vast majority never flew again.

Read More
Dave O'Malley with Rob Kostecka Dave O'Malley with Rob Kostecka

THE LEGENDARY SWORDFISH

Seventy years ago, the shattered, smoking, brave and blood covered hulk of the battleship Bismarck slipped backwards and sank into the icy waters of the North Atlantic. The date was May 27th, 1941….

Read More
Dave O'Malley Dave O'Malley

THE SQUADRON DOG

When I was a child, when dogs were free-range, when days were forever and being inside was prison, I knew a German Shepherd dog named Sheba. Sheba was massive, collarless, dirty with oil …

Read More
Vern Vauriot Vern Vauriot

FLYING THE BEECH GLIDER

Thinking, “what a beautiful day” – a solid blue sky and the tranquility of near silence as the wind softly whispered past the cockpit... Wait a minute! There's something wrong with this picture! This isn't a glider. This is a twin-engined Beech 18…

Read More
Dave O'Malley Dave O'Malley

THE WEDNESDAY —A Canadian Heroine of the Blitz

Not all the heroes of the Battle of Britain and the London Blitz were made in the air and not all of them were men. From London's Steve Hunnisett comes this story of a young French Canadian woman who wanted to make a difference and who then paid the ultimate price…

Read More
Dave O'Malley Dave O'Malley

IN ARCHIE’S NAME

Vintage Wings has recently created a program unique among vintage aircraft operators worldwide - dedicating each aircraft in their collection to a specific Canadian airman, whose personal story exemplifies…

Read More
Dave O'Malley Dave O'Malley

THE MAJ

The telephone woke me from my usual fitful night. For a few seconds I hovered between sleep and consciousness. The telephone rang again. In the darkness, with my duvet pulled tight around me…

Read More
LCol (ret'd) William Sparks, USAF LCol (ret'd) William Sparks, USAF

INCIDENT AT THUD RIDGE

flew my 145th and last combat mission 5 Nov '67, not by choice. I had arrived at Takhli Royal Thai Air Force Base on March 15, 1967 after completing the Wild Weasel School at Nellis…

Read More
John Mendes John Mendes

THE LAST OF THE MANY

A friend has remarked that I belong to an exclusive club which has not had a new entrant for 56 years and whose remaining members are now all around 75 years old. The common bond is that they were overseas…

Read More