Lifelong aviator Don Fisher
left a remarkable legacy

by Gord McNulty,
CAHS Vice President
posted October 2022
Canada lost a passionate aviator with the passing of Don Fisher on 16 September at age 91. Don enjoyed a stellar 40-year flying career with Trans-Canada Airlines/Air Canada after earning his pilot’s licence at the Kingston Flying Club. His outstanding career continued with more achievements including more than 400 hours piloting the Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum (CWHM) Avro Lancaster among other things.

The loss of Don, who was a familiar and widely respected stalwart in aviation for many years, prompted numerous tributes. A full obituary was posted on the Facebook page of his son, Doug, an Air Canada Captain, of Georgetown, Ontario. Don was a long-time member of the CAHS, #1340, and joined in 1971.
Donald George Fisher was born on 21 January, 1931, in Kingston, Ontario. Don’s father was a medical doctor during the First World War and served in France in 1917 and 1918. Following the war, he became a pharmacist and operated Dr. Fisher’s Drug Store in downtown Kingston. Dr. Fisher’s is where Don received his first work experience as a boy. His brother Jack, who was 14 years his senior, learned to fly at the Kingston Flying Club in 1941. Young Don caught the flying bug when his brother began taking him on rides in Piper J-3 Cubs and Taylorcrafts. Those flights sparked a lifelong passion.

In 1947 Don joined the Air Cadets, based at the Kingston Flying Club. In 1948 he was awarded an Air Cadet scholarship which provided him with 17 hours of flight training. He worked at the Kingston Flying Club as an apprentice aircraft mechanic and this, along with the scholarship, allowed him to earn his pilot’s licence. In 1950 Don entered the Webster Memorial Trophy competition and finished runner up. He continued to build flying hours and won the Webster Trophy as the “Top Amateur Pilot in Canada” in 1951.

The award led him to an interview with Trans-Canada Airlines (TCA). Don was hired in 1951 and went on to a distinguished 40-year flying career with TCA/Air Canada. He flew in various aircraft including the Douglas DC-3, Canadair DC-4M North Star, Lockheed Super Constellation, Vickers Viscount, Vickers Vanguard, Douglas DC-9, Douglas DC-8 (passenger and freighter versions) and finally the Boeing 747.

Don piloted a DC-9, the first jet transport to land at London, Ontario, on 31 October, 1971. On 1 July, 1975, Don entered the record books by setting a world speed record during a revenue flight from Prestwick, Scotland, to Gander, Newfoundland. In 1987, Don also captained the 747 “Classic" on an around the world charter and was the first to land a 747 in Kathmandu. He travelled 2,109 nautical miles at 471 mph in a DC-8. He also flew a restored Lockheed 10A for Air Canada on his days off.”

After retirement, Don served as the first President of the Retired Airline Pilots of Canada. Apart from his airline career, he also kept busy in general aviation. He served as President of the Brampton Flying Club from 1967-1972. During that time, he was instrumental in the relocation of the Flying Club from Brampton to its present location in the Caledon Hills, northwest of Toronto, where it has prospered. If that wasn’t enough, he later joined the Royal Canadian Flying Clubs Association (RCAFA) and served as President from 1974-1976. This organization’s sole purpose is to promote flying club growth throughout Canada.

During Don’s tenure with the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI), he was awarded the Tissandier Diploma in recognition of his contribution to sport aviation. It was presented to him by Prime Minister Indira Gandhi of India at the FAI Conference held in India in 1985. 

Don owned a number of private aircraft over the years: 1951 Cessna 170A; 1957 Cessna 180; 1976 Cessna 177RG; and 1951 Cessna 195A. His passion has always been vintage aircraft and propeller-driven warbirds. So, in 1970, he and a group of First World War enthusiasts founded the Ontario Aviation Historical Society (now the Great War Flying Museum) at the Brampton Airport. His association with the group allowed him to fly some rare aircraft: the Nieuport 24; SE5A; Fokker Dr. 1 and Fokker D.VII. In 1987 he joined the Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum in Hamilton. Don became a flying member and started flying one of his favourite vintage aircraft, the Harvard - the type he had flown while receiving military flight training in the Royal Canadian Naval Reserve Squadron VC921 from 1953 until 1956.

Shortly after becoming a member of CWH, he expressed interest in flying the queen of the museum’s fleet, the Avro Lancaster. In April 1989 Don received his checkout on the Lancaster. Flying the Lanc would be a natural for Don. His experience flying the Merlin-powered North Star and four-engine transport aircraft would be a valuable asset to CWH. Don racked up more than 400 hours on the Lancaster. He flew as far west as Vancouver and Seattle, east to Halifax and trips throughout the United States to Midland, Texas and Oshkosh, Wisconsin. He also served on the Board of Directors of the CWH.  Don’s last flight on the Lancaster on November 12, 2006, gave him the title upon retirement as the “World’s Oldest Active Lancaster Pilot.”

Don’s aviation legacy was passed down to his offspring. Don and Janet had three children - Susan, David and Douglas. All three learned to fly and have worked in aviation. Susan enjoyed a 27-year career with Air Canada; David is working as the Director of Air Safety Investigations for Mitsubishi and Doug is in his 33rd year with Air Canada as a Captain on the Boeing 787.

A Celebration of Life for Don was held at the Brampton Flying Club on 15 October, 2022.
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