Arch Simpson Arch Simpson

TADJI — and the Boys Down Under

In April of 1944, a 78 Squadron RAAF P-40N Kittyhawk, nicknamed "Come in Suckers!" met her end along the northern coast of Papua New Guinea landing on a muddy and miserable airfield known as Tadji…

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Bill Ewing Bill Ewing

OLD GOLD

“Ewing!! Get over to Transient!! Some officer wants to see you!!” Thus started my Centennial tale in 1966….

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Richard de Boer Richard de Boer

FLEETING GLORY

The VE Day sounds of celebration, revelry and relief were given new life when the stirring base tones of two Merlin engines at full power caught the attention of Canadians in Calgary, Alberta on the afternoon of 9 May 1945….

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Dave O'Malley Dave O'Malley

COURAGE AND TULIPS

This weekend past was the first weekend of the Canadian Tulip Festival, a two week long celebration here in the city of Ottawa. Parliament Hill, the banks of the Rideau Canal and the shores of the historic inner city waters …

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Chris Strawson Chris Strawson

HUGS, NOT HANDSHAKES — the Final Days of Charlie Fox

y name is Captain Chris Strawson and I have the privilege to explain to you the role of an Honourary Colonel in the Canadian Air Force and to discuss some of the many contributions HCol. Charley Fox made to 412 Squadron and the Canadian Forces….

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Bill Ewing with Dave O'Malley Bill Ewing with Dave O'Malley

IT’S A NICE DAY FOR FLYING — the Jack Lamb Story

The great sweep of the Canadian North lay largely unreachable and uninhabited up until the coming of the aeroplane. Small isolated communities clinging to existence beneath thousand foot cliffs at the very edge …

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Gerald Haddon Gerald Haddon

FLYING THE ARC OF HISTORY

J. A. D. McCurdy, on his February 23rd, 1909 flight, unleashed the power of man to thrill, shock, elevate and set Canadians free from the pull of gravity. He put his hand on the "Arc of History” and bent it towards a momentous day for Canadian aviation….

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David O'Malley with Bob Fassold David O'Malley with Bob Fassold

THE LAST FLIGHT — Of John Alexander McCurdy

After reading the Vintage Wings of Canada piece on the Silver Dart I was reminded of Douglas McCurdy and that he and I did his last flight together! McCurdy died in Montreal on June 25th, 1961 at the age of 74.

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Dave O'Malley Dave O'Malley

A PENNY FOR YOUR THOUGHTS ARCHIE

Archie Pennie is a man of uncommon forthrightness, who continues to share with anyone interested, the nature and the detail of his personal experiences as an instructor pilot for the BCATP and as a …

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Dave O'Malley Dave O'Malley

TWO WINGS & TOO LATE — THE GREGOR FDB-1

There is no doubt that Canada, pound for pound, fights above its weight when it comes to aerospace technology and contribution to modern aircraft design and propulsion systems. …

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David OMalley with Dr. John Bennett David OMalley with Dr. John Bennett

BROTHERS IN ARMS —The Power and Magic of the Group Photo

Laid across John Bennett’s dining room table, like memories strewn across the decades, are dozens of yellowed photographs, some notes written for some purpose now long forgotten and an aeronautical…

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Shannon Gray Shannon Gray

OLD WARRIORS — Louis Geoffrion and the Spitfire

We were on for a sweep and I was having an awful day. You know, when everything seems to go wrong from the start. Well there I was, doing my cockpit check and somehow I must have bumped the gun button…

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Dave O'Malley Dave O'Malley

A SCHOOL OF SWORDFISH

Bert Joss relates his experiences flying the Swordfish at Yarmouth, Nova Scotia during the Second World War. As we get set to bring our Fairey Swordfish to full flying status, new relationships with…

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Dave O'Malley Dave O'Malley

RED TAIL — Dr. Eugene Richardson at Vintage Wings

During the Second World War, would-be black aviators like 18 year-old American Eugene Richardson knew they would be called upon to fight their war on two fronts. Before they could show the world …

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Dave O'Malley Dave O'Malley

FISHING FOR HALIBAGS

It was three months after VE Day and the crew of an RAF Handley Page Halifax (LW170) set out on a long distance weather patrol out over the Atlantic approaches to the British Isles. Sometime during the flight, the war-weary Halifax …

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Dave O'Malley Dave O'Malley

HIGH FLIGHT — A Eulogy for Fred Jones

It’s 6:30 in the evening in early October of 1943. Fred is strapping himself into a de Havilland Tiger Moth sitting on the short-cropped grass outside Hangar 3 at Number 13 Elementary Flying Training School St Eugene,…

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Danielle Metcalfe-Chenail Danielle Metcalfe-Chenail

LONDON CALLING

On July 28, 1949 three passengers climbed aboard a Grumman G21A Goose at Montreal for a 19-day journey around Quebec and Labrador. The flight plan included more than a dozen stops…

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