Waterloo Warbirds MiG-15 Trainer
Has Departed Canada for the U.S.

Report and photos by Gord McNulty,
April 2025
Canada lost one of its most distinctive vintage jets when the Waterloo Warbirds MiG-15 trainer departed Kitchener-Waterloo Airport in February for a new owner, reportedly in the Seattle area.

The flight by owner/pilot Richard Cooper marked “the end of an era” as described by Pat Hanna, past president of the Canadian Harvard Aircraft Association. Reporting on his Facebook profile, Pat went to the airport to brave “a bitterly cold and blustery day which felt more like the Siberian wilderness” for the occasion.
Waterloo Warbirds MiG-15 trainer made an impression at the Canadian Aviation Expo in Hamilton in May 2009.
The MiG-15 UTI trainer was built in 1954 in Poland, originally as a single-seat fighter.  It was converted to a two-seat trainer and was finally retired in 1992.

The aircraft was shipped to the U.S. in 1993 and flew again in 1998. Richard Cooper’s Viper North acquired it in 2009. It subsequently became part of the Waterloo Warbirds fleet. Registered as C-FMVN, the jet was nicknamed “Natasha” and was a popular attraction as one of very few MiG-15s left flying.

Outstanding photos of the MiG in action over southern Ontario, provided by the late aviation photo/journalist Eric Dumigan, are at www.airic.ca. Also check out Ernest Gutschik Aviation’s two-minute YouTube video of the MiG at the Canadian International Air Show in 2019.

I took these photos of the aircraft arriving at the Canadian Aviation Expo, held at the Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum in May of 2009. At that time, it sported the registration N15VN, a change from its previous registration of N15LC in the U.S.
The Waterloo Warbirds MiG-15 arriving at the CWHM for the Canadian Aviation Expo in May 2009.
The Waterloo Warbirds conducted extensive maintenance on the MiG. The old brakes were replaced with those normally installed in a T-33. This allowed for consistent stopping on shorter runways.

The Waterloo Warbirds noted that more than 17,000 MiG-15 variants were built by Warsaw Pact countries during its production run.
CWHM staff welcome Waterloo Warbirds MiG-15 trainer at Canadian Aviation Expo May 2009.
I’ve attached photos of another departed Waterloo Warbirds jet, a DH.115 Vampire Mk.55 trainer. Built in 1958 under licence in Switzerland for the Swiss Air Force, C-FJRH was part of the Waterloo Warbirds fleet for 14 years. 

The Vampire was placed on the market in the U.S. in 2023. It caught the attention of display pilot and warbird operator Paul Bennet of Australia. After successful negotiations, the Vampire was dismantled and shipped to Australia, finally arriving early in 2025.

The reassembled historic trainer is now part of the Hunter Fighter Collection at Scone, New South Wales and is the first jet-powered aircraft in Bennet’s growing fleet.

The first photo shows the eye-catching aircraft at the Canadian Warplane Heritage Air Force Day event in July 2017. The second photo shows it a year later, at the CWH Air Force Day in July 2018, with a new paint job in the colours of RCAF 442 City of Vancouver Squadron.
DH.115 Vampire Mk.55 C-FJRH of Waterloo Warbirds arrives at CWHM, 8 July 2017 for Air Force Day.
Waterloo Warbirds DH.115 Vampire Mk. 55 C-FJRH in RCAF colours at CWHM Air Force Day, 7 July 2018.
Eric Dumigan’s website, www.airic.ca, includes excellent coverage of the Vampire in action.