CAHS Toronto Chapter MeetingBusiness and Annual Elections

All members of CAHS, MuseumMembers and Guests are very

Welcome!A “Landing Fee” of $2.00 will be

charged to cover meeting expenses

May 14, 2011 – Saturday 1:00P.M.

Canadian Air and Space Museum65 Carl Hall RoadDownsview Park Toronto

Next meeting October 2011 – date TBA

Transit: Bus 101 from the Downsview TTCSubway Station (8-10 mins.)Meeting Info: Bob Winson (416) 745 – 1462

http://www.cahs.ca/chapters/toronto

Volume 45Number 7

May 2011

Newsletter of CAHS Toronto ChapterA Division of The Canadian Aviation Historical Society

Flypast

Speaker: Charles PetersenTopic: “Freedom’s Wings Canada”Providing people with disabilities the

opportunity to fly

See Chapter News for More on the CAHFInductions for 2011

Flypast V. 45 No. 7

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April Meeting: ThirdAnnualCAHS Toronto Dinner Meeting

The BCATP Story --- “The Aerodrome ofDemocracy”Special Guest Speaker: Author & Historian TedBarrisReporter: Gord McNulty

Forty-five Chapter members and guestsenjoyed our third annual CAHS Toronto DinnerMeeting, at the Royal Canadian Legion Branch#527 Toronto. The event was most successful,with good conversation and fellowship, and theChapter executive was encouraged by theturnout. Chapter President George Topple,master of ceremonies, welcomed everyone.Tom Nettleton said grace, followed by a toast tothe Queen. Everyone enjoyed an excellent roastbeef or vegetarian lasagna meal, prepared by thehard-working staff of the legion. Joined by theaudience, George extended wishes for a happy90 birthday to longtime CAHS member LouWise, who is still flying. George thanked BobWinson, his wife Bernice and son Greg for theirefforts in organizing the event and herecognized Ken Churm for suggesting thechoice of the Legion as the venue. George alsorecognized Chapter member Bill Bartlett, aSecond World War Halifax flight engineer andBCATP trainee, and his family.Also recognizedwere immediate Past President Howard Maloneand a former President, Tony Nelson. Specialrecognition was given to Bill Wheeler, namedthis year to Canada’s Aviation Hall of Fame.George reminded everyone of the much-anticipated Sixth Annual Wings and Wheels atDownsview Park, May 28 and May 29. TheToronto Chapter will have a display booth andvolunteers are needed.

George then introduced special guestspeaker, Ted Barris, of Uxbridge. Anaccomplished journalis t , author andbroadcaster, Ted is the author of 16 non-fictionbooks. For nearly 40 years, his writing hasregularly appeared in the national press ---

, , as well asmagazines as diverse as , ,

, and . Hehas also worked as host/contributor for CBCRadio network programs and on TV Ontario.Ted is a full-time professor of journalism atToronto’s Centennial College.

Ted’s books include a series on wartimeCanada: ay,

;; : ’s Role in

the Allied Air War;; and

.All have received critical acclaim and bestsellerstatus. His 16 book, ;Veterans’ Untold

, was published in 2009 and is alsonow a bestseller. Ted's non-fiction writing hasalso been twice short-listed for the CanadaHistory Prize, awarded in memory of PierreBerton. One of his books,

),was co-authored with his father, Alex (1922-2004), a television actor, broadcast journalistand writer. Ted is an active member of theRCAF Association, the CAHS, and an honorary

th

th

TheGlobe and Mail National Post

Legion Air Force

esprit de corps Quill and Quire Zoomer

Juno: Canadians at D-D June 6,1944 Days of Victory: Canadians Remember1939-1945 Behind the Glory Canada

Deadlock in Korea:Canadians at War, 1950-1953 Victory atVimy: Canada Comes of Age, April 9-12, 1917

Breaking the SilenceStories from the Great War to

Afghanistan

Making Music(Profiles from a Century of Canadian Music

Speaker Ted Barris Reading From His BookPhoto - Neil McGavock

Flypast V. 45 No. 7

3

member of the Korean War VeteransAssociation of Canada. He has received manyawards for his writing, contributions toCanadian military history and communityservice.

Ted began his dynamic presentation,illustrated with many scenes from the BCATP,by asking the audience to recognize all of theveterans. Focusing on , Tedasked pilots, former and current, in the audiencewhy they chose to fly. They gave various replies--- born to fly, wanting to defy gravity, doingsomething good for humanity, and claiming apiece of the sky. Ted noted that many aspiringpilots thought about having the greatestfreedom and about the romance of flying.

The pre-World War II era was a time ofpioneer aviators such as Charles Lindbergh andAmelia Earhart. The great airship, the R-100,made a trans-Atlantic crossing in 1930, visitingplaces such as Toronto and Montreal. The firstrotary winged aircraft --- Pitcairn autogyros ---arrived in Canada in the early 1930s.Barnstormers like Walt Leavens would takepeople for airplane rides, inviting passengers to“See Your Town From the Air” for the price of apenny a pound. In 1933, the Italian aviatorGeneral Italo Balbo brought a flotilla of SavoiaMarchetti seaplanes from Italy to Chicago andback to promote fascism. Hawker Furys of theRoyalAir Force toured Canada in 1934.

Ted told the story of Al Stirton, a dear friendwho passed away last year, to show how youngpeople caught the aviation bug. Stirton, in early1940, became a flying instructor, one of the firstin the BCATP, at the Elementary FlyingTraining School in St. Catharines. He probablytrained 125 to 150 pilots.Among them was noneother than P/O John Gillespie Magee, whowrote before he died at age 19 whenhis Spitfire collided with an Oxford in Englandin December, 1941.

Quoting from , Ted notedthat Stirton, a Saskatchewan farm boy, wassmitten by flying entirely by accident. One dayin the fall of 1930, he saw a small airplane landin a neighbour’s stubble field. Lo and behold,the pilot offered him a ride, a thrill for a 12-year-

old boy. From then on Stirton dreamed ofbecoming a pilot. He learned to fly, but gettinghis pilot’s licence was a painful experience.

Stirton gained his start when the Canadiangovernment prepared for war by offeringprivate flying clubs a $100 grant for everystudent pilot who received a licence. He saw anewspaper ad, placed by the Moose Jaw FlyingClub, offering to split the grant with anyaspiring pilots. He managed to find a required$150 cash to take a course and was soonairborne in a ten-year-old Gipsy Moth with DickRyan, a First World War fighter pilot whomanaged the club. After seven and a half hoursof dual instruction, Stirton did his first soloflight. In November, 1938, he took his privatepilot’s test from an examiner visiting MooseJaw from Edmonton.

In those days, Stirton remembered, noexaminer dared risk his life by riding in theairplane with a student, but stayed on the groundand ‘observed’the flight from the seat of his car.Stirton was told to climb above the aerodrome,do a medium turn to the left, then one to theright, followed by a steep turn each way; thenput the aircraft into a spin and recover; then flyto a collegiate about one and a half miles distantand back; then circle a water tower in figure-eight turns; then do a spot landing back at theaerodrome.

At one point, Stirton noticed the instructor,Bob Eddie, speeding towards the Gipsy Moth inhis car. Eddie leapt out of the driver’s seat andtore a strip off the pilot trainee for turning tooclose to the ground. The instructor advised himto side-slip to gain some height. Unfortunately,Stirton had never been taught how to side-slip.On the second approach to the field, he throttledback, turned the Gipsy Moth to line up with thespot marked by the examiner, noticed he had abit too much height and lowered his left wing toslip sideways down closer to the ground.

“Suddenly, the aircraft stalled and sank like abrick,” Stirton recalled. “I had forgotten tolower the nose to maintain flying speed as Icame out of the side-slip, and the poor GipsyMoth hit the ground so hard that theundercarriage was punched up into the fuselage.

Behind the Glory

High Flight

Behind the Glory

Flypast V. 45 No. 7

4

The wings drooped onto the grass. And Icracked three ribs.” The crash nearly endedStirton’s flying ambitions but he went on to gainhis pilot’s licence. By May, 1939, he hadaccumulated 70 hours on airplanes at the MooseJaw Flying Club. He earned his commerciallicence before starting his distinguished BCATPcareer.

Established in December, 1939, the BCATPwould become Canada’s largest expenditure inthe Second World War. Canada spent $1.75billion on the plan between 1939 and 1944.Canada, the U.K., Australia and New Zealandwere the four major countries. Prime MinisterMackenzie King was shown symbolicallypinning wings on the first graduate out of acourse in Ottawa in honour of the creation of theplan on Dec. 17, 1939. Why Dec. 17? Lo andbehold, Ted discovered that Dec. 17 was Mr.King’s birthday! King wrote in his diary that hehad, on a “memorable birthday,” establishedone of the greatest plans the war had ever seen.He was right, but he took far more credit than hedeserved. Posters went up, recruits arrived andtraining stations opened at 231 locations acrossthe country.

Canada operated as many as 11,000 aircraftand no fewer than 104,000 Canadians wereemployed from coast to coast. The Planproduced at least 131,553 trained aircrew over5½ years. It was, Winston Churchill said, themost decisive factor in winning the war. U.S.President Franklin D. Roosevelt, a strongsupporter of the BCATP, sent a congratulatoryletter to King on its third anniversary. Seekingthe best words, FDR turned to the Canadianembassy for help. Diplomat Lester B. Pearsonfamously coined a phrase lauding Canada as the‘aerodrome of democracy” which FDR used inthe letter. An incredible consolidation of effortwas involved to train teenaged recruits tobecome pilots, observers or navigators, wirelessradio operators, gunners, riggers and fitters.

Ted said that every training station was acookie-cutter replica of the next. The barracksbuildings and hangars at Picton, Ontario, forexample, were the same as those at Brandon,Manitoba, (now home to the BCATP Museum).

One of the first tasks of the recruits was to learnhow to march. Marching drill seemed a longway from the air war over Europe, but themilitary brass insisted on it. The weather didn’tmatter --- recruits marched in chilling cold andblazing sun. They were also assigned to guardthe stations before moving to the next level atInitial Training School (ITS). Recruits weremoved into streams as pilots, observers,gunners, and so on.

They learned how to master a stiff challenge--- the Link trainer. Although it made one of thegreatest contributions to the BCATP, the Linktrainer has tended to be overlooked. EdwinLink, its inventor, was the son of an organmanufacturer in upstate New York. Thebellows, which force the air into the pipes, arethe most important component in a pipe organ.Link considered the bellows to be an artificialpiece of sky, creating a bellows of air beneath avehicle that simulates a cockpit. By installingthe same kinds of controls that would be in a realaircraft, you could train a pilot. If he “lostcontrol and crashed,” so to speak, he would besafe in a simulator. Link demonstrated hissimulator at amusement fairs, thinking it wouldimpress the United States Army Air Corps(USAAC). Surprisingly, the USAAC wasn’tinterested. However, the BCATP purchasedhundreds of them. Link not only becamewealthy, he also saved the lives of many pilotswho otherwise would have died in actual flyingmishaps.

After ITS, pilots went to Elementary FlyingTraining School. Conditions could be primitive,

Fleet Finch Mk. IIPhoto - No. 6 RCAF Museum - Dunnville Airport

Flypast V. 45 No. 7

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especially in the early years. Tiger Moths andFleet Finches sometimes were flown out ofmuddy farm fields in the spring. Recruits wentto Service Flying Training in aircraft such asHarvards, Yales and Battles. Multi-enginedtraining was conducted on Ansons, Cranes,Oxfords, and Bolingbrokes. Airmen then wenton to Operational Training Units in Canada andoverseas, ultimately into Lancasters andHalifaxes.

Ted Arnold was born in Canada. His dad wasa seismologist, involved in research looking foroil. Arnold, his father and family were doingseismic research in Venezuela when the warbroke out. Arnold, 18 or 19 at the time, waseager to return to Canada and desperatelywanted to become a fighter pilot overseas. Afteran arduous trip back to Canada, Ted enlisted inthe BCATP. He graduated in the top tenpercentile of his class, figuring that he’d soon beflying a Spitfire or Hurricane. It wasn’t to be.Ted was so good that his file was stamped “toovaluable to lose.” The air force considered himso effective an instructor that he was kept inCanada. Arnold’s case exposed what ourspeaker called one of the great myths of theBCATP --- the suggestion had always been thatthe worst pilots, navigators, wireless engineersor whatever stayed behind to becomeinstructors. It was exactly the opposite! Mosteveryone who graduated in the top 10 percentilestayed behind to become the next generation ofinstructors.

Arnold liked to get down close to the deck inthe Harvard. He would leave Dunnville and fly

to Port Dalhousie, site of a prisoner of war campwhere the Germans would dig peat moss.Arnold and his buddies loved to simulatestrafing runs to scare the Germans. Once, theyflew so low that a German threw his shovel atthe Harvard and almost brought the aircraftdown, as the shovel embedded itself in thecowling. “Strafing” was extremely dangerous.On June 30, 1945, a Harvard was simulating astrafing run over an army truck convoy nearKingston. The captain in command of the armyunit leapt on the cab of the truck to direct thedefence of the convoy. The Harvard passed overthe truck, struck him, and killed him. Then theHarvard crashed, killing the pilot. This incidentwas caught by a photographer moments beforethe captain was hit.

“Cap” Foster, another instructor, was a full-blood Mohawk. He was frustrated by being heldback for two years as an instructor and liked tofly aerobatics. Once in 1941, Cap and a buddyactually decided to loop the Rainbow Bridge,off-limits airspace, just before it opened. Asthey were entering the Niagara Gorge, Caprealized the netting was still below the bridge, asthe construction wasn’t finished. Althoughthere was very little room between the nettingand the river, they managed to dive down andget away with a full loop under the bridge. Theyclimbed back into the clouds and were gonebefore anyone could record the Harvard’snumber. Cap eventually managed to fly aSpitfire and won the DFC overseas.

The BCATP attracted as many as 6,000Americans prior to the attack on Pearl Harbor.Many of those who trained here went back to theU.S. Army Air Force and became the nucleus ofthe aircrews who fought in Europe. The BCATPalso attracted Royal Norwegian Air Forcecadets, within four months of being driven fromtheir homeland and across the English Channelin April, 1940. They trained at the “LittleNorway” barracks on Toronto Centre Island. Asmany as about 1,000 young Norwegian airmencame to Toronto. In fact, the blond, blue-eyedsingle gentlemen became quite a distraction!Torontonians enjoyed taking the ferry across thechannel to watch the young airmen train andGate Guardian Harvard at Dunnville

Flypast V. 45 No. 7

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they invited them to parties and dinners.As boattraffic grew in the harbour, sooner or later therewas bound to be a problem. One day in 1942, aNorwegian Northrop floatplane took off into thesun. The instructor and the trainee didn’t see theferry passing in front of them. Theaircraft clipped the ferry, went into the water,and the airmen were killed. That was the end ofLittle Norway in Toronto. The base wasrelocated to Muskoka.

Women weren’t allowed to be BCATPinstructors, but there was one exception:Margaret Littlewood. She had been a hobbyflyer, got her private licence, and startedworking at Gillies Flying Service out of BarkerField as an instructor. When the war began, allof the small private airfields were closed inorder to meet the demand for military aviationfuel. Littlewood faced the prospect of returningto a department store for work unless she couldfind a job as an instructor. When a friend told herto send her resume to all of the Air ObserverSchools, Littlewood sent nine resumes to nineschools. All but one refused her. The EdmontonAOS, managed by legendary bush pilot WopMay, accepted her. He recognized that herqualifications mattered much more thanregulations. Littlewood went on to train airmenand airwomen for all of the years that theEdmonton AOS was open. The only womaninstructor in the Plan, she recently celebratedher 95 birthday. Ted described her as awonderfully vivacious, incredible woman,more than capable of handling any wisecracksfrom the men. She convinced the skeptics by herskill, sensitivity, calm demeanour and ability toteach student pilots to recover control on theirown after making a mistake.

The BCATP soon attracted the interest ofHollywood moviemakers. Warner Brothers,like FDR, supported Canada’s participation inthe war, prior to Pearl Harbor, and decided that afeature movie about the BCATP would showtheir support. They produced a hokey script for

about a bunch of bushpilots in northern Quebec whose business wasbeing hurt by the war. They would visit aBCATP training station, teach the young guys

how to fly, lead squadrons overseas to end thewar, and return to business. James Cagney wasone of the bush pilots. He and other pilots areshown in the movie arriving at Uplands to enlistin the RCAF after buzzing the station. Theyfinally land, demand to lead the squadrons, andare told they are too old. But they are allowed tobecome instructors. The rest of the movie,produced in 1941, shows how they grappledwith the realization that they couldn’t fly incombat but could be instructors.

What is fascinating is that all of the air-to-airfootage, all the air-to-ground footage, andground-to-air footage was shot by BCATPinstructors flying the actual training aircraft.The film didn’t use models and simulatedbackgrounds that would normally be expected.Remarkably, Ted noted the instructors didn’t getany credit at all in the movie. The BCATP itselfwas acknowledged, but not the instructors. TwoHollywood stunt pilots, Paul Mantz and FrankClarke, refused to do the flying when theyrealized the instructors were better than theywere.

In one Wings Parade scene, Air MarshalBilly Bishop pins wings on LAC Tom Wallnutt.Bishop gives credit to each recruit, wishes himluck, and gives a stirring speech about theimportance of their contribution. It is aninspiring speech, apparently written by Bishophimself. The movie debuted in February, 1942at the Strand Theatre in Times Square, completewith the RCAF Central Band and PrecisionDrill Team. Unfortunately, the film wassomewhat overlooked as America was nowpreoccupied with responding to Pearl Harbor,but it was an extraordinary movie from ahistorical perspective. The flying scenes areincredible and the aircraft are really impressive.

Ted mentioned Charlie Konvalinka, whoenlisted in downtown Toronto. He wanted toconvince the recruitment officer that he waspilot material. The one question Konvalinkadidn’t expect was why he wanted to join.Konvalinka thought the guy wanted him to say“to shoot down Nazis.” Instead, Konvalinkagave him an honest answer. He said that hepassionately wanted to learn how to fly the great

Sam McBride

Captains of the Clouds

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Flypast V. 45 No. 7

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aircraft in the Plan. The recruiter wasconvinced. Konvalinka graduated in the top tenpercentile and served for nearly two years as aninstructor at four or five stations. His favouriteaircraft was the Harvard --- “the best trainingaircraft on the planet” --- and he becamesomething of an expert on it.

Konvalinka eventually made it overseas. Hetold Ted of an incident when he and severalhundred other former flying instructors wereassembled for a briefing in a motion-picturetheatre at the seaside town of Bournemouth.When the pilots had taken their seats, out camean RCAF officer --- a flight lieutenant likeKonvalinka --- to begin the session. Heproceeded to lambaste the instructors as a“bloody bunch of cowards” who didn’t “havethe guts to do what we do. To fly on a straightand level when everybody’s shooting at you, ortake on the enemy in a fighter one-on-one.” Thetheatre remained silent. Konvalinka felt hisblood boiling. “We’re the brave ones. You’renot!,” the presiding officer continued.Konvalinka couldn’t restrain himself foranother second. Before he realized what he wasdoing, he had called out, “And who, for Christ’ssake, taught you to fly? God?” The officerpeered out into the theatre in search of thespeaker: “Who said that?” he stormed.Konvalinka stood up immediately and said tothe sea of astonished faces around him, “I did. Isaid it!”

That incident exemplified the problematicrelationship between the men who fought thewar and those who trained them. Ted said therewas a sense that somehow instructors werelesser, or second-class, or people who haddodged the fighting. Of course, it wasn’t true ---the air force had made them too valuable to loseoverseas. This lack of recognition inspired Tedto call his book . The coverphoto shows the first group of BCATPinstructors at St. Catharines. Ted said many ofthese instructors, especially those who servedfor four or five years, probably had as many asten times the number of flying hours thatcombat aircrew did. When instructors appliedfor airline jobs with TCA and Canadian Pacific

after the war, they were told the jobs werereserved for pilots who had flown in combatoverseas. Instructors, Ted said, were notconsidered legal veterans if they did not leaveCanada during the war --- even those whoserved in the RCAF. They didn’t get veterans’benefits until they turned 65. One wireless radioinstructor once received a call to fly toNewfoundland to help a crew get home.Newfoundland wasn’t part of Canada then.However, because he left Canada for one night,the instructor qualified as a veteran and receivedbenefits! Ted noted he had heard of someexceptions, but generally speaking, that was thepolicy.

Some instructors became well-known. Theyincluded entrepreneur J.J. Barnicke, actor andbroadcaster announcer Bill Walker, and CFRBannouncer Bob Hesketh. Ted had to persuade areluctant Hesketh to discuss his career as aninstructor in Manitoba. Hesketh felt he wasn’timportant. He had simply taught young menhow to fly and that didn’t compare to thedangers faced by the aircrew overseas. Hesketheventually told Ted that he had avoided reunionsof air force veterans, as the discussion wouldinevitably focus on the combat experiences offighter and bomber crews. Instructing seemedunexciting in comparison. Years later, Heskethdecided to get a physical at SunnybrookHospital. The young doctor, commenting onHesketh’s service as an RCAF pilot,pronounced: “Were you one of those guys whorained death and destruction on those innocentpeople of Germany?” Hesketh held his tonguefor a second, and then explained that he was aninstructor. He added that he hadn’t been onBomber Command over Germany, but if he’dhad the chance to go, he would have. It was thenthat Hesketh realized what he had done wasimportant and how proud of his contribution hewas.

Ted, answering questions, said heinterviewed probably 400 to 500 instructors.Although many had quietly disappeared into thewoodwork, their stories are now on record aspart of Ted’s research and determination topublish and to ensure that

Behind the Glory

Behind the Glory

Flypast V. 45 No. 7

Canada’s instructors are recognized. The bookincludes a full chapter on the making of

. Ted thanked BlueHeron books for bringing a full selection of hisbooks. Sales were brisk and Ted was delightedto sign them. Bob Winson, presenting Ted with agift in appreciation, noted that Ted had spokento the Chapter seven years ago about his book

Ted promises to beback, undoubtedly bringing more of his passionfor the stories of Canadians at war.

***Correction: The report on Richard Banigan’spresentation on Postwar Canadian Lancasters,in the April Flypast, stated on Page 4 that theOrenda-engined Lancaster 10O made a flypastat the CNE air show in 1950. In fact, Richardrecalls that the ‘Jet Lanc’ was unveiled at an airshow at MaltonAirport. Richard’s father pickedout a choice spot to watch the aircraft on theobservation roof of the old airport, as close aspossible to the Avro Canada plant. Dave Cook,in his 2010 book,states that the Jet Lanc appeared twice at Maltonair shows Sept. 16, 1950 and Sept. 15, 1951. TheToronto Flying Club was the sponsor and theSeptember date in 1950 was chosen to coincidewith the 10 anniversary of the Battle of Britain.The crowds respectively were 30,000 and80,000. Thanks to Richard and Bob Winson forthis additional information.

***

Ed Rice grew up in Toronto during WorldWar II. He remembers seeing Lancasterbombers flying quite low over the city. Edexpanded his interest in aviation by makingbalsa kit models as well as producing ahomemade MiG-15 in the early 1950s.Following his older brother, Ed joined the aircadets during high school. He enjoyed the lightaircraft flights from Toronto Island which wereamong the rewards for diligent cadets. Onememorable highlight of air cadets in the mid-fifties was a flight in an RCAF Dakota at

Crumlin (London, Ontario). During this samesummer camp trip, he photographed a derelictMe 262 behind a hangar at RCAF Aylmer. Thephoto is long gone, but the once-deadly fightermade a lasting impression and German WWIIaircraft --- especially the 262 in all its phases ---have been an enduring interest of Ed’s.

Ed joined the Canadian Warplane HeritageMuseum (CWHM) at Mount Hope and didsome cleaning of Lancaster VRA, the MynarksiMemorial Lancaster, then being restored toflying condition. While he was at CWHM, a tripto a Confederate Air Force air show atHarlingen, Texas, netted him a 90-minute flightin the B-17 Texas ” Ed had a chance totake over the controls while flying up toHouston over the Gulf of Mexico. He found thatthe Fortress was indeed a heavy aeroplane. Healso sat in the nose- and tail-gunner’s positionswhere he gave full rein to his imagination.At theCAHS convention in Calgary, Ed enjoyed aflight in Clark Seaborn’s Cabin Waco, againbriefly taking control.

Ed married into an aviation family. Hisfather-in-law, Reg Spence, a wartime Mosquitopilot, was best-known as the former longtimemanager and CFI of the Hamilton Flying Club.Ed joined the CAHS in 1981 and attended mostof the Toronto Chapter meetings. He served invarious functions on both the Toronto andNational Boards and was an associate editor ofthe . Ed’s contribution to the CAHSculminated when he served as nationalPresident from 1997 to 2004. Ed made his livingas a general insurance agent for more than 40years. He lives inAjax.

Captains of the Clouds

Juno: Canadians at D-Day.

Fading History, Volume 2,

“ Raiders.

Journal

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Spotlight on a Member: Ed Rice

Ed's Ride: B17 Texas RaidersPhoto - CA Pilotfriend

8 Flypast V. 45 No. 7

Chapter News May 2011

Returning Member

Tony Nelson

Chapter Elections

Bob Winson

Messages from the President

April 2011 Dinner Meeting

Ted Barris

Canada’sAviation Hall of Fame

Mr. William J. (Bill) Wheeler

Canada

Sheldon Benner

The Chapter is extremely pleased towelcome back as a member ofCAHS Toronto Chapter. Tony is known to manyof you and remembered as the ChapterPresident during 2000 -2001. Tony recentlyretired as a teacher and has started up a Bed &Breakfast facility in Fenelon Falls with partner,Muriel Jones. Good luck to both of you from theChapter.

Our May 14 meeting is also our AnnualBusiness and Elections Meeting. Pleaseforward your nominations to the ActingElections Clerk, . Circumstancesthis year make it very important that some newpeople step forward to stand for election tobecome a member of the Chapter’s ExecutiveCommittee. The Chapter is facing someupcoming retirements from the ExecutiveCommittee and “new faces” are required tomaintain the vitality of the Chapter.

Our 3 Annual Dinner Meeting was anextremely enjoyable night this year for themembers and guests attending. Author /Historian kept everyone thoroughlyentertained and informed on the subject of theBritish Commonwealth Air Training Plan,which was such a marvelous Canadiancontribution to the Allies war effort in WWII.Your Chapter Executive very much appreciatedthe warm response to the dinner meeting andhope to be able to plan a similar event for 2012.

The Hall is having its 38 Induction Ceremony& Dinner on Thursday May 26 at the CanadianWarplane Heritage Museum, HamiltonInternationalAirport. Of exceptional interest tothe Chapter is that one of our most prominentmembers, , will

be one of the inductees at the ceremony. Bill, asyou may know was a founding member of TheCanadian Aviation Historical Society, editor ofthe CAHS Journal for 45 years and as wellgained an international reputation as the keysource for Canadian aviation historicalknowledge.Individual tickets to the event are priced at

$225.00. If at all possible, I urge Chaptermembers to attend and support Bill in his formalinduction into Canada’s Aviation Hall of Fame.A tax receipt will be issued for each ticket sold.Also, each ticket purchaser will be recognizedas a “Friend of the Hall” for a one year period.

Ticket ordering and information can beobtained from ’s Aviation Hall of FameP.O. Box 6360 Wetaskiwin,AB T9A2G1; Tel 1-780-361-1351 ext.241; Fax 1-780-361-1239.Website;

Wings & Wheels Heritage Festival, DownsviewPark May 28,29CAHS Toronto Chapter will be having a boothat Wings & Wheels. Please stop by and say“hello” to the Chapter volunteers manning thebooth. The new air force C-130J “Hercules” isexpected to put in an appearance.

CAHS National Convention June 22-26Edmonton,AlbertaFor those Chapter members not attending theconvention, the Chapter Executive Committeerecommends that you name Chapter First V-P

as your proxy when you returnthe Proxy Form to CAHS President DanielleMetcalfe-Chenail. Sheldon will be attending theconvention and conducting business on behalfof CAHS Toronto Chapter. All CAHS membersare encouraged to take a strong interest in theaffairs of CAHS to ensure the health and growthof the organization of which the TorontoChapter is a significant contributor.

Dr. George Topple, Chapter President

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Directions to the Canadian Air & SpaceMuseum

By TTC: From the Downsview Subway Stationtake Bus 101 (Parc Downsview Park) whichenters Parc Downsview Park and stops right atthe museum’s front door. Time enroute is 10minutes.

By Taxi: Take the TTC Subway to theDownsview Subway Station and take a taxifrom there. It will cost around $9.00 one way,but it is a good option for tourists as the taxi willtake you directly to the museum.

By Car: From the 401 Hwy East or West, exit atKeele Street North. Turn right on SheppardAvenue, and follow Sheppard to the entrance ofDownsview Park (first traffic lights). Turn rightinto the park (onto John Drury Drive) until youreach Carl Hall Road. Turn left at Carl Hall andcontinue east over the railway tracks to theMuseum, which is on your right hand side.Parking is available at the front of the Museum.If you continue past the museum and turn rightthere is a large parking lot at the rear of themuseum.

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President: Dr. George Topple2 Vice-President, Secretary, & Archivist /Historian: Neil McGavock

Directors: Murray JolliffeDonald Lawrence

President george.topple@gmail.com

Websites - www.cahs.ca/chapters/toronto

nd

1 Vice-President: Sheldon BennerTreasurer /Memberships: Bob Winson

Flypast Reporter: Gord McNultyFlypast Editor: Matt Clark

Programs / Meetings / Membership Informationrwinson@sympatico.ca (416) 745 - 1462

www.torontoaviationhistory.com

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Contacts

CAHS Toronto Chapter Executive 2010 -2011

Flypast V. 45 No. 7