A Canadair Sabre-5 flies 2,740 miles in five hours and thirty seconds (Vancouver-Gimli-Halifax).
Photo is of the restored Sabre-5 from Vintage Wings of Canada taken at CFB Trenton.
Today in aviation history – August 29, 1956
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Tag Archives: aviation history
Today in aviation history – August 28, 1920
The first ambulance flight in Northern Canada takes place when W.R. Maxwell in a Curtis HS-2L flew J.W. Thompson from Moose Factory to Remi Lake (near Cochrane) Ontario.
Photo taken at Canadian Aviation Museum in Ottawa showing G-CAAC, which flew the first ever “bush flight” in 1919.
Today in aviation history – August 27, 1959
First flight of the Boeing Vertol CH-46C Labrador helicopter.
This aircraft is a twin-engine, tandem-rotor search and rescue (SAR) helicopter used by the Canadian Forces from 1963 until 2004. It was a variant of the Boeing Vertol CH-46 Sea Knight designed and built in the United States. A search and rescue version was purchased by the Royal Canadian Air Force in the early 1960s and became known as the Labrador. Soon after, the Canadian Army acquired a troop and cargo version known as the Voyageur. In the mid-1970s, these army machines were replaced by CH-147 Chinook heavy lift and transport helicopters and the Voyageurs were transferred to the air force when Air Command was formed in 1975. They joined the Labradors on search and rescue duties and all were modified to a common search and rescue standard.
Picture above was taken at the Canadian Aviation Museum in Ottawa. From their website :
Labrador #301, the first to enter service with the Canadian Forces and the last to retire, was delivered to the Canada Aviation Museum in July, 2004 and marked the retirement from active service of the illustrious Labrador fleet. Its place in Canada’s national aeronautical collection is a tribute to the men and women of the Search and Rescue community who risk their lives on a daily basis to save others.
Today in aviation history – August 26, 1982
The Anik D1 satellite is launched by Telesat Canada to provide television signals across the country. A Hughes Aircraft HS376, Anik (which means “little brother” in Inuktitut) D1 was retired in 1991.
Telesat Canada launched a number of Anik models between 1972 and 2007 with 3 still in operation. Launch vehicles included Delta, Ariane and Proton/Breeze-M rockets and 4 were launched from the Space Shuttles – Discovery, Challenger and Columbia.
Today in aviation history – August 25, 1928
A Ford Trimotor (similar to the one above) crashes into the Pacific near Port Townsend, Washington. The airliner was operated by British Columbia Airways and flew the Vancouver-Victoria-Seattle run. The service had only started 9 days earlier.
Today in aviation history – August 24, 1932
Amelia Earhart begins the first solo, nonstop flight by a woman across the United States from Los Angeles to Newark, New Jersey. The flight took 19 hours and 5 minutes, setting a women’s distance record of 2,447 miles.
Today in aviation history – August 23, 1954
The first flight of the venerable Lockheed C-130 Hercules takes place at Burbank, California.
In 2007, the C-130 celebrated 50 years of continuous service. Over 40 models and variants have been produced over the years.
Pictured above is a C-130H flown by the Canadian Air Force. I took this recently at the Trenton air show.
Today in aviation history – August 22, 1970
Two Sikorsky HH-53C helicopters complete a non-stop transpacific flight of 9,000 miles (14,484 km) using in-flight refuelling.
During past space programs, the HH-53 was on duty at the launch site as the primary astronaut recovery vehicle. Designed for search and rescue operations (SAR) the HH53C was known as the “Super Jolly Green Giant”.
Today in aviation history – August 21, 1953
Marine Lt. Col. Marion Carl flies the D-558-2 Skyrocket experimental aircraft to a (then) altitude record of 83, 235 feet at a speed of Mach 1.728.
Today in aviation history – August 20, 1941
RCAF No. 415 Squadron was formed at Thorney Island, Hampshire, on August 20, 1941, and until the summer of 1944 had a torpedo-bomber role and served with Coastal Command. Originally flying Beaufort I’s, it progressed through Hampdens, Wellingtons, Albacores and Halifax bombers.
The squadron was disbanded in 1945 and re-formed in 1981 to fly CP-107 Argus, CP-140 Aurora and CP-140A Arcturus reconnaissance aircraqft based out of Summerside, PEI. The 415th made an appearance at the 2008 Wings and Wheels Heritage Festival for the Canadian Air & Space Museum.
One of my shots of the CP-140A on its arrival.