A Canadian Aviation Historical Society Chapter
CAHS Manitoba Chapter normally meets at 7 pm Central Time on the last Thursday of the month, except December. Our meetings are held at the Royal Aviation Museum of Western Canada, 2088 Wellington Avenue, and since April 2020, are also on Zoom. June, July, and August meetings may be on Zoom only. 

Our meetings are free and open to CAHS members and everyone interested in Canadian aviation history. For those participating on Zoom, the meeting link will be provided around two hours before the meeting. Registration for meetings is required at CAHS-MB. Please register early enough to receive the link.

The Manitoba Chapter was formed in Winnipeg in the 1990s and operated for several years before going dormant in the late 1990s. The chapter was rejuvenated in October 2001 and has been going strong ever since. We typically draw around fifty people to a meeting, with about thirty attending in person. We provide the coffee and doughnuts. Guests are welcome. Parking is free in the aviation museum lot.

The chapter symbol, the Junkers Ju-52/1m, commemorates Canada's first national air service. Canadian Airways, owned by Winnipeg grain magnate James Richardson Sr, operated from 1930 to 1942 before being taken over by Canadian Pacific Railway three years after Richardson's death. The Junkers Ju-52/1m, a single engine version of the famous Junkers Ju-52/3m, was purchased in 1931 and used across Canada, on wheels, skis, and floats. It was the biggest aircraft in Canada at the time. A replica is now proudly displayed in the new hangar of our partner, the Royal Aviation Museum of Western Canada.

The chapter has hosted the CAHS National Convention four times: once in the 1990s, 2006, 2016, and 2023. Conventions normally include two days of speakers on a variety of aviation topics, and a day of tours to nearby museums or other attractions.

A list of speakers and meeting topics going back several years is available here.
Scroll down to discover Chapter events, including local meetings information.

Meeting and Mailing Addresses

Meetings:
Royal Aviation Museum of Western Canada
2088 Wellington Ave
​Winnipeg
There is plenty of parking space.
Zoom in on the map for a more detailed street view.

​Mailing:
CAHS Manitoba Chapter
819 Ashburn Street
Winnipeg, Manitoba
R3G 3C8

Membership and Meetings

Last Thursday every month, 7pm CT, at the Royal Aviation Museum of Western Canada, and by Zoom video conference. June, July, and August meetings may be by Zoom only. There is no meeting in December.

Admission is free and open to all CAHS members and everyone interested in Canadian aviation history.

The chapter does not collect a membership fee. A silver collection is taken at in person meetings to cover expenses.

Chapter Executives, Directors, and Other Contacts

Jim Bell
Chapter President
Winnipeg, Manitoba
(204)-293-5402
​​Email Message
Brian Gilchrist
Treasurer
Manitoba
Bill Zuk
Secretary
Manitoba
(204) 290-8943
​Email Message
Don Currie
Director
Manitoba
​​Email Message
Leon Dubickyj
Director
Manitoba
Pat English
Director
Manitoba
Alan Parkin
Director
Manitoba
​​Email Message

Chapter Activities and Publications

Meetings and Other Events

This month's meeting will take place at 7 pm on Thursday 28 November, at the 17 Wing Chapel, 2235 Silver Ave, and by Zoom. Our speaker this month is chapter director Gary Hook. Gary Hook joined the Canadian Armed Forces in 1971 and has accumulated more than 5,000 flying hours, mostly on CF-188 Hornets, CF-104 Starfighters, CT-133 Silver Stars, and CF-116 Freedom Fighters. He served in Cold Lake, AB, Moose Jaw, SK, and Winnipeg, as well as several years in Canadian Forces Europe with 1 Canadian Air Division. He finished his regular air force career in Winnipeg as the commandant of the Central Flying School, then transferred to the reserve and spent several years working at the 1 CAD headquarters in Winnipeg. When not volunteering at the RAMWC and CAHS, he is the official ‘Grandpa’ and photographer of his Granddaughter’s Sturgeon Heights hockey and lacrosse teams. Gary's full bio is here.

On January 1st, 1972 Canada changed the role of the air force's NATO commitment to conventional ground attack, using the CF-104 Starfighter. For the next sixteen years the three Canadian CF-104 squadrons that made up 1 Canadian Air Group were one of the most effective NATO assets in the role of battlefield air interdiction. If Soviet armour were to cross the Czechoslovakian or East German borders, the Canadian 104s would perform their role to slow them down until ground forces could engage. The presentation to the CAHS will take the audience through the demands, the experiences, the successes, and the joys of flying the CF-104 in the ground attack role in West Germany, from 1982 until 1986. The presentation will take one through the mission planning process to the execution of the mission; the challenges we faced, the tools at our disposal, the incredible experience of flying the Starfighter. I will be using actual planning maps, personal photographs and videos to detail the Starfighter mission, highlighting the amazing contribution the Canadian Starfighter squadrons delivered to NATO.  The presentation will highlight how we Canadian fighter pilots mastered the craft of operating at 200 feet above ground, at speeds nearing 1,000 feet per second, over demanding terrain in demanding weather and still getting four aircraft over the target within seconds of the assigned time. On target, on time. That was the Canadian standard.

Kelly Johnson designed the F-104 as a lightweight, high speed interceptor; however a key principle of aerial warfare is “the flexibility of air power”. Like all modern air forces they adapt the role to the threat to meet the need. The CF-104 is an amazing success story in that regard and we were very, very successful. The presentation will take attendees through the process of how that was consistently achieved in the CF-104 Starfighter.

He will describe a typical ground attack training mission on a CF-104, using the actual charts from his missions. The meeting poster is below. Registration for this meeting is required at CAHS-MB. Our meetings are free and open to CAHS members and everyone interested in Canadian aviation history.
The photos below are from the November 6 Ted Barris talk about his new book, Battle of Britain: Canadian Airmen in Their Finest Hour.
Ted Barris with his latest book, Battle of Britain: Canadian Airmen in their Finest Hour. @ Gary Hook
 Picture
Ted recounts stories of Canadian airmen from his book to an appreciative audience of one hundred CAHS members and guests. @ Gary Hook
CAHS Manitoba Chapter secretary Bill Zuk presents the Robert Taylor print, "Hurricane Scramble", to the commanding officer and squadron chief warrant officer of 402 "City of Winnipeg" Squadron. The squadron was in Britain during the Battle of Britain and converted to Hurricanes in December 1940. @ Gary Hook
Past Meetings
Select a year to view posters of past Chapter meetings. 
Chapter Newsletters
The Manitoba Chapter does not publish a newsletter, but you may join our mailing list by sending your email address to [email protected]. You will receive two or three emails per month. We will only use your email address for CAHS purposes.