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Remembering
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Paddy’s lifelong interest in aviation began at a very young age (his first flight was in 1948 in a Percival Proctor Mk. IV, G-AGZM, flying out of North Weald, Essex). In school he excelled in engineering and art, skills which would eventually be put to good use as a draftsman and technical illustrator for companies like Canadair, CAE, Laurentian Air Services, Spartan, and others.
As an artist, his paintings adorn many of our walls, whether it be a Paddy Gardiner original or one of his pieces used in six CAHS calendars. His work can also be found in various issues of both the CAHS Journal and the Observair, with his drawing of Fairchild Super 71 (CF-AUJ) serving as the chapter’s official masthead until being replaced in 1970 by the Fairchild FC-2 Razorback (G-CAIH).
As a writer, Paddy contributed 15 articles to the CAHS Journal, as well as writing and editing the Observair for a number of years (it was Paddy who came up with the name “the Ottawa Observair”, in 1965, in what he described as “a stroke of brilliance”). His writing extended beyond the CAHS of course, having written the books RCMP “Air” Division 1937-1973, and Fifty years in “The 'Prior”: A Historic Look Back at Boeing Canada, Arnprior Division.
Paddy was always happy to talk aviation and to share his knowledge and photographs, along with a few anecdotes and enjoyable digressions, with anyone who was interested. This past February I had one such email exchange with him. It began with talk of Bristol Freighters and, after I asked about a remark he made about getting laid off “in the Great Arrow Fiasco”, he shared how he had worked for Computing Devices of Canada on the tooling for the Sparrow missile system, and how he had earlier done a five-year apprenticeship with Dowty Equipment Ltd. in the UK working on the design of the Avro Arrow main landing gear. His further comments on his time at Dowty proved rather interesting:
Actually in those days I was involved in some very interesting tasks. I worked on the assembly line assembling the landing gears for Gloster Meteors. One time I was asked to refurbish the main wheels of a Gloster Gladiator that was being refurbished for a museum. The Gladiator wheels had internal springs developed by Dowty. But the job I really enjoyed there was building up the landing gear assemblies for the Avro 698 Vulcan delta bomber. They were massive magnesium castings and would catch fire it seemed at the drop of a hat: the machining was very precise—again, before the days of numerically controlled machines such as are used today….My supervisor was a very skilled artisan but he was also a communist and I found this ironic as we were building assemblies for a nuclear bomber to destroy the Soviets!
Actually in those days I was involved in some very interesting tasks. I worked on the assembly line assembling the landing gears for Gloster Meteors. One time I was asked to refurbish the main wheels of a Gloster Gladiator that was being refurbished for a museum. The Gladiator wheels had internal springs developed by Dowty. But the job I really enjoyed there was building up the landing gear assemblies for the Avro 698 Vulcan delta bomber. They were massive magnesium castings and would catch fire it seemed at the drop of a hat: the machining was very precise—again, before the days of numerically controlled machines such as are used today….My supervisor was a very skilled artisan but he was also a communist and I found this ironic as we were building assemblies for a nuclear bomber to destroy the Soviets!
Peter Robertson provides another example that he describes as, “classic Paddy - anecdotal, wide-ranging, discursive, with a touch of Irish storytelling about it.”
I have a curiosity about stuff shipped trans-Atlantic-wise in pre-war days probably as I am old enough to remember how difficult it was to cross the ocean not so very long ago….I also noted with some chagrin the short lived flight of an enthusiastic RAF pilot who was “beating up” the Normandie when she docked at Southampton inadvertently pranged his biplane torpedo bomber onto the fo’csle of that august Queen of the Seas and was dismayed to find the captain of the ship would release neither him nor the wreckage of the airplane to the authorities until she had completed her Blue Riband run of the Atlantic in Cherbourg. The part that intrigued me was the Normandie was off-loading an expensive automobile on its cargo derrick, which I presume was lost ‘twixt ship’n’shore. I never did find out what kind of a car it was—maybe a Cord or Duesenberg—or a Model T?….I knew a fellow in Rankin Inlet who had ordered a modular house to be delivered. The house was in two sections and carried as deck cargo. In mid-Hudson Bay a huge storm blew up and for safety reasons they cut one section free and it slid over the side never to be seen again. When the ship arrived at Rankin the remaining module was off loaded and set in place and our man had to live in only that half until the following year when the replacement module could be shipped. He had to live in the bathroom and living room—or maybe the kitchen and bedroom—I forget which, but either way it was most inconvenient.
I have a curiosity about stuff shipped trans-Atlantic-wise in pre-war days probably as I am old enough to remember how difficult it was to cross the ocean not so very long ago….I also noted with some chagrin the short lived flight of an enthusiastic RAF pilot who was “beating up” the Normandie when she docked at Southampton inadvertently pranged his biplane torpedo bomber onto the fo’csle of that august Queen of the Seas and was dismayed to find the captain of the ship would release neither him nor the wreckage of the airplane to the authorities until she had completed her Blue Riband run of the Atlantic in Cherbourg. The part that intrigued me was the Normandie was off-loading an expensive automobile on its cargo derrick, which I presume was lost ‘twixt ship’n’shore. I never did find out what kind of a car it was—maybe a Cord or Duesenberg—or a Model T?….I knew a fellow in Rankin Inlet who had ordered a modular house to be delivered. The house was in two sections and carried as deck cargo. In mid-Hudson Bay a huge storm blew up and for safety reasons they cut one section free and it slid over the side never to be seen again. When the ship arrived at Rankin the remaining module was off loaded and set in place and our man had to live in only that half until the following year when the replacement module could be shipped. He had to live in the bathroom and living room—or maybe the kitchen and bedroom—I forget which, but either way it was most inconvenient.
In Rambling Through Records (Observair Vol 58 No. 2, February 2021), Hugh Halliday referenced the Gardiner Syndrome (first enunciated by Paddy), "A person who is sufficiently creative to start one project will start six; all will compete for his time; none will ever be completed." I, like many of you reading this, understand this affliction all too well and have used the expression in conversation a number of times.
While Paddy may be gone, his spirit lives on through his writing, his art, the stories and laughs shared, the positive impact he had on those lucky enough to know him, and with the Ottawa Chapter today. In Paddy’s own words, “I doubt if any of us realized what we were creating back then. It is a fine tribute to all who have followed that the Ottawa Chapter is strong and flourishing today”.
Author’s note: My thanks to everyone who helped by sharing stories of Paddy or who provided feedback on my first draft of this piece.
While Paddy may be gone, his spirit lives on through his writing, his art, the stories and laughs shared, the positive impact he had on those lucky enough to know him, and with the Ottawa Chapter today. In Paddy’s own words, “I doubt if any of us realized what we were creating back then. It is a fine tribute to all who have followed that the Ottawa Chapter is strong and flourishing today”.
Author’s note: My thanks to everyone who helped by sharing stories of Paddy or who provided feedback on my first draft of this piece.
Editor’s note: This memorial was first published in the CAHS Ottawa Observair October 2021 Newsletter