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CAHS Newsletter
 
CAHS logo - plain white
 

The Canadian Aviation

 

Historical Society

November 2022 e–Newsletter 

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From the Desk of the Executive

2022 CAHS National President’s Christmas Greetings
 

As we come to the close of 2022 and our sixtieth year, we need to celebrate our success this past year and the future we see ahead of us. We finally were able to hold our national convention in person in Winnipeg at the end of September, and plans are in the works for our 2023 and 2024 conventions. We continue to bring the Journal schedule back on track, and we are excited that our associate editors are taking on the volume 59 issues. Our e-newsletter is being read by our members as well as non-members, and we are receiving positive feedback from both publications. We held our annual general meeting via Zoom in June and re-elected all eleven of our Board of Directors. We had a positive financial report for 2021, meaning that we were able to pay all our bills on time and concluded the year without going into debt. 2022 has been a good year, and I look forward to an even better 2023.

 

Membership is holding steady, and we are so grateful for every donation we receive, regardless of the amount. We always need your help, so please consider making a tax-deductible donation if you can. It is now time to renew your national membership for 2023. Your membership is much more than the four issues of each Journal volume - as you can see from the list of CAHS activities and offerings above.

 

I want to send a special thank you to our Newsletter Editor, Katherine Simunkovic, our Journal Editor and Website Administrator, Terry Higgins, and our Webmaster and Data Administrator, Andrea Wiseman. Their work keeps all of us informed and our social media presence current and alive.

 

On behalf of your National Executive and Board of Directors, I wish everyone a very Merry Christmas. Please stay safe and healthy, look after your family and friends, as we look forward to the new year and a bright 2023.

 

Blue skies,

Gary Williams,

National President,

Canadian Aviation Historical Society

 
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From the Desk of the Journal Editor

Future CAHS journal subjects?

 
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Journal 58-2 will go to final proofreading within the next few weeks while 58-1 is being completed at the printers.

This report will be relatively brief as we await Journal 58-1's arrival, 58-2's final tweaks, wrap up this year's aviation art calendar (see below), and contemplate future subjects.


Since asking after a more diverse range of subjects last month, I have received some correspondence but more with further suggestions rather than actual article proposals. I plan to collect and review suggestions through the next month or so and share the highlights among them in a Volume 60 or 61 "From the Editor." Hopefully, this will trigger an article proposal or two!

 

In the meantime, we still have a diverse range of material in our repository to fill out the pages of the next few years' volumes. This runs the gamut from the bread-and-butter bushplane stories to uniquely Canadian flight testing, search and rescue operations, the AME side of Canadian aviation, biographical pieces, and aircraft monographs. Nonetheless, I urge potential content providers, old and new, to let us know on what you are working. Your fellow members are probably as interested as I am in seeing it presented within our Journal's covers.

Terry Higgins, Creative Director, Website Administrator,

CAHS Journal Managing Editor and Graphics Director,

Canadian Aviation Historical Society

 
 
 

From the Desk of the Treasurer

The season of giving is approaching quickly, and the CAHS would like to highlight our latest offerings that may be perfect for the aviation enthusiasts on your list. Our ever-popular annual aviation art calendar for 2023 has gone to the printers and will be hot off the press soon. Our full-colour 13-month bilingual calendar features the artwork of very talented artists within CAHS membership. You can pre-order now for $15 a copy (plus $5 shipping in Canada); we encourage you to place your order by 7 December to ensure shipping in time for Christmas. Check out the link below to order and to see a preview of all the stunning artwork included.

 

Former CAHS President and aviation historian Danielle Metcalfe-Chenail is making three of her books available to CAHS friends and members for $20 each (plus shipping). Titles include "For the Love of Flying" (the story of Laurentian Air Services and its subsidiaries), Polar Winds (a history of air travel in the North), and Alis the Aviator (an A to Z of planes past and present for children). The deadline for shipping in time for Christmas is 7 December 2022. A note about shipping. Individual copies of "Polar Winds" and "Alis the Aviator" can be shipped for $6 each, but "For the Love of Flying is just thick enough to be considered a parcel by Canada Post, so the shipping cost is $20. If you purchase more than one copy of any of Danielle's books, we can combine shipping at no extra cost, and the $20 shipping then becomes very worthwhile! Any extra shipping our website charges on such a combined order will be refunded to you separately.

 

"North Atlantic Crossroads" is a new addition to our list of discounted books for CAHS friends and members. Author Darrell Hillier writes about the Gander air base during the Second World War as thousands of bombers passed through on their way to Britain and faced the challenges and hazards of transatlantic ferrying. This book can be purchased for $15 (plus $6 shipping in Canada). There is also still time to get a copy of "In Our Youth," Angus Scully's narration of the stories of 32 young Canadian pilots in the First World War during a when flying was pure adventure and danger. The price is $22 (plus $6 shipping in Canada) - we have five copies left in stock. Terry Higgins has further discounted "AviaDossier 1 – Canadian Aircraft of WWII" - now available for $22 (plus $5 shipping in Canada). 

 

To ensure receipt of your copies by Christmas, we encourage you to place your order of all products by 7 December 2022.

 

We at the CAHS hope that you find the discounted book offers and other aviation products interesting and helpful when you are shopping for gifts.  Your purchase of these items is a great encouragement to Canadian aviation authors. Your purchases also help the CAHS fundraise: the authors/publishers have not only arranged for discounts for CAHS friends and members' benefits, but the discounted prices also allow for a financial contribution to the CAHS with each copy sold. We are very thankful to both the authors and our customers for making these fundraising efforts possible and so beneficial.

 

29 November is Giving Tuesday. We encourage you to consider giving to any number of charities. There are still a lot of people hurting due to the impact of the pandemic and rising inflation, and there are a lot of worthy humanitarian causes trying to help. Aviation museums are always in need of donations to help keep the lights on, insurance paid, and programs running, so consider to whom you may be able to give in Canada. And the CAHS would appreciate if perhaps we are on your giving radar. You can give through our own website (https://www.cahs.com/donations.html) or through Canada Helps (https://www.canadahelps.org/en/charities/the-canadian-aviation-historical-society/). Everyone appreciates your generosity!

Cordially, Dr. Rachel Lea Heide,

National Treasurer,

Canadian Aviation Historical Society

CAHS 2023 Aviation Art Calendar

 
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Pre-order now for $15 a copy (plus $5 shipping in Canada).  Visit the calendar's web page for an overview of this year's art and artists…

 

The deadline for shipping in time for Christmas is 7 December 2022.

 
Pre-order yours here now…
 
 
 
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AviaDossier 1: Canadian Aircraft of WWII

By Carl Vincent

(with illustrations by Terry Higgins)

 

Heavily illustrated softcover, 8.5 x 11 inches landscape format with photos, profiles, and maps.

Drawing on an immense range of archival records, memoirs, and photographs collected over decades of diligent research, author Carl Vincent provides a unique insight into some of the men and machines covered under this broad title.


The deadline for shipping in time for Christmas is 7 December 2022.

 
See more or order now…
 
 

North Atlantic Crossroads 

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by Darrell Hillier

 

Gander was a bustling hub of aviation during the Second World War as thousands of bombers passed through on their way to Britain. In North Atlantic Crossroads, the challenges and hazards of transatlantic ferrying come alive. Tales of search and rescue, aircraft salvage, medevac missions, and VIP visits highlight the activities of the Ferry Command Gander unit, notably the work of its aircraft maintenance department, headed by the incomparable John Joseph “Joe” Gilmore. Postwar, the boom in commercial air travel transformed Gander, setting the airport on its way to becoming the crossroads of the North Atlantic. 

 

This book can be purchased for $15 (plus $6 shipping in Canada)

 

The deadline for shipping in time for Christmas is 7 December 2022.

Get your copy here…
 
 

In Our Youth:

The Lives, Adventures, and Sacrifices of Early Canadian Flyers

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by Angus Scully (9x6 inches, 288 pages)

 

Using long-forgotten photographs from provincial archives, formerly confidential military records, and precious family collections, In Our Youth: The Lives, Adventures, and Sacrifices of Early Canadian Flyers shares the stories of 32 young, Canadian pilots in the First World War—a time when flying was pure adventure and danger.

 

Get your copy for only $22 (the Publisher's retail is $29.95 plus tax and shipping) plus $6 shipping (within Canada).

 

Five copies remain in our stock. Order yours quickly before our supply runs out.

 

The stock of this book has arrived from the publisher; we will be shipping to our customers over the first week of December.

Get your copy here…
 
 

For the Love of Flying

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by Danielle Metcalfe-Chenail

 

This book tells the story of Laurentian Air Services and its subsidiaries, Air Schefferville, Delay River Outfitters and more.

 

Drawing on interviews with Laurentian’s owners, pilots and ground crew, Danielle Metcalfe-Chenail explores this innovative company’s colorful 60-year history from its founding in Ottawa in 1936 with Waco biplanes through the 1990s when it operated twin-engine turboprops. This book is filled with lively flying anecdotes from the cockpits of world-famous bushplanes, including the de Havilland Beaver and Otter, the Douglas DC-3 and the Grumman Goose. From daring rescues and close calls, to the filming of Hollywood’s Captains of the Clouds, Laurentian’s pilots did it all.

 

Get your copy for only $20 (plus $20 shipping within Canada; we recommend buying multiple copies of Danielle's books at no extra cost for combined shipping, which would make the parcel shipping rate more worthwhile).

 

The deadline for shipping in time for Christmas is 7 December 2022.

Get your copy here…
 
 

Polar Winds

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by Danielle Metcalfe-Chenail

 

Polar Winds uses the stories of pilots and others to explore the greater history of air travel in the North, from the Klondike Gold Rush through to the end of the twentieth century. It encompasses everything from exploration flights to the North Pole in airships to passenger travel in jet liners; flying school buses for residential schools to indigenous pilots performing mercy flights; and from the harrowing crashes to the routine supply runs that make up daily life in the North. Above all, it is a unique history told through the experiences of northerners on the ground and in the sky. 

 

Get your copy for only $20 (plus $6 shipping within Canada).

 

The deadline for shipping in time for Christmas is 7 December 2022.

Pre-order yours here now…
 
 

Alis the Aviator

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by Danielle Metcalfe-Chenail

 

Come along on an aviation journey with Alis! This spunky female guide will take you through an ABC of planes featuring gorgeous cut-paper art.

An A to Z of planes past and present, this book has stunning cut-paper art and a cute-as-a-button guide named Alis. Named for Dr. Alis Kennedy, likely one of the first Indigenous women to obtain a commercial pilot licence in Canada, Alis will take you on an aviation tour from the Avro Arrow to the Zeppelin and everything in between.

Meticulously researched and uniquely crafted, this is a one-of-a-kind book that will delight aviation fans big and little

 

Get your copy for only $20 (plus $6 shipping within Canada).

 

The deadline for shipping in time for Christmas is 7 December 2022.

Get your copy here…
 

Click/tap anywhere on the montage below to to explore all the other books that the CAHS is offering for sale!

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Our Society is very thankful for the support of our Corporate Members, Museum Members, Individual Donors, and from the proceeds generated by the time-limited Special Offer items in our e-shop.

 
 

Aviation News and Events

 
 
 
 
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Exercise Broken Arrow 

Emergencies at the airport when aircraft crash are no joke, and sometimes the best way to stay ready and prepared is to practice the scenario.

 

Photos and story by Will Chabun

Regina Chapter Newsletter Editor

Read more…
 
 
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Catching up to Lancaster FM104 at BCAM  

Historian and CAHS Secretary John Chalmers visited the British Columbia Aviation Museum this Fall, remembering the history of their Lancaster FM104.  

by John Chalmers

CAHS Membership Secretary

Read more...
 
 
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Residual Obligation: The RCAF and The Occupation Of Germany 1945-1947 

Bill March, former RCAF member and historian, continues his excellent research and delivers a fascinating presentation on the role of Canada, and especially the Royal Canadian Air Force, during the occupation of Germany post Second World War. This presentation was originally given to CAHS Ottawa in September 2021.  

via Kyle Huth

Check it out on Youtube…
 
 
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2022 Elsie MacGill Northern Light Award Gala  

Celebrating women in aviation and aerospace, the Northern Lights Aero Foundation held their Elsie MacGill Award Gala at the end of October.   

by Gord McNulty

CAHS Vice President

Read more...
 
 
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Commonwealth Air Training Plan Museum Closed 

Structural damage to the roof of the Commonwealth Air Training Plan Museum has caused them to have to close their doors for the foreseeable future.  

by John Chalmers

CAHS Membership Secretary

 

Read more...
 
 
 

Canadian Expeditionary Force (CEF) Study Group 

Discussion Forum

CEF Study Group - List of Recommended Great War Websites –

11 November 2022

 

REGINA, SK, Canada – The Canadian Expeditionary Force Study Group announced today the release of its latest “List of Recommended Great War Websites – 11 November 2022” edition.  This 242-page vetted List is part of the CEF Study Group’s cooperative sharing of information in an “Open Source” mode. This vetted directory document is free.  These lists have been maintained since 2005.

 

This List features over 750 Great War research and study websites in 31 subject areas. Hundreds of webmasters and assistants are creating an “Open Source” medium whereby the documentation, cataloguing and dissemination of cooperative research on the Great War is enabled across the Internet. There are hundreds of thousands of hours of volunteer work invested to create this "community of information". 

 

Coupled with many other Great War discussion forums, there are thousands of members researching and discussing the Great War in the present day. The CEF Study Group is one of dozens of discussion forums which discuss and exchange information.

 

“In general, you will not find many websites on this List which glorify war - the common theme is generally to accurately document this world impacting event and to provide for the Remembrance of those who participated – to tell their story” Mercer said. If one forgets their history, one is often required to relearn the hard lessons a second time.

 

The CEF Study Group discussion forum is a 900-member Internet “community” with a world-wide membership. The Group was formed in 2005. Member backgrounds range from first-time neophytes of military history, to serious amateurs and finally to doctoral researchers and published authors.

 

For more information please contact:

Dwight Mercer, Regina, SK, Canada
Email: Dwight Mercer 

Phone: 1-306-550-1331

URL: http://cefresearch.ca/phpBB3/

 
 

DC-3 Research Question 

KF Aerospace Center for Excellence is trying to track down the history of the DC-3 they have on display. So far known is that the aircraft was operational with the RCAF back in the 50s, then TCA and on to Transport Canada. If anyone has any information on the aircraft, it is welcomed by Dave Nowzek, and he can be reached by email here. 

 
 

Canadian Aviation Moments

 

Here are the questions and answers to November's Canadian Aviation Moments:

 
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Question 1: Who was the guest of honour at a gathering of German airmen in Berlin in 1928?    

 

Source:

Canada’s Fighting Airmen,

pg. 56 (Drew)

 

 
 
 
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Question 2:  How many Noorduyn Norseman were ordered by the RCAF in 1938 and again in 1941? Where did many of them serve?   

                                

Source:

Jericho Beach and the West Coast Flying Boat Stations,

pg. 266 (Weicht)

 

 

 

 

 
 
 
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Question 3:  What was the particularly effective, sinister, and painfully-long-undetected weapon fielded by the Germans in the summer of 1943?   

 

Source:

No Prouder Place,

pg. 255 (Bashow)

 
 

Spoiler alert -  the answers to this month's questions follow. Skip the rest of this section and come back later if you wish to guess/research the answers first. Good luck and have fun!

ANSWER 1: “The sincerity of these words was proved in 1928 when Bishop was the guest of honour at a gathering of German airmen in Berlin and was made an honorary member of their association. Germans have been similarly received in London. In each case sincere tribute was paid to the courage and achievements of former enemies. 'Respect for human qualities of this high order knows no frontier.'”

Source:

Canada’s Fighting Airmen,

pg. 56 (Drew)

ANSWER 2: “Several IVs were sold to Canadian bush operators, and, in 1938, the RCAF ordered four of these models. By the end of 1941, the RCAF had 18 Norseman IVs on order.” “Many Norseman IVs and VIs served with the RCAF at Jericho Beach and also at the various Flying Boat Squadrons on the British Columbia coast."

 

Source:

Jericho Beach and the West Coast Flying Boat Stations,

pg. 266 (Weicht)

ANSWER 3: “The shortcomings of Bomber Command’s defensive armament are highlighted by the introduction of a particularly effective, sinister and painfully-long-undetected weapon fielded by the Germans in the summer of 1943. Known as Schrage Musik (Jazz Music), it consisted of a battery - usually a pair, but in groups of four or even six of either 20mm or 30mm cannon - obliquely mounted in a night fighter’s fuselage to fire forward and upward at an angle of approximately fifteen degrees from the vertical. In an extension of the earlier low stern approach tactic, the idea was to close from the bomber’s vulnerable blind cone and then, remaining directly beneath the bomber but flying parallel to it, rake it with fire aimed through a special reflector sight mounted on the roof of the fighter’s canopy. Widespread confirmation of this weapon was not released to the crews until early 1944, by which Schrage Music had claimed many victims. Even when the weapon’s existence was confirmed, there was no real counteraction to it, except for the mid-upper and tail gunners and the mid-under gunner (if the aircraft was so configured) to be extra vigilant in scanning this particular attack approach path."

 

Source:

No Prouder Place,

pg. 255 (Bashow)

 
 

Chapter News

Select a chapter to discover what they have been up to since the last newsletter.

Many of our Chapters remain very active on Zoom with presentations every bit as good as they would be if we did not have pandemic restrictions to deal with!

 
 
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Special Thanks To Our Supporters

 
 

In addition to its members, contributors, and newsletter subscribers, the CAHS is thankful for the ongoing support of its Corporate Members, Museum Members, and Partner Organizations, as well as the many individuals and organizations whose financial donations are so generously given.

 

If you would like to become a Corporate Member or Museum Member - or if you know an organization that might like to join - we are always happy to receive new applications. Please use the hyperlinks above to learn more about our corporate members and partner organizations. 

Corporate Members:

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Corporate Partners:

Aviaeology Publishing / SkyGrid Studio

CANAV Books

Northern Lights Awards / Elsie MacGill Foundation

The RCAF Association

Vintage Wings of Canada

 

Museum Members:

Alberta Aviation Museum

Billy Bishop Home and Museum

Bomber Command Museum of Canada

Botwood Flying Boat Museum

British Columbia Aviation Museum

Calgary Mosquito Society

Canada's Aviation Hall of Fame

Canadian Bushplane Heritage Centre

Canadian Historical Aircraft Association

The Canadian Museum of Flight

Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum

Commonwealth Air Training Plan Museum

Comox Air Force Museum

First In Last Out

Great War Flying Museum

The Hangar Flight Museum

Harvard Historical Aviation Society

Montreal Aviation Museum

National Air Force Museum

Quebec Aerospace Museum

Royal Aviation Museum of Western Canada

Shearwater Aviation Museum

Western Development Museum

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The Canadian Aviation Historical Society (CAHS)

P.O. Box 2700 • Station D • Ottawa • Ontario • K1P 5W7

visit us at www.cahs.com

The CAHS is incorporated as a Canadian Registered Charity under a Federal Charter with the business registration number 118829589 RR001

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Canadian Aviation Historical Society (CAHS)
P.O. Box 2700, Station D
Ottawa, Ontario, K1P 5W7
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