2022 CAHS National Convention in Winnipeg Last Chance to Register!
Hi Everyone.
The CAHS National Convention is nearly upon us! This is the last call if you would like to attend or participate. As we have to order meals and transportation soon, I ask that anyone who is planning to attend in person register without delay today (Saturday, 24 September). Note that there will not be a regular CAHS Manitoba Chapter meeting this month, but there is a convention event on the usual Thursday evening.
The convention starts on Wednesday evening with a meet and greet at the convention hotel, the Holiday Inn Express Winnipeg Airport Polo Park, 1740 Ellice Avenue. Speaker sessions take place at the hotel on Thursday and Friday, from 9 am to 4:30 pm.
Thursday 29 September - sessions, 9 am to 4:30 pm CDT - “Air Cadets” A Lost Film, Bill Zuk; A Compressed History of RCAF Finish and Markings, Patrick Martin; Stranraers in Commercial Service, Jerry Vernon; The Winnipeg Airport, Grass Strip to Tomorrow, Fred Petrie; A Short History of BC Airways, Jim Jorgenson; Saunders Aircraft of Gimli, Ken Kalynuk; Airtransit the STOL Project, Tim Cole; The Royal Aviation Museum of Western Canada,Terry Slobodian.
Thursday evening 29 September - Churchill Rocket Range, Dr Roland Sawatzky; museum walk about; at the RAMWC, 7 pm CDT (no Zoom access).
On Thursday evening, convention attendees will attend a special evening at the Royal Aviation Museum of Western Canada, where we will have a presentation on the Churchill Rocket Range by Dr Roland Sawatzky, the Manitoba Museum's Curator of History. We will also have a museum walk about with some of the museum's aircraft attended by people who restored them or flew them. Coffee and snacks will be provided.
Friday 30 September - sessions, 9 am to 4:30 pm CDT - The First Winter Flight to the Sub Arctic (1922), Robert Galway; The Legacy of Wop May, John Chalmers; Saskatchewan Air Ambulance, Will Chabun; A Canadian in 2 Group RAF Operations, Dave Poissant; Canadian Naval Aviators in World War II, Allan Snowie; John Griffin Archives, Gord Crossley.
Friday evening, 30 September - Awards Banquet, 6:30 pm CDT (no Zoom access). On Friday evening, we will hold our annual Awards Banquet, where we will announce the winners of the CAHS Journal article and research awards.
Saturday 1 October - tours, 8:15 am to 5:30 pm CDT (no Zoom access). The bus will depart the convention hotel at 8:15 am for the RCAF Heritage Park. The park features eleven display aircraft, a BCATP memorial, and a restoration building. We will have an hour and a half to visit the park, and then board the bus to continue to the Commonwealth Air Training Plan Museum in Brandon. Once in Brandon, we will have lunch and conversation, via Zoom, with 98 year old Arnold Trewhitt, a BCATP flying instructor in Prince Albert and Portage la Prairie during the war. Afterwards, museum staff will be available to lead you through the hangar to see the CATPM's collection, including nearly every type of training aircraft used during the Second World War. The archives will also be open. The three hundred foot long memorial wall records the names of every BCATP graduate who lost their lives during the war. We will board the bus to return to Winnipeg at 3:30 pm, arriving back at the hotel at 5:30 pm.
The CATPM offers flights in some of their historic aircraft. These flights should be booked in advance directly with the museum. Note that this is an optional activity completely separate from the convention.
Please note speakers and topics may change for reasons beyond our control.
The full convention registration is only $200 ($225 for non-members, which includes an online CAHS membership), and includes lunch on all three days and our banquet on Friday evening. An online full registration includes access to the daily presentations on Thursday and Friday (but not the evening presentations), for only $50 ($75 for non-members, which includes an online CAHS membership). Daily registration options are also available - $75 per day for Thursday, Friday, or Saturday. The Thursday evening session at the Royal Aviation Museum is $20. The banquet is $70. Zoom access for Thursday and Friday daytime sessions is $25 each day.
For those who want to stay at the convention hotel, rooms are available at our convention rate of $134 plus tax. A breakfast buffet is included. Parking is free, and a shuttle is available. Book your hotel room here.
Check this web page for updated information. The CAHS National Convention is a great opportunity for you to meet people from across the country who share your passion for aviation. We hope you are able to attend.
Click the button above or, if you have a smartphone, simply point its camera app at the on-screen QR code to donate via mobile.
From the Desk of the Journal Editor
Volume 58, The articles ballot for Volume 57, and a new webmaster
In the works: CAHS Journals 58-1 and 58-2 featuring the artwork of Ken Mallett (Voodoo) and Cher Pruys (Beech 18).
Journal 58-1, is due to leave the printer's dock on its way to our mailing house shortly before convention time. We anticipate the actual mailing to occur within a week of that. Once we have a firm mailing date, the digital edition will be posted to the Members-Only side of the website for all current members to access at will.
The move of office – or more to the point, setting up the new office – has taken a little longer initially planned. However, a temporary setup is now working well while we wait for office chairs and desks to arrive. We will be back on track with Journal 58-2 soon, and aim to have it in the hands of the proofreading team within a week of the 2022 convention ending.
In the meantime, any additional production progress news on these and content development for the remaining Volume 58 numbers will be posted here on our site.
Change of Address
Contributors are reminded that the new mailing address for CAHS Journal correspondence and editorial matters is:
SkyGrid Studio
739 Route 105
Maugerville
New Brunswick
E3A 8L1
Through the magic of Voice Over Internet Protocol (VOIP), our phone number remains the same as that published in the Journal masthead. Likewise, email addresses.
Meet the new CAHS.com Webmaster
As mentioned last month, we are welcoming Andrea Wiseman as webmaster on the digital side of CAHS content creation and management. Andrea comes to us from nearly two decades of experience as a compliance officer, instructor, and contract advisor in the quality, health, safety, and environment (QHSE) field, working for a diverse range of institutions, heavy industry, and other organizations.
While we will not be depending on any of her QHSE skills directly (as far as I know!), we are happy to have her organizational experience onboard, especially where it comes to the daily use of several software packages to input, organize, and present data.
Andrea will be responsible for keeping the site, e-shop, and e-mailing list up to date at the direction of the National Executive via yours truly, keeping the Chapter pages current (Chapter liaisons are invited to contact Andrea directly here), and working with our e-newsletter editor to produce the newsletter every month.
In closing I would like to thank my son Zach for the years he stayed on in this this capacity, which began with the intensive work of standing up the new site, migrating all of the desired content from the old site, and organizing it here. Well done Zach.
Volume 57 Articles Ballot Reminder
Whether you are attending the convention or not, all Members who have not already done so are urged to take a few minutes to vote for the C. Don Long Best Article Award and Mac MacIntyre Research Award by taking a minute or two to complete the CAHS Journal Volume 57 Articles Ballot.
Please give this membership privilege the attention it deserves in the spirit of encouraging the ongoing contribution to our journal of informative, well written, and thoroughly researched Canadian aviation history.
The winners of the two awards will be announced at the convention.
Terry Higgins, Creative Director, Website Administrator,
CAHS Journal Managing Editor and Graphics Director,
Canadian Aviation Historical Society
From the Desk of the Treasurer
September is upon us, and students have gone back to school to begin their annual learning journey again. Some parents might be relieved, while others are finding the house unnaturally quiet. But we don't need to leave learning just to the student generation. We can take advantage of the quiet time at home to expand our own learning by picking up some good books and broadening our horizons. Why not get some new books on Canada's aviation history? Watch the CAHS newsletter and website between now and Christmas as we launch new special book offers, as well as our annual aviation art calendar.
This month, we are pleased to feature a discounted purchase price on Angus Scully's In Our Youth: The Lives, Adventures, and Sacrifices of Early Canadian Flyers (see below for further book details, purchase deadline, and the ordering link). You can also check out past book offers still available by clicking on the book montage photo below. And be sure to check out upcoming newsletters for more book offers we are organizing. Happy reading!
Cordially, Dr. Rachel Lea Heide,
National Treasurer,
Canadian Aviation Historical Society
In Our Youth: The Lives, Adventures, and Sacrifices of Early Canadian Flyers
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 Flyersshares 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).
The pre-order deadline is 31 October 2022.
The CAHS will place one large order with the publisher after the pre-order deadline, and shipping to our customers will occur after the stock has been supplied by the publisher.
Canada’s Aviation Hall of Fame is excited to announce its 48th Induction Ceremony scheduled for Thursday, October 27, 2022, at the Crowne Plaza at the Montreal Airport. For information on how to attend, sponsor, donate to the silent auction, and receive discounts on hotels and airfare, please visit our landing page!
My Father's War: Flying Officer Gordon Grattan and No. 110 Squadron RAF's wartime service.
No. 110 (Hyderabad) Sqn, RAF, has the distinction of flying the first and last RAF bombing raids of the Second World War, from Wilhelmshaven, Germany in 1939 to the Far East in 1945. Author Sara V. Mosher shares the Squadron's wartime service, as well as the story of her father. Flying Officer Gordon Reginald Grattan was a wireless air gunner on the squadron in the Far East through 1943-45. This presentation was originally given to CAHS Manitoba at the 25 November 2021 meeting.
The 17 Wing Winnipeg Officers' Mess has put out a Call for Artists to commemorate the 100th Anniversary of the RCAF.
Some pertinent points quoted from the Request for Proposals (RFP):
Project Budget: $17,500 CAD inclusive.
Eligibility: This opportunity is open to Canadian citizens and/or permanent residents employing any media including 3D forms provided it can be displayed safely and unobtrusively within the Mess.
Estimated Schedule: • Request for Proposals issued – 20 September 2022 • Request for Proposals closes – 18 November 2022 • Selection Panel Shortlisting – 2 December 2022 • Proposal Presentations – 23-27 January 2023 • Artist Selection – February 2023 • Production and review – 2023-2024 • Unveiling – April 2024
The winning proposal shall be selected from a shortlist by general mess membership vote.
Bringing history back to life, the Saskatchewan Aviation Museum, has put together an exhibit to pay tribute to an aircraft that went missing in 1959 and was found almost six decades later. To read about the crashed Cessna 180, its rescue and the exhibit done in recognition, please click here.
On September 5, 2022, an RCAF B-24 Liberator bomber was discovered in the water of Gander Lake NL, 50 metres below the surface. The aircraft had crashed there 79 years earlier on September 4, 1943. All four RCAF crew members aboard were killed in the crash. See the full story and photos when you click here.
Canadian Aviation Moments
Here are the answers to August's Canadian Aviation Moments (from this month onward, quiz questions and answers will be provided in the same e-Newsletter edition):
QUESTION 1: How many weeks/months had Billy Bishop been fighting when he had won both the Distinguished Service Order and the Military Cross?
ANSWER: “His first fight had been on March 25. Thus, in less than six weeks of fighting he had won both the distinguished Service Order and the Military Cross “for conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty,” had been promoted to the rank of Captain, and had destroyed many German aeroplanes and balloons.”
FromCanada's Fighting Airmen, pg. 39-40
QUESTION 2: Why did the RCAF, in 1935, order Blackburn Shark IIs and what was the accident rate of all the Blackburn Sharks?
ANSWER: “During 1935 the RCAF, on the recommendation of the British Air Ministry, ordered seven British-built Blackburn Shark IIs for use as dive bombers. The Sharks arrived in eastern Canada during 1936-1937, and the seven aircraft formed a nucleus for No 6 (Torpedo Bomber) Squadron at Trenton Ontario. The Shark II was originally powered by a 760 hp Armstrong Siddley Tiger VI engine, but was later changed to a Bristol Pegasus IX engine of 840 hp. An arrangement was made with the British manufacturer, Blackburn Aircraft Limited of Brough, East Yorkshire, which allowed Boeing Aircraft of Canada at Vancouver, to manufacture the Shark III under license from the British company.” “Twenty-three percent of all RCAF Sharks were written off through accidents in some way connected to the unstable landing and take-off characteristics of the aircraft. F/O G.A. Doolittle, attached to No. 7(BR) Squadron at RCAF Station Prince Rupert, inadvertently produced a desperate solution to the problem. On September 3, 1942, Doolittle wrote off Shark #526 in a glassy water landing: his float tips dug in and the aircraft executed a somersault. The Commanding Officer, Squadron Leader L.H. (Doc) Brooks suggested that if F/O Doolittle wrote off all the Sharks, without injury to anyone, Brooks would recommend him for the Air force Cross. Doolittle declined the offer.”
FromJericho Beach and the West Coast Flying Stations, pg. 252-253
QUESTION 3: During the Second World War, what were some of the various factors that made effective bombing of Berlin a complex problem?
ANSWER: “However, there were various factors which made effective bombing of the city a complex problem. Perhaps the greatest disadvantage of its location was that it lay beyond the effective ranges of Oboe, Gee and G-H, which made locating specific targets electronically extremely difficult. Also, unlike the coastal port of Hamburg or the distinctive shapes and clear returns of Dusseldorf and Wuppertal, the H2S radar could not break out various elements of the city accurately. The distinctiveness of Berlin’s many lakes on radar was not dependable, and the great indeterminate mass of the cosmopolitan build-up tended to change shape on radar, depending on the system’s gain or power setting. The capital was also enormously spread out, encompassing more than 900 square miles, and boasted many open spaces, so that “the bombers had difficulty hitting specific targets or wiping out large contiguous areas. In fact, the early raids had achieved so little by the end of 1941 that the British suspended attacks on Berlin for about a year to concentrate on easier targets and to develop technical improvements that would, they hoped, make it easier to hit the German capital. However, the drawback for bombing associated with the city’s sprawl was partially offset by the extensive imbedding of industrial works and firms within the residential areas, thus augmenting the legitimacy of these broad districts as targets. Even so, Berlin’s largely modern infrastructure meant that the comparatively wide streets tended to limit the spread of fire.”
FromNo Prouder Place, pg. 248
Question 1: How old was Billy Bishop at the end of the First World War? What was his rank and which decorations for valour did he receive from the British and French governments?
Source:
Canada’s Fighting Airmen,
pg. 54 (Drew)
Question 2:What was the Supermarine Stranraer used for and where was it used?
Source:
Jericho Beach and the West Coast Flying Boat Stations,
pg. 257-258 (Weicht)
Question 3:During the Second World War, what was the size of the searchlight and flak area around Berlin during bombing raids?
Source:
No Prouder Place,
pg. 249 (Bashow)
Here are the answers to September's Canadian Aviation Moments:
QUESTION 1: How old was Billy Bishop at the end of the First World War? What was his rank and which decorations for valour did he receive from the British and French governments?
ANSWER: “Thus when the war ended, Bishop at the age of twenty-four was a Lieutenant-Colonel,and had been awarded practically every decoration for valour conferred by the British and French Governments.”
FromCanada's Fighting Airmen, pg. 54
QUESTION 2:What were the roles that the Canadian Vickers Vancouver performed for the RCAF?
ANSWER: “In December 1931, RCAF Headquarters completed a review of its needs to meet the requirements of National defence. The primary mandate was coastal defence, which included reconnaissance, anti-submarine patrols, cooperation with coastal artillery, and the defence of ships moving up and down the Pacific west coast. The RCAF believed that it was prudent to utilize aircraft of British origin. Therefore, in 1936 Canadian Vickers of Montreal received an order to build five Stranraers. The aircraft had been designed in England by R.J. Mitchell – of the Spitfire fame – and was a development of the 1925 Supermarine Southampton Flying Boat. Eighteen twin-engine, biplane Stranraers were produced by the Supermarine Aviation Works Limited in Southampton. In 1935 these Flying Boats went into service with the RAF. Following the test flight of the Canadian prototype, RCAF #907, on October 21, 1938, a total of forty aircraft were ordered from Canadian Vickers.” “The “Stranies” gave good service to the RCAF for six years, particularly in carrying out anti-submarine patrol schedules for the newly established west coast Flying Boat Stations. In 1944 most of the Stranraers were withdrawn from service and replaced with the Canso and Catalina aircraft. The sole surviving example of the Stranraer is RCAF #920, later CF-BXO, which now reposed in the RAF Museum at Hendon in southwest London.”
From Jericho Beach and the West Coast Flying Stations, pg. 257-258
QUESTION 3:During the Second World War, what was the size of the searchlight and flak area around Berlin during bombing raids?
ANSWER: “The Big City was protected by a tremendous quantity of anti-aircraft guns (both heavy and light flak guns) several miles across. Martin Middlebrook claims in his book The Berlin Raids that “the flak area around Berlin measured forty miles across and the searchlight belt around it was sixty miles wide!” Indeed, there was a terrific quantity of searchlights trying to cone and isolate a bomber if the sky was not completely overcast. This combination of searchlights and always-intense flak was terrifying enough.”
From No Prouder Place, pg. 249
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!
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.
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The Canadian Aviation Historical Society (CAHS)
P.O. Box 2700 • Station D • Ottawa • Ontario • K1P 5W7