| The Canadian Aviation Historical Society |
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From the Desk of the Executive |
The Canadian Aviation Historical Society is pleased to invite you to our annual convention in Kingston, Ontario, Wednesday 21 June to Saturday 24 June 2023. We are looking forward to what promises to be an exciting event, building on the traditional excellence of our conventions as reflected in our rewarding and successful gathering at Winnipeg in 2022.
Registration is now open, using this form. Registration for in person attendance is only $240 and includes the Wednesday reception, lunch for three days, and the Friday banquet, plus the tours. Registration for online attendance is $75 and includes access to all convention sessions via Zoom, but not the tours. Recordings will be made for sessions where the presenter grants permission, and these recordings will be available to all attendees after the convention, where possible. A link for hotel reservations is provided below. We still have a small number of speaker slots available. The convention is open to all: university students, aerospace industry professionals, academics, professionals in aviation or heritage associations, and aviation enthusiasts of every kind. Our focus will be on history, but we welcome proposals addressing current aviation or aerospace issues. If you're interested in speaking, please complete our speaker form. If you have any difficulty with the form, you can email your information to CAHS Convention.
The convention opens with a Meet and Greet on Wednesday evening. Reconnect with your friends and meet aviation enthusiasts from across Canada at this informal evening. On Thursday a bus will take us to Trenton, Ontario, where we will tour Canada's largest air force base and the National Air Force Museum of Canada. The CC-177 Globemaster, the CC-150 Polaris, the CC-130J Hercules, and the CH-146 Griffon are all based at Trenton. We are also planning a tour of the air force museum, featuring one of the only two restored Handley Page Halifax bombers. The museum also features an extensive air park of retired RCAF aircraft. Convention sessions start Friday morning, and continue until Saturday afternoon. Our annual banquet will take place on Friday evening. More information will be coming soon.
Reservations for the convention hotel, the Quality Inn & Conference Centre Kingston Central, are now available.
Call 613-546-3661 extension 0, and identify yourself as a Canadian Aviation Convention attendee to get the special rate of $169 plus taxes, or use this link to book online.
The cut off for the convention rate is 22 May, after which the rate is no longer available. Attendees should book early. |
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Jim Bell, National Secretary and Convention Coordinator, Canadian Aviation Historical Society |
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Click the button above, then click on the little magnifying glass to begin your search. |
| Click the button above or, if you have a smartphone, simply point its camera app at the on-screen QR code to donate via mobile. |
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From the Desk of the Journal Editor
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Volume 58 Number 2, featuring Nightfall by Cher Pruys as cover art, will go to final proofreading within the coming week. Both the print and digital editions of 58-1, which have recently been delivered to members' mailboxes and inboxes, are now available for non-members to purchase from the CAHS.com e-shop here: Journal 58-1 instant download Journal 58-1 print edition by mail Work continues on the remaining two numbers of volume 58 while our team of associate editors are busy putting together the whole of volume 59 to help us fast-track it to publication. In the meantime, new article proposals and submissions continue to trickle in. At this rate, we have no fear of running out of interesting Canadian aviation history for at least a few years beyond Volume 60. |
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Terry Higgins, Creative Director, Website Administrator, CAHS Journal Managing Editor and Graphics Director, Canadian Aviation Historical Society |
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From the Desk of the Treasurer |
The CAHS is pleased to announce that we have arranged with Login Canada a 15% discount on selected aviation titles in their inventory. Use this link to browse the 24 titles Login Canada has made available to CAHS friends and members. Then, simply add the books you wish to purchase to the cart, proceed with checkout for payment, and have them shipped to your home. Don't worry about any notes regarding a title being out of stock; this simply means stock will come from another location and might take a little longer to ship/arrive. The CAHS will receive 5% of proceeds on these books directly from Login Canada as a fundraiser. CAHS member Roddy Mackenzie has recently had his book, Bomber Command: Churchill's Greatest Triumph, published. This book is included in the Login Canada selection (link above) made available to the CAHS at a discount. Read further down this newsletter for some reviews of Roddy's book, which tells the story of Bomber Command from its genesis as an idea to its impact on Germany's ability to fight in the Second World War. Congrats Roddy on your publication! |
Cordially, Dr. Rachel Lea Heide, National Treasurer, Canadian Aviation Historical Society |
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Reviews of Bomber Command: Churchill's Greatest Triumph by Roddy MacKenzie: |
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CAHS 2023 Aviation Art Calendar
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Artifact Information Request
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The Medicine Hat Chapter is looking for information on a wind vane that was discovered at the municipal airport. For more information and ways to get in touch, please click here. |
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Education Opportunity with Danielle Metcalfe-Chenail
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| Calling all teachers, librarians, and museum programming folks! CAHS past-president and author, Danielle Metcalfe-Chenail, would love to connect with your classes, community groups, summer camps, and more either in-person (generally in the Halifax region) or virtually.
Pick from one of her existing 30-60 minute sessions on writing, publishing, and aviation - or contact her to dream up new ideas. She offers interactive and inclusive presentations with lots of time for Q&A. For younger kids (ages 3-7) these are centered on her bestselling picture book, Alis the Aviator, and include a downloadable/printable craft. Danielle is also adept at working with kids up to 11 years old (Grade 5).
For more information, please visit her website www.daniellemc.com and email her here.
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| Author Roger Gunn tells the story of Victoria Cross winner Alan Arnett McLeod's service with the Royal Flying Corps/Royal Air Force in the First World War. This presentation was given to CAHS Manitoba in January 2022. Roger Gunn has written the books: Raymond Collishaw and the Black Flight Masters of the Air: The Great War Pilots McLeod, McKeever, and MacLaren via Kyle Huth
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| The Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum extends a gracious thank you to supports and highlights the restoration work ahead as they work to make their collection airworthy. |
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| After a 36-year long career, Brian Losito, Air Canada photographer, retires.
via Terry Higgins
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| Calgary Museum Hit by Damage and Theft
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The Hangar Flight Museum has seen some tough times as of late, experiencing damage to their tent structure and theft of military commemorative plaques. To learn of ways to support the museum, please click here. by John Chalmers,
CAHS Membership Secretary |
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| The Montreal Aviation Museum has a new LEGO model of the Global Express 7500 on display in their reception area. Built by member Marc-Andre Bouilanne who worked at Bombardier for 10 years and wanted to pay tribute to the world famous Canadian business jet. To read about the project and vote to have it become a LEGO product for purchase, please click here. by Dr. Rachel Lea Heide, CAHS National Treasurer |
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| Iconic YYC Sculptures looking for new home.
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Calgary's International Airport is decommissioning two giant wind-up tin toys and the artist, Jeff deBoer, is looking for a new home for them. The toys were once part of a flash mob video with Westjet, which can be viewed here, and will be decommissioned this May. Anyone interested can contact Jeff deBoer Sculptures by email. via Andrea Wiseman,
CAHS Webmaster/Data Management
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The 100th anniversary of the establishing of the RCAF occurs on 1 April 2024. The RCAF 2024 Team are curating a year-long program that includes International, National and Regional events, such as the RCAF Run, RCAF Gala, Legends of the Sky, and allied air demonstration team participation in Air Shows across Canada, as well as activities to Inspire future generations of Canadians through STEM initiatives, such as the RCAF Gaming Tournament. A website has been set up to share the preparations that are taking place as part of the celebrations, including historical highlights, events being scheduled, and centennial merchandise that will be for sale. You can visit the website here. by Dr. Rachel Lea Heide, CAHS National Treasurer |
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RCAF Centennial Documentary
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Toronto filmmaker Bob Barrett is producing a documentary for the RCAF Centennial next year. For the video, Bob is looking to connect with any centenarian veterans who flew during the war, whether fighter aircraft or other types. In particular, if there are any centenarian veterans who flew flying boats such as the Canso or Catalina on Canada’s east or west coast as well. Bob can be reached by email here. |
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Canadian Aviation Moments |
Here are the questions and answers to this month's Canadian Aviation Moments: |
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| Question 1: Who was the greatest fighter in the Royal Naval Air Services during the First World War?
Source: Canada’s Fighting Airmen, pg. 59-60 (Drew) |
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| Question 2: Which versions of the Consolidated PBY were used by RCAF during the Second World War? Source: Jericho Beach and the West Coast Flying Boat Stations, pg. 269 (Weicht) |
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| Question 3: What did Operation Hydra, a highly significant raid that was conducted on the 17/18 August 1943, entail?
Source: No Prouder Place, pg. 261 (Bashow) |
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Spoiler alert - the answers to this month's questions follow. Skip the rest of this section and come back later if you wish to guess/research the answers first. Good luck and have fun! |
ANSWER 1: “Lieutenant-Colonel Raymond Collishaw,, C.B.E., D.S.O. and bar, D.S.C., D.F.C., Croix de Guerre (French), the greatest fighter in the Royal Naval Air Service was, like Bishop, a Canadian. He is the true D’Artagnan of British airmen, his whole life being one of continuous adventure. Although only twenty years of age at the outbreak of war, he had already been to the Antarctic with one of the Polar expeditions and sailed as second officer on the Alaska run from Victoria, at a time when the passengers to and from the Yukon were still a fascinating mixture of success and failure, and gave those who came in contact with them a broad experience in human strength and human weakness.”
Source: Canada’s Fighting Airmen, pg. 59-60 (Drew) |
ANSWER 2: “The name “Catalina”, denoting the flying boat version of the PBY, was used by the United States Navy and the Royal Air Force, but the RCAF rejected the name in favour of “Canso”. The amphibious PBY-5A was dubbed by the RCAF as the Canso A. In spite of this official nomenclatures, confusion often arises over which aircraft is being referred to in Station diaries and other recorded information. Generally speaking a Catalina was a Flying Boat and Canso was the amphibian." Source: Jericho Beach and the West Coast Flying Boat Stations, pg. 269 (Weicht) |
ANSWER 3: “Code-named Operation Hydra, as the name implies, the intent was to conduct a decapitating strike on the secret research and development facility for the V2 rockets at Peenemunde, where Hitler had recently started focusing a tremendous portion of the Reich’s industrial output on his so-called vengeance weapons. The raid was unique for a number of reasons. Since it was being directed at a specific facility, it demanded precision, and for that reason, the attack took place in bright moonlight and in a relatively low altitude attacking band, between 6000 and 10,000 feet. Window was again used to stymy the German defences, and a diversionary or “spoof” raid was conducted in advance on Berlin in an effort to draw the night fighters away from the intended target.” Source: No Prouder Place, pg. 261 (Bashow) |
Select a chapter to discover what they have been up to since the last newsletter. Many of our Chapters remain very active on Zoom with presentations every bit as good as they would be if we did not have pandemic restrictions to deal with! |
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Special Thanks To Our Supporters |
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In addition to its members, contributors, and newsletter subscribers, the CAHS is thankful for the ongoing support of its Corporate Members, Museum Members, and Partner Organizations, as well as the many individuals and organizations whose financial donations are so generously given. If you would like to become a Corporate Member or Museum Member - or if you know an organization that might like to join - we are always happy to receive new applications. Please use the hyperlinks above to learn more about our corporate members and partner organizations. Corporate Members: |
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Follow us on Facebook and Twitter |
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If you have changed your mailing or e-mail address, please get in touch to keep us up to date. Contact the Membership Administrator here. To enquire about membership payment records, contact the Treasurer here. Click here to renew immediately online, or to join as a new member. If you would like to register or renew by mail, printable forms are also available in the bottom area of this page on our site. If you have any aviation history-related news or events to share, please contact our newsletter editor here. Please feel free to forward to friends and family members, or encourage them to sign up on our website to receive the newsletter directly for FREE. We hope that you enjoy receiving this monthly newsletter and find the contents informative and enjoyable. If you no longer wish to receive it for any reason, please use the unsubscribe option below to have your email address removed immediately from the mailing list. |
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The Canadian Aviation Historical Society (CAHS) P.O. Box 2700 • Station D • Ottawa • Ontario • K1P 5W7 visit us at www.cahs.com The CAHS is incorporated as a Canadian Registered Charity under a Federal Charter with the business registration number 118829589 RR001 |
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