AVRO CANADA "STAT", yes… long before the Concorde, and long before the "Concordski", there was…

The Avro Canada STAT… and there it is above—

And something called a Space Threshold Vehicle. Goodness!

What the hell was that??

PROGRESS lost…
Such a cost…
Give me things,
That don't get lost ~

Sorry, Neil.

These additional remnants of Avro Canada glory (there's always more stuff to look at), all days gone by now, I'm afraid. This VISUAL reflection (graphic) is courtesy of Jim Floyd.

Jim has been the Keeper of the Avroite Kingdom through the decades.

JIM FLOYD was Avro Canada's former Chief Design Engineer. Back in the 50s, Jim received aviation's prestigious Wright Brothers Medal for his groundbreaking work on the Jetliner and became the first non-American to receive it. And like an Old Testament prophet of the past, he sometimes shows up unexpectedly at Avroite, or other notable Canadian aeronautical gatherings. And when he gets his chance to speak, he looks out at the crowded gathering, and he points to us while thundering, reminding us that WE, WE, gave away Avro Canada and all her fine achievements.

And there I am, just as I'm about to pop my World War II souvenir SS cyanide pills, you know, to end it all, Jim bellows, and points at me,

"That's not the answer!"

I look at him. His eyes are fierce and like burning charcoal.

He is cradling a model of of the C-102 Avro Canada Jetliner under his arm.

"But, Jim"…I weakly respond, "There never was an Arrow, all of Diefenbaker's cabinet said so…"

"THERE WAS AN ARROW!!!!!!!! And A JETLINER, and AN AVROCAR, and A CANUCK, AN ORENDA and a AN IROQUOIS… and a whole lot of other things!!!!!!! You have no idea!"

Jim continued,

"YOUNG MAN, get rid of your despair, and throw off your apathy!! THE FUTURE, I repeat, the future is wide open!!!"

And with that, he hurls, hurls, his Jetliner model right at me.

I have no time to move. OR THINK. CLUNK! (no pun intended), the Jetliner hits me square in the forehead! And like being hit by Canadian boxer Eggerton Markus… down. I. Go.

I awake, a day later, in the hospital.

The attending staff tell me I had a seizure, and they can't explain the welt on my forehead.

They attempt to console me and tell me, it probably happened when I fell to the ground. I attempt to correct them. I tell them no, that I was actually hit by an Avro Jetliner.

And like any other no-nothing dummies, this nation turns out in droves, they ask me what's that?

"Well, you know, from Avro Canada. The people that produced the Arrow, produced the Jetliner first. It was the first jet powered airliner in North America, and the second in the world, at the time."

"What", the young doctor scoffs, "Before the Americans?"

"Nurse, 200 cc ----------------------, stat… stat!!"

"Hey, hey…", I respond, just barely conscious, "You know about the STAT?"

Silence

Parents are channeling their kids these days…I'm see a lot of bettering of the intellect…but I'm not seeing a lot of bettering of their spirituality.

How many can appreciate the repose of soul, resignation and silence of Jesus that is illustrated by the great Ariel Agemian above.

A ancient mob cries,

"If you release this man, you are no friend of Caesar; for everyone who makes himself a king sets himself against Caesar!"

That mob of 2,000 years ago takes many forms today.

Jesus, imprisoned then...and imprisoned now.

Silence, at so many levels, becomes the ultimate revolt against the vast climate of evil that surrounds us...and that Christian act of justified witholding disturbs the "peace" of the pagan.

The residents of the Secular City eventually come seeking affirmation from the City of God.

Of course, none is given.

At times, limited forms of affirmation may be given. For some of the actual good that is being done in that city.

But many times none is given. Just silence.

Ix-nays.

Now it should suprise no one that eventually that sort of milieu leads to reprisals against the City of God, by the secular crowd. Often violent.

Or in Canada...false Human Rights Tribunals that punish a person for publically living out his faith.

Whenever religion is supressed, like it is in North America, especially Christianity, look for the communist. Or the secular humanist. In a free society...they're always behind the scenes pushing their "neutral" atheistic agenda. And persecuting Christians along the way.

See folks, times haven't changed.

——————————————————————————————

MOSTLY CHRISTIANS struggle against personal sin, but every once and a while we have an enemy we can look right into the eyes. Fascists, Nazis, Communists, Islamists…Secular Humanists…

Oh…and someone once asked me how do you juggle Avro, the Arrow, the RCAF, Jesus and Catholicism?

Answer: I'm a complex and…complete person.

But aren't all these somewhat opposed to eachother?

Answer: Not in my world.





© Imitation of Christ, Thomas à Kempis, Confraternity of the Precious Blood
(Original artwork reworked, colourized, text and border added by me.)

There SHE is.

The SILVER DART.

100 years later.

Replica.

In Hamilton, Ontario.

YHM.

Yes, safe inside the world famous hangar of the Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum, being disassembled as NWAII looks on, to be crated and sent on to Baddeck Bay, Nova Scotia for its 100th Anniversary celebration flight, a mere two weeks from now on February 23, 2009.

What IS the Silver Dart besides being a “Drive” (road) around the inside perimeter of Toronto’s Pearson International Airport?

From the Canadian Encyclopedia:

“The Silver Dart, was the first powered, heavier-than-air machine to fly in Canada; designed and built by the Aerial Experiment Association (Oct 1907-Mar 1909) under Alexander Graham BELL (yeah…the same Canadian guy who invented the telephone), a flight enthusiast since boyhood.

After several successful flights at Hammondsport, NY, early in 1909 the Silver Dart was dismantled, crated and brought to Baddeck Bay, NS, the Bells' Canadian home. The "aerodrome" (Bell's preferred term) had a 14.9 m wingspan and an all-up weight of 390 kg, pilot included.

J.A.D. MCCURDY was the principal designer and pilot; Glenn H. Curtiss developed the water-cooled engine, an advance on the association's earlier experiments. Pulled on230to the ice of Baddeck Bay by horsedrawn sleigh on Feb 23, the silver-winged machine rose on its second attempt after travelling about 30 m, flying at an elevation from 3 to 9 m at roughly 65 km/hr for 0.8 km.

Over 100 of Bell's neighbours witnessed the first flight of a British subject anywhere in the Empire.

The Silver Dart flew more than 200 times before being damaged beyond repair upon landing in the soft sand of Petawawa, Ont, during military trials in early Aug 1909. The engine was later retrieved and restored and is now on display at the National Museum of Science and Technology in Ottawa. A full-scale model of the Silver Dart may be found in Ottawa's National Aviation Museum.” (Norman Hillmer)

Former Canadian Space Shuttle astronaut Bjarni Tryggvason flew the newest Silver Dart replica, just a few metres above Hamilton runways, on both Friday and Sunday. Incidentally this replica was built by a group of volunteers from Welland Ontario. And one of those volunteers is incidentally related to J.A.D. McCurdy, the Dart’s original pilot!

Another replica of the Silver Dart crashed in 1959 from flight instability originating from the airplane’s nose. The nose of any version of the Silver Dart has a strong tendency to move up and down uncontrollably, and Bjarni Tryggvason has wind-tunnel tested and engineered some changes from the original aircraft’s design to correct this flaw.

Other minor changes were made to the replica aircraft as well.

Nylon has replaced the original Dart’s silver coloured silk, and oddles of HOCKEY TAPE help keep the ancient design together. Where the reader can see stick framing surrounded by black splotches on all the aircraft’s joints, that is, hockey tape doing its thing!

Real Canadians use hockey tape, NOT duct tape, Mr. Green.

Oh and Bjarni and company…do tell the media and public when you decide to fly your beastie!

We really are interested in any Silver Dart flight…if you only give us a chance!!

I had to drive at breakneck speed, avoid two head-on collisions, and ended up mowing down two unsuspecting old ladies on the outskirts of Mount Hope…just to get to the Museum, and for what? You had already flown the Dart.

The disassembly was fascinating to watch though.

One stick at a time–

Flight 621: And the “stars” fell from the skies…

THERE IT IS…a sad, sad, symbol and reminder of the unfinished business of Flight 621.

Bone bits and aircraft bits are still found in the Flight 621 crash “arena “ to this day!

This farmer's field is littered with thousands of them.

Here lies a blue, broken, Air Canada stir stick, normally finished off on the top with a prominent star. Now only a broken and battered star. And the stir part…long gone. Or buried still.

Once used for cocktails on those premium 1960-70s flights, “Galaxy” referred to Air Canada’s connosieur flight class. The passenger cabin’s ceiling on those specially themed DC-8s were actually molded in blue plastic. Reflective flecks of silver were added to them, and these sparkled (stars) when you gazed upwards at the DC-8's ceiling from the safety of your seat.

BUT ON July 5, 1970…thirty-eight years ago today, the stars fell from the sky.

And crashed, in Castlemore (Brampton), Ontario.

All 109 passengers and crew of Air Canada Flight 621 lost their lives that day.

Somewhere Over the Rainbow


Flight 621 In Memorium

Adams, Celine Fradette
Adams, Pierre J
Beaudin, Gaetan
Belanger, Mrs.
Belanger, Jacques
Belanger, Jean
Belanger, Roland
Belanger, Rosanne
Benson, Helen
Benson, Leonard
Benson, Mary
Benson, Richard
Bertrand, Ginette
Boosamra, Lynn
Boulanger, Guy
Bradshaw, Dollie
Cedilot, Robert J
Chapdeleine, Jeannine
Chapdeleine, Joanne
Chapdeleine, Mario
Charent, Jean Maurice
Clarke, Devona Olivia
Cote, Francine
Daoust, Yolande
Desmarais, Brigitte
Desmarais, G
Dicaire, Alice (Marie)
Dicaire, Gilles
Dicaire, Linda
Dicaire, Luke
Dicaire, Mark
Dion, Suzanne
Dore, Jacqueline
Earle, Lewella
Earle, Linda
Filippone, Francesco
Filippone, Linda
Filippone, Marie
Gee, Bernard
Goulet, Denise M
Grenier, Madeleine
Growse, Jane
Growse, Roger
Hamilton, Karen E
Hamilton, Peter Cameron
Herrmann, Ronald Alvin
Hill, Harry Gordon
Holiday, Claude
Houston, Irene Margaret
Houston, Wesley
Jakobsen, Vagn Aage
Labont, Gilles
Leclaire, Marie Rose
Leclaire, Oscar
Leduc, Henri W
Lepage, Claudette
Mailhiot, Claire Gagnon
Mailhiot, Gerald Bernard
Maitz, Gustave
Maitz, Karoline
McKettrick, Winnifred
McTague, John
Medizza, Carla
Mohammed, Dolly
Molino, Antonio
Molino, Michael (Michel)
Moore, Frederick T
Partridge, Andrea
Partridge, Carnie (Carnis) Ann
Partridge, Cyril Wayne
Phillips, Kenneth William
Poirier, Rita
Raymond, Gilles
Raymond, Martial
Robert, Aline
Robert, Georges E
Robidoux, Lionel
Rowland, Donald
Silverberg, Marci
Silverberg, Merle
Silverberg, Steven
Simon, Istvan
Simon, Mark
Smith, Dwight Lee
St. Laurent, Blanche
Stepping, Glenn Thomas
Sultan, Celia
Sultan, Jerald. M
Sultan, Robert. L
Szpakowicz, Borys
Szpakowicz, Serge
Tielens, Carmen
Tielens, Frederick
Tournovits, George
Tournovits, Soula (Athanasia)
Weinberg, Carla
Weinberg, S
Weinberg, Wendy
Whittingham, Jennifer
Whittingham, John
Whittingham, Reginald
Whybro, Mary Baker
Wieczorek, Hildegund
Witmer, Edgar
Wong, Ngar-Quon
Wong, Suzie
Wong, Wong (Mansing)
Woodward, Dallas J

FOR MORE on this UNBELIEVABLE STORY in our day, and age, see:
FLIGHT 621