| The Canadian Aviation Historical Society |
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From the Desk of the Executive |
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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 will be open soon. 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, subject to technical limitations. In the meantime, we ask that you complete this attendance survey, even if you plan not to attend the convention. Your responses will help us make the convention better. We are seeking speakers to make presentations to our convention. 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 one of the forms on this page. 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 C-17 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, will be available soon for $179 per night, plus taxes. |
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. |
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From the Desk of the Journal Editor
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Volume 58 Number 1 (covers and feature title pages illustrated above) is now in the mail to all traditional members. The digital edition will be available on our website members-only area in the coming days, and all current members – both traditional and online-only – will receive the usual notification and link via email shortly. For non-members, both the print and digital editions of 58-1 will be available in the CAHS.com e-shop later this coming week. Volume 58 Number 2, featuring Nightfall by Cher Pruys as cover art, will go to final proofreading soon. |
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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 |
March is Women's History month, so I would like to take a brief moment to reflect on places to learn more about contributions that women have made to Canada's aviation history. A great first place to explore is Canada’s Aviation Hall of Fame website where female inductees include Rosella Marie Bjornson, Helen Marcelle Harrison Bristol, Maryse Carmichael , Lorna Vivian deBlicquy, Vera Elsie Strodl Dowling, Kathleen Carol Fox, Elizabeth Muriel Gregory MacGill, Marion Alice Orr, Julie Payette, Moretta Fenton Beall Reilly, Shirley Linda Render, and Vi Milstead Warren. In 2017, the CAHS put together a list of 150 aviation books in celebration of Canada's 150th birthday. That list is still available. Check out the books on the list written by Liz Muir, Shirley Render, Crystal Sissons, and Joyce Spring. The CAHS would also like to expand/update our list, so if you know of any additional book titles about Canadian women's contribution to aviation history, please pass them along. I would also like to point out the contribution of a number of CAHS member female artists to our annual CAHS Aviation Artists' calendar over the years. These include Helene Girard, Priscilla Paterson, Cher Pruys, and Virginie Tanguay. Thank you for generously sharing your talents with our fundraising initiatives over the years. By the way, we still have copies of the 2023 CAHS Aviation Artists Calendar in stock, so you can still pick up a copy of the 13-month, full colour calendar. Two CAHS authors have books available (discount prices) about women in Canadian aviation. See the thumbnails below for quick links to purchase Liz Muir's Air Crazy and Air Crazy Too, and Danielle Metcalfe-Chenail's children's book Alis the Aviator. Keep watching future newsletters for new book offers that I am working on making available. I hope that you found this piece informative about where to learn more about women's contributions to Canada's aviation history. Please pass around to other interested readers, including youth so we can inspire the next generation! If you would like to suggest other women to highlight in future newsletters (or perhaps even CAHS Journals), please contact me - I would love to hear from you! |
Cordially, Dr. Rachel Lea Heide, National Treasurer, Canadian Aviation Historical Society |
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CAHS 2023 Aviation Art Calendar
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Air-Crazy: Fascinating stories of Canadian women in the air
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Air-Crazy, Too: More fascinating Stories of Canadian Women in the Air
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Libres Comme L'Air: Histoires fascinantes des pionnières de l'aviation canadienne
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Captain Judy Cameron Scholarship Recipients
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Every March 8th we celebrate International Women’s Day, and every year we recognize the week that it falls on as National Women in Aviation Week. This year on March 8th, in recognition of women, the Northern Lights Aero Foundation announced the recipients of the Captain Judy Cameron Scholarship. |
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| Elinor Florence lives in Invermere, B.C. Her wartime novel Bird’s Eye View, about a farm girl from Saskatchewan who joins the RCAF in the Second World War and serves as an aerial photographic interpreter, is a Canadian bestseller. She currently writes a monthly newsletter titled Letters From Windermere. You may read more about Elinor and her books here. |
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Not Just to Fly in Combat: Chinese Canadians Take Flight Training in the Inter-War Period
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| Between the wars, dozens of Chinese Canadians took flight training at airfields across Canada. Their reasons were as varied as their backgrounds; it wasn't just about learning to fly so they could fly in combat against the Japanese, who had invaded China in 1931. Join us as Mathias Joost looks at this little known aspect of Canadian aviation history. This presentation was given to CAHS Ottawa on February 24, 2022. via Kyle Huth
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| "Take to the Skies with these Kids' Books About Airplanes" |
Do you have a young aviation enthusiast at home? Brightly has put together a list of recommended books for young kids who have an interest in aviation. by Dena McMurdie
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Stellar Aviation Conference at Winnipeg Aviation Museum
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| The Royal Aviation Museum of Western Canada in Winnipeg is excited to announce a special aviation conference they’ll be hosting in April. by John Chalmers,
CAHS Membership Secretary |
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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 guest of honour at a gathering of German airmen in Berlin in 1928?
Source: Canada’s Fighting Airmen, pg. 56 (Drew) |
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| Question 2: How many Noorduyn Norseman were ordered by the RCAF in 1938 and again in 1941? Where did many of them serve? Source: Jericho Beach and the West Coast Flying Boat Stations, pg. 266 (Weicht) |
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| Question 3: What was the particularly effective, sinister and painfully-long-undetected weapon fielded by the Germans in the summer of 1943?
Source: No Prouder Place, pg. 255 (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: “The sincerity of these words was proved in 1928 when Bishop was the guest of honour at a gathering of German airmen in Berlin and was made an honorary member of their association. Germans have been similarly received in London. In each case sincere tribute was paid to the courage and achievements of former enemies. 'Respect for human qualities of this high order knows no frontier.'”
Source: Canada’s Fighting Airmen, pg. 56 (Drew) |
ANSWER 2: “Several IVs were sold to Canadian bush operators, and in 1938 the RCAF ordered four of these models. By the end of 1941 the RCAF had 18 Norseman IVs on order.” “Many Norseman IVs and Vis served with the RCAF at Jericho Beach and also at the various Flying Boat Squadrons on the British Columbia coast." Source: Jericho Beach and the West Coast Flying Boat Stations, pg. 266 (Weicht) |
ANSWER 3: “The shortcomings of Bomber Command’s defensive armament are highlighted by the introduction of a particularly effective, sinister and painfully-long-undetected weapon fielded by the Germans in the summer of 1943. Known as Schräge Musik (Strange Music, or Jazz Music), it consisted of a battery - usually a pair, but in groups of four or even six of either 20mm or 30mm cannon - obliquely mounted in a night fighter’s fuselage to fire forward and upward at an angle of approximately fifteen degrees from the vertical. In an extension of the earlier low stern approach tactic, the idea was to close from the bomber’s vulnerable blind cone and then, remaining directly beneath the bomber but flying parallel to it, rake it with fire aimed through a special reflector sight mounted on the roof of the fighter’s canopy. Widespread confirmation of this weapon was not released to the crews until early 1944, by which Schräge Musik had claimed many victims. Even when the weapon’s existence was confirmed, there was no real counteraction to it, except for the mid-upper and tail gunners and the mid-under gunner (if the aircraft was so configured) to be extra vigilant in scanning this particular attack approach path.” Source: No Prouder Place, pg. 255 (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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