The first Canadians to fly are A.E. Kierzkowski and A.X. Rambau who fly in Eugene Godard’s balloon.
Today in aviation history – September 8, 1856
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Monthly Archives: September 2009
Today in aviation history – September 7, 1954
The RCAF decommissions the last Avro Anson. The Anson, named after a British Admiral of the 18th century, entered service in 1940 and was selected as the standard twin-engine aircraft for the training of pilots, observers, wireless-operators and bomb aimers. Over 20,000 aircrew received their training in it.
A great show – except for that one little thing
A great day at the CNE Air Show. Lots of things going fast. Above, 2 members of the US Navy Blue Angels team in a high speed manoeuvre. (click to enlarge)
That one little thing? I lost a memory card that had all my shots of the F-22 Raptor and F-16 Viper. Still lots of pictures to go through but I’m afraid the light was strong and there was a distinct haze that spoiled a lot of close up shots.
Another shot of the Angels in tight formation. Beautiful aircraft flown really, really well.
Today in aviation history – September 6, 1940
A contract is signed for the development and production of the Republic P-47 Thunderbolt. It went on to become the heaviest single-engine WWII fighter to go into production and the first piston-powered fighter to exceed 500 mph. More Thunderbolts were built than any other fighter
Cleaning up the video recorder
In preparation for tomorrow’s air show, I was cleaning up the video recorder’s files and came across this.
I took this at the CFB Trenton air show a couple of months ago. The Lancaster from Canadian Warplane Heritage in Hamilton taxis in. Shaky video but still a nice look at the magnificent bomber.
Canadian International Air Show
I was lucky enough to score some VIP tickets to the Air Show being held at the CNE this weekend. Sunday, a couple and friends and I will be right down at Lake Ontario watching a tremendous lineup of aircraft dancing through the sky. The latest schedule I’ve seen includes:
CF-18 Hornet 12:30
CF18/F86/Tutor 12:43
Spitfire Demo 12:48
Mike Wiskus 12:56
Horsemen P-51s 13:08
Blue Angels 13:30
F-22 Raptor Demo 14: 40
F-16 Falcon Demo 14:53
USAF Heritage Flight 15:06
Matt Chapman 15:14
SAR Helo Demo/Cadets 15:26
Open Airspace 15:41
Snowbirds/Hawk1 15:50
Hawk 1 Demo 15:55
CF Snowbirds 16:01
That makes 4 hours of fun! The US Navy Blue Angels are making their first appearance since 1983 and should be a great sight. Having a Raptor show up is also a treat.
We’re in the middle of a beautiful stretch of weather and the forecast is looking like we’ll have perfect conditions. Cameras are charged up, extra memory cards are packed and I’m ready to go!
Today in aviation history – September 5, 1959
First launch of the Black Brant I sounding rocket to study the ionosphere takes place in Fort Churchill, Manitoba.
Today in aviation history – September 4, 1888
Edward Hogan makes the 1st parachute jump in Canada from a hot-air balloon in Quebec. No picture of the event or the man seem to be available but the idea had been around since Leonardo Da Vinci designed the one above
Today in aviation history – September 3, 1915
The Curtiss Canada flies at Long Branch, near Toronto, and becomes the first twin-engine aircraft designed, built and flown in Canada.
Unfortunate ad idea hurts admirable foundation
The Brazilian arm of the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) has got the parent organization into plenty of hot water. The ad (Courtesy of Adweek.com) shows multiple planes all flying towards Manhattan with the tag line "The 2004 Tsunami killed 100 times more people than 9/11." Insensitive as hell, especially as the graphic shows the Twin Towers still standing.
To their credit, WWF issued a very strong condemnation:
(click the picture to see it in all its “glory”)
WWF strongly condemns this offensive and tasteless ad and did not authorize its production or publication. It is our understanding that it was a concept offered by an outside advertising agency in Brazil. The concept was summarily rejected by WWF and should never have seen the light of day. It is an unauthorized use of our logo and we are aggressively pursuing action to have it removed from websites where it is being currently featured. We strongly condemn the messages and the images portrayed in this ad. On behalf of WWF, here in the US and around the world, we can promise you this ad does not in any way reflect the thoughts and feelings of the people of our organization.
Unfortunately, you can’t get the Genie back in the bottle and all of WWF’s good works will be forever tainted by this one stupid move by an ad agency striving for that “edgy” look.
The World Wildlife Fund does a lot to protect nature and they could certainly use our help as they go into full damage control. Click the Wiki link above to learn more about them.