FLYING! Sooner than you…

…think.

AND WHEN it does, it will be the only flying Bristol Bolingbroke in the world!

Put that in your pipe and smoke it!!

COAST PROTECTORS and TRAINERS… that's what these twin-engine bombers were used for in Canada.

RCAF CANADIAN BOLINGBROKES were manufactured by Fairchild Aircraft Ltd., Longueil, PQ. Canada. The Quebec factory built a total of 687 Bolingbrokes between 1939 and 1943.

The Pic shows us the FUTURE, the PRESENT, and the PAST.

SEE Assembly Video:
www.thespec.com/news/local/article/307111--monumental-ass...

Victory Aircraft LYSANDER Flies… in Hamilton!

Finally.

What's been the hold up?

Certification.

There is only one guy in the world (apparently) that can certify these babies. He resides in England. And he has to come over here, be lodged, wined and dined etc. Eventually, he gives the wave to the Lysander. And then declares her worthy.

The cost? $100, 000 CDN!

Yup, that's what I thought. Cheap—

So the Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum will split the cost with Vintage Wings of Canada.

Say what?

Why is another museum, one based in Quebec, gonna help out with the Ontario museum's cert?

There's a SECRET here. Shhh……

TWO LYSANDERS are going to be certified at the same time! The service costs of the "guy" will be shared.

Where there was none… there'll be two—

TWO FLYING Lysanders now in Canada.

Both made in Toronto, in 1942.

Only in Canada, you say…… pity ~

The Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum Lysander flew this past Tuesday! June 9, 2009.

At 4:15 pm, Rob Erdos (Vintage Wings of Canada) flew the Canadian Warplane Heritage's Westland Lysander C-GCWL on its first flight since restoration. The flight last 44 minutes.

The first public flights are scheduled at the CWH Museum's Flyfest event on June 20 & 21, 2009.

… and, one more thing… there seems to be no mention of the Vintage Wings of Canada Lysander. And why did a pilot from "Vintage" fly the CWH Lysander?

My guess. A surprise is coming, folks!

Look for TWO FLYING Lysanders at Flyfest 2009 in Hamilton, on June 20 and 21.

Wouldn't that be the illustrious!

Be there… or be [ ].

TRIVIA

"Most of the world's few surviving Lysanders are ex-RCAF.

Lysanders were affectionately know as "Lizzies" and their distinctive appearance caused some people to divide aircraft into two classes - airplanes and Lysanders! " (© 2009 Canadian Museum of Flight.)

The above photo is an old file photo.

In response to my article above, which was written AFTER I had spoken to an former Argus pilot who relayed all of the above MINUS the conclusion of two Lysanders flying simultaneously, I have been corrected by a secret CWH member. The correction follows below.

AND I didn't just make this up, folks. I trusted a former Argus pilot, since my dad once had Argus pilots in his command, in the illustrious 404 Squadron of the RCAF .

NOW, here is the CORRECTION:

Anonymous said...

After reading your blog (not that we often do at CWH, but someone told us about it), we felt we had to reply.

Let's start at the top - finally, after 34 years I guess it is about time, but when it is mostly volunteers who do the work under the guidance of a small engineering staff, these things take time. Certification has been slow from former engineering staff over the years due to work load. Mike Charters took over as a part-time (temporary) Chief Engineer in April 2008 for a short term and said this thing has to fly and had full support from the CEO Dave Rohrer.

A volunteer staff again undertook the long task of going over the work of 3 different restoration crews and the final inspection was carried out by the new full-time Chief Engineer Jim Vandyk as well as Rick Rickards and Mike Charters. It was then a long process to prepare the paperwork for Transport Canada.

Wayne Juniper of Transport Canada recently issued the flight authorization. No conspiracy theories here, no British influence (Oh sorry, Rick was born in England) and no $100,000 split! Rob Erdos from Vintage Wings of Canada was invited by Mike Charters and Dave Rohrer to do the test flight as he is a professional test pilot for the National Research Council. Vintage Wing's Lysander has no fabric on it currently but it may fly in 2009. Definitely not in time for our event as nice as it might be! That's the facts folks! But come out and see it fly at CWH on Father's Day weekend where it will fly as part of CWH's Heritage Flight (formation of Lancaster, B-25 Mitchell, Firefly & Lysander)! It will be a sight to behold!

June 14, 2009 2:19 PM

:::.. SPIED... in the Sky

MY CAMERA.... everywhere ~

Was this the BEST BRITISH Fighter of… WW II?

Was the P-51 Mustang the best British fighter plane of WW II?

SAY WHAT?

The P-51 was an American fighter produced by North American Aviation of California!!

Nope.

Not, exactly.

Eventually.

But for first 117 DAYS of her infancy, only the British were interested in her!

WORLD WAR II was really heating up in March of 1940, and more P-40s were needed for the war effort. Desperately.

Curtis Aircraft, who manufactured the P-40 Tomahawk, was already at full capacity, so North American Aviation (NAA) was asked by Sir Henry Self of the British Government Purchasing Commission if they would tool-up to produce more P-40s for the RAF.

One task, among Self's many assigned tasks, was to organize the development and manufacture of American fighter aircraft for the RAF.

NAA President "Dutch" Kindelberger who had approached Sir Henry in the high hope of selling their new medium bomber, the B-25, to the British… was blindsided by Self’s request for P-40 production.

“Dutch” took the British request to his chief designer.

Ed Schmued, then Chief of Preliminary Design at North American didn’t think much of that.

"A Curtis aircraft produced in our buildings? Nope."

Since it would take 120 days to tool-up for the P-40, Ed assured “Dutch” that the team at North American could produce a BETTER aircraft, from scratch, with the same engine, in less time.

The British mulled this one over.

Sure NAA had produced countless Harvards as needed, and North American’s facilities were underutilized, but a new fighter in less than 120 days? That seemed delirious, to put it kindly.

Well, someone in the British High Command thought NORTH AMERICAN AVIATION could do it because the go-ahead was given.

NAA received a call from Sir Wilfred Freeman of the British Ministry of Aircraft Production and his order for 320 units of the “new” aircraft ensured the aircraft would go into production. The aircraft, then known as the NA-73X, was to be called “the Mustang” by British request.

Trouble in the hen house.

The USAAC (United States Army Air Corps), of course, got word of the new fighter, and it had the veto power to block any foreign sales it viewed as not being in the interest of the Republic. And it did.

Now, what would the British do?

Bargain.

The British proposed the terms and the USAAC eventually accepted.

The USAAC would get two free Mustangs for evaluation purposes, and the RAF would get their 320 (plus 300 more) Mustangs without any delivery interruptions.

BRITISH INVOLVEMENT later improved the Mustang design because the British altered their Mustangs with better engines (aftermarket Merlin 61s) and added aftermarket “Malcolm Hoods” (or the bubble canopies) that were already appearing on their late model “Spits”, Tempests and Typhoons. Then the British demanded the Americans follow suit.

Afterall, better meant much faster (433 mph) and bubble canopies meant the pilot could see behind himself as well.

After putting British Merlins (Packard Merlin V-1650 engines) into production P-51Bs by replacing the Allison engines… North American Aviation adapted the “Malcolm Hoods” with their own elongated teardrop canopy design. This eliminated the back decking which had proven to be a blind spot, and was previously found behind the pilot's canopy.

The "evolved" P-51, the P-51D was thus born (see the photo above) and became the definitive P-51 design we all know and love.

The Americans and their Allies knew the P-51 was a clear "winner". It was everything the USAAF had hoped, and had been waiting for. It could even be the long-range fighter escort American bombers needed over Reich territory.

So with a resolve seen from no other nation on earth, America quadrupled production of their Mustang until 15, 000 P-51s (all variants) were eventually produced.

Hermann Göring, Head of the German Luffwaffe noted,

"When I saw Mustangs over Berlin, I knew the jig was up."

I guess so.

On a lessor note, many of the 158 P-51s still flying today came into the civilian market from the RCAF.

The Way We Were ::: 1939 ::: CANADA

The Way We Were ::: 1939 ::: CANADA

On September 3rd, Britain, France, Holland, Australia and New Zealand declared war on Germany.

On September 4th, Britain's Royal Air Force began its first attacks on German warships.

On September 5th, the United States of America made an announcement declaring its neutrality.

On September 9th, it was learned that two Canadian women were on the unarmed ocean liner, SS Athenia," which had been sunk by German U-boats.

On September 10th, CANADA declared war on Germany independently of the British Commonwealth declaration.

TWO INNOCENT Canadian women died… and IMMEDIATELY the whole country rallied for war.

Wow…how times have changed!

Waffle… waffle… waffle…

Afghanistan… should we stay… should we go… heck only 24 INNOCENT CANADIANS died in 9/11. Remember an Afghan Taliban government that supported al-Qaeda in those years, and also gave those murderers safe harbour!

ANYWAYS…back to 1939, when men were still men…and we didn’t have politicians like Liberal Michael Ignatieff who called the Canadian 9/11 victim’s families “a sideshow”.

Then again the Liberals are more likely to care about Taliban detainees… than about Canadian soldiers, the Canadian victims of 9/11, or furthering democracy worldwide.

CANADIAN 9/11 victim MAUREEN BASNICKI responded to “Iggy” (who never did apologize, by the way) on a talk show that aired on February 27, 2007.

“Sideshow? I was a victim of terrorism. My husband was murdered.”

Our heartfelt condolences for your loss, Maureen, and additionally our condolences for the embarrassing response of the Chrétien Liberals who were masquerading as our Federal government back then…

Again…back to 1939, when men were still men…

Well, we had to start our war somewhere back then.

So Canada, and the RCAF, started it with the Bristol Bolingbroke!

The Bristol-developed Blenheim IV was “adopted” by the RCAF for coastal reconnaissance in 1939. The "Boly" was produced, as the Bolingbroke, in Canada, until 1943, under license by Fairchild Aircraft Ltd. then located in Longueuil, Quebec.

THE FIRST BOLINGBROKE entered service with the Royal Canadian Air Force in November of 1939.

Patrols were flown on the Atlantic and Pacific coasts and a Bolingbroke became involved in the first successful RCAF attack of a Japanese submarine (R032) on July 7, 1942. This Japanese sub was sunk with the assistance of the US Navy on Canada's Pacific Coast. And those BC folk thought they were so safe!

BOLINGBROKES served throughout the war as bombing and gunnery trainers, and as target tugs in the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan.

Production of this aircraft, with its then modern, stressed skin design, initially caused some difficulty for our Canadian workers, who previously had no experience with this particular type of construction.

A total of 676 Bolingbrokes were eventually built, in seven different variations.

And now, again we’re…

Going. For. Broke.

But we’re only trying to build ONE this time!

The work on this Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum Bolingbroke continues slowly. Sections of the aircraft are in various stages of completion and in particular the Museum needs engines for her “Boly” !!

Pratt & Whitney, SB-4G, R-1535, 14 cylinder twin Wasp Juniors to be exact–

Only 15 Bolingbrokes were built with these engines, and all were flown by the “City of Hamilton” Squadron.

If you have these engines, or anything Bolingbroke related, and/or a generous heart, contact the Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum at (905) 679-4183.

“We want our Boly… We want our Boly… We want our Boly…finished!”

Where the hell are all the corporate sponsors for this historical, and most worthy project? !!!

INSET images were taken from the 1945 movie, “Son of Lassie” starring Peter Lawford with a young June Lockhart (future Lost In Space mom)… and all are Canadian Bolingbrokes, of course!

In the middle: The Canadian Warplane Heritage "Boly" goes "visiting" on the back of a trailer.

‘nuff said.

© CAM
© CWH
© Wikipedia
© Special Projects IR
© Warner Brothers and Turner Entertainment

:: The MIGHTY Iroquois ::..

CANADIANS look at the handiwork of your Federal Government in the 50s!

Although Dassault Mirage had already ordered 300 of these SUPERIOR PERFORMANCE Orenda Iroquois Engines (pictured above) your imperious government ordered the cancellation of this incredible order!

An additional, malicious, governmental directive was given to the RCAF to destroy all engines, manufacturing molds, existing parts and blueprints for the Iroquois!!

If you look closely, you’ll see where two blowtorch holes were cut into this side of the engine, to render it useless forever.

The Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum, where this engine now resides, has faithfully restored the Iroquois to its former glory and Plexiglas has been placed over the cutter’s holes to preserve this dark moment in Canada’s aviation history.

This engine was to be scrapped at the time…but someone secretly it shipped off to Hamilton Airport in 1959 when it was still RCAF Station: Mount Hope. And somehow, through the years, it remained hidden until the early 80s when someone decided to see what was in those “damn” containers over by the fence.

To everyone’s horror…it turned out to be two MIGHTY IROQUOIS!

The other Iroquois was acquired by the Canadian Aviation Museum in Ottawa.

Technology acquired from the Orenda Iroquois helped advance jet engine development for all time, and was made in right in Toronto, at Orenda, which is now Magellan Aerospace on Derry Rd.

The GLORIOUS PAST Flies Overhead…

…and THE MOB below is oblivious.

“Why would you write such a thing?” asks Barb, incredulous that I toss out ANOTHER INSULT…kinda like some folk toss about footballs.

TOO MANY people today have forgotten the sacrifices of the past…and don’t recognize the sacrifices of today that PATRIOT CANADIANS have always made…and will always make to keep…“the True North strong and free!”

And let’s not forget the prayer found in our national anthem,

“God keep our land,
Glorious and free!"

AMEN to that–

FLYFEST 2007:::Hamilton

…THERE WERE some nice "birds" in the air and SOME NICE "chicks" on the ground!

AND DON'T GET ALL JUMPY…it's……jus'…Grumpy.

BEST FLYFEST 2007 quote: "Listen to the sound of that "thing" (the B-25)…it sounds like a very large, BAD-ASS motorcycle.

NEVER quite heard it put that way before…but THE ENGINES of that era actually do sound like that, very, very GUTTERAL ~

No Dam TOO FAR!

THEY'LL never understand…

THEY say they do.

But YOU KNOW they don’t.

They just haven’t had the LANC EXPERIENCE yet.

So, let’s break it down for them.

The aircraft pictured above is an AVRO LANCASTER that was built, nearby, in Toronto at Victory Aircraft.

Of the 7, 366 Lancasters (all types) built back in the day, this is the only one that still flies in North America.

That’s right…of the THOUSANDS built in Canada and Great Britain during World War II…THIS is it.

There are a few “Lancs” on static display, somewhere…but this IS the only FLYING EXAMPLE, again, over here in the Americas!

Seeing a “Lanc” start up, roll forward, head out to a runway, and then fly overhead constitutes participating in the “Lanc Experience”.

That means you have participated in History and connected “mystically” with all those others who went before us, and who “lived” that experience, and made our history, whether friend, or foe, during the war.

NOW, IF YOU WANT, you can travel to England in grand fashion, and for about $2,700 CDN per person (all expenses paid) you can “get” the “Lanc Experience” over there, and see the ONLY OTHER flying Lancaster in the world.

Or, for a couple of tablespoons of gas, and $10 per person you can travel on over to Hamilton, Mount Hope specifically, to the Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum on this June 16th or the 17th, and get your “experience” there!

So when veterans recount war tales, or WW II is discussed, in books, newspapers and “on-line”, or you see movies like the “Dambusters” due out in 2008, you’ll have experienced personally, first hand, the sounds, sights, and smell of World War II and Bomber Command.

YOU’LL NO LONGER have “yellow canaries” flying about your head when World War II enters the discussion and you haven’t got a clue what everyone else is talking about!

You’ll know…because you’ve been there…

Mystically ~

ONE MORE thing you need to know to get the FULL “Lanc Experience”.

The Lancaster JUST ISN’T any ole’ plane out there…denuding our fragile environment and cluttering up our skies like the "horrendous" Cessna 152 does.

No.

The “Lanc” became the MOST FAMOUS and successful NIGHT BOMBER of World War II, "delivering 608,612 tons of bombs in 156,000 sorties (bombing missions)." The Lancaster was also used, at times, for daylight precision bombing.

The Lancaster garnered worldwide attention in 1943 during “Operation Chastise” when she took out Germany’s most important dams. Factories as far away as forty miles were immediately flooded, and a serious shortage of water occurred. This severely crippled the German “war machine” at the time.

Other Facts YOU NEED to know:

• B X version of the Lancaster: The B X (pictured above) was a Canadian-built B III, differing in having Canadian/US made instrumentation and electrics. Also on later batches, the Martin 250CE was substituted for the Nash & Thomson FN-50 mid-upper turret. The greater weight of this turret necessitated moving the turret forward for C-of-G balance reasons. Canada was a long-term operator of the Lancaster, utilizing modified aircraft in postwar maritime patrol, search and rescue and photo-reconnaissance roles until 1963.

• The test pilot Alex Henshaw is the only known pilot to have barrel rolled a Lancaster bomber, a feat considered almost impossible because of the slow speed of the aircraft.

• During the war, Lancasters carried out a total of 156,000 missions and dropped 608,612 tons of bombs. This was double what the Handley Page Halifax, the other major bomber used by the Royal Air Force achieved. In the four years of combat service 3,249 Lancasters were lost in action and another 487 were destroyed or damaged while on the ground. Only 24 Lancasters completed more than 100 successful missions.

• While only 7, 366 Avro Lancasters were made during the war…more than 30 MILLION die-cast and model Lancasters have since been purchased by an adoring public.

SOURCES: Wikipedia, Canadian Warplane Heritage, AVSIM.com, and Special Projects In Research

FIREFLY…But Not In The Garden~

♦ Fireflies in the Garden ♦

Here come real stars to fill the upper skies,
And here on earth come emulating flies,

That though they never equal stars in size,
(And they were never really stars at heart)

Achieve at times a very star-like start.
Only, of course, they can't sustain the part.

–Robert Frost


The FAIREY FIREFLY was most definitely a real star of WW II and the Korean War, filling enemy skies, where she served as a carrier-borne reconnaissance fighter.

The ROYAL CANADIAN NAVY acquired 65 of them for anti-submarine purposes. Detection and destruction of subs, that is.

The RCN used them from 1946 - 1954…and as it was the FIRST AIRCRAFT acquired by the Canadian Warplane Heritage…this aircraft is also featured in their logo!

'nuff said –

ILLUSTRATING in Photoshop…

…using Photoshop ACTIONS.

Start with a corrected photo and an "action" you like which you've download from Actions Central.

Unzip the PHOTOSHOP ACTION which is only a few "k" as a script or atn file, and is then "dragged and dropped" into the Photoshop Actions folder, that resides within the Photoshop CS Application. The "action" is then loaded…and the action is executed…from the ACTIONS PALETTE.

THIS WAS CREATED using Comix Actions … by Andy Purviance..

THROW AWAY the created white layer and then erase the unwanted and unnatural elements of the resulting illustration–

==== INVASION STRIPES ===

D-DAY. Invasion of Europe. June 06, 1944

ALLIED AIRCRAFT (Canadian, American, British, Australian, and Polish etc.) were painted with the white and black “invasion stripes” like the Canadian B-25 above.

The purpose of the five alternating bands of white and black stripes on the wings and fuselage of ALLIED AIRCRAFT were to help trigger-happy Allied soldiers identify “friendly” planes and therefore not open fire on them.

(This B-25 has a few "riders"…and is headed for downtown Toronto where it will pass through, go out Niagara way, and then return to Hamilton)

––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

ADDITIONALLY…British pilots thought it was a bad idea for American P-51s to enter the fray with metal finish, or unpainted aircraft.

“Ah mate, the Jerries will see you coming for miles!”

The American response was unexpected.

“Good…we want them to see us!”

The American P-51 pilots were quite proud of their high performance Mustangs–

‘nuff said ~

ISLAND in the Sun

HIP…HIP…FLYING toward an Island In The Sun …

(Post-production of this photo – STREETSVILLE, Ontario by Paul Cardin)