Newsletter FALL, 1991 NO. 39 – Canadian Museum of Flight

Museum Newsletter FALL, 1991

CANADIAN MUSEUM OF FLIGHT AND TRANSPORTATION 13527 Crescent Road NO. 39 Surrey, BC V4A 2W1, Canada

A non-profit organization registered under the Society Act of British Columbia. Dedicated to the preservation of Canada’s aviation heritage Registered with the Government of Canada as a Charitable Organization under 0487595-50-27. Tax Deductible Receipts available.

Terry Elgood’s Tiger Moth framed in the wing of the Museum’s Fleet Finch. Terry donated a ride in the Tiger Moth as door prizes for each of the special events this summer,

CANADIAN MUSEUM OF FLIGHT AND TRANSPORATION

13527 Crescent Road, Surrey, BC, V4A 2W1 (604) 535-115, FAX (604) 535-3292 IS YOUR MEMBERSHIP VALID? CHECK YOUR ADDRESS LABEL. See elsewhere for categories and fees

LIST OF DIRECTORS 1991/1992

Bethell, Michael. Hamilton, Colin Danyluk, Kenneth. Hudak, Anthony Dines, Donald. Koehler, Hank Gardham, Fred. MacLeod, Clyde* Gatey, Michael Jackson, G. Barry Robinson, Jane ….. Stunden, Ronald A. Thompson, W. A. Zalesky, Edward V. Zalesky, Rose

*Clyde MacLeod resigned effective October 10, 1991. A new director will be appointed to fill this vacancy.

The Canadian Museum of Flight and Transporation is governed by a15 member board, of which 10 are elected annually in April. Members can serve up to three consecutive terms. Founding Directors are not so limited, but have the option to become less active by becoming a Life Governor.

COMMITTEES 1990/1991

EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE

President …….Ed Zalesky Michael Bethell Secretary-Treasurer… Rose Zalesky Vice President…….

STANDING COMMITTEES

Vancouver Island Peter Knowles Michaerl Bethell Finance/Fundraising.. Volunteer Co-Ordin…. Mike Gatey Collections Research Sean Keating Jerry V. Vernon Mark Zalesky Restoration Display/Building Maintenance Ken Danyluk Transportation. Sean Keating Mark Zalesky Flying.. Grounds Tour Guides. Bill Emerslund Colin Hamilton

CALENDAR OF EVENTS 1991/1992

October 13-exhibits close for the season ⚫
October 18- Fall Dinner/General Meeting at Yic’s ⚫
November 9 – Display at Westwood Mall
January 16- General Meeting – guest speaker TBA.

Other events and any changes to the above schedule will be announced in the “Mini” newsletters.

Please note that due to the election falling on the originally scheduled date, the Fall Dinner has been changed from October 17th to Friday October 18th.

FALL GENERAL MEETING / DINNER FRIDAY OCTOBER 18

The annual Fall Gengeral Meeting/Dinner will likely have been held by the time that this newsletter reaches you. Meeting place is Yic’s Dining Lounge, 13938 104th Ave. (at King George Highway), Surrey, with No-Host bar at 6:00, Dinner at 7:00 and meeting at 8:00

Price is $12.00 if you reserve in advance, or $15.00 if you drop in unannounced. Either way, pay at the door, by cash, cheque, Visa or Master Card.

Food is good and plentiful, and includes Western as well as Chinese, and dessert. We will try once again to give away the “Top 15” Volunteer Awards, and there will be door prizes as well.

COVER PHOTO

Avro Anson MK.II’s from #2 Air Observer School, Edmonton, on a training exercise over Tornado Mountain, Crow’s Nest Pass in the Canadian Rockies during WWII.

Donor Don Olson

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

445 SQUADRON

I was on 445 Sqdn from April 1953 til July, 1955 as a rigger. CF-100 #18138 was one of our aircraft. We changed to MK4B’s in January 1955 (I think).

If you know of anyone who was on 445 Sqdn, I would like to hear from them.

Bob Brown, Box 124, Errington, BC, VOR 1V0

Editor: 18138 is the Museum’s CF-100. During its operational career it served with 445 Wolverine Squadron at North Bay and Marville, Ontario, and later with 400 “Bat” Squadron, Bagotville, Que. and ith 3 SW(F) OTU.

OOPS!

As usual, I was very pleased to receive the latest (No. 38) edition of the Newsletter, and particularly to learn that your new book “Pioneering Aviation in the West”, will soon be off the press. We look forward to adding this to our library. Having just published my third book “Spilsbury’s Album”, I am only too aware of the amount of work involved in such an undertaking.

In this connection I would like to call your attention to a mistake in the cover picture of the last Newsletter. The picture of the Bellanca CF-DOH was taken by me on my first flight into Garibaldi Lake, and I have the original negative. Without going into the original files which are all stored in the U.B.C. Archives, I cannot give you the exact date, but I would guess it was probably 1946 or 1947.

The pilot was Bill Peters, and the aircraft had been chartered by the Garibaldi Parks Board. DOH belonged to a company in Edmonton and was rented by QCA and was used by us as one of a fleet of seaplanes, mostly Norseman, in our regular coastal service. You will note the QCA emblem on the side of the fuselage. Some considerable time later it was chartered to the Government to fly Fisheries patrol out of Alert Bay and crashed at Growler Cove, killing both the Fisheries Inspector and the pilot Wally Britland who had just joined the company.

I remember it burned on impact. I reached the scene a few hours later, and it was only with the assistance of some fishermen who were anchored in the bay and witnessed the crash that we were able to locate it in the trees. They said it circled the bay at low altitude apparently reading the names on the seine boats, and suddenly “fell out of the air” and went into the trees in a vertical dive. Other pilots told me that this aircraft was noted for having a wicked stall characteristic.

Anyway, that’s all history now. Jim Spilsbury.

Editor: The Museum does have the remains of Bellanca Skyrocket CF-DOH, which were salvaged years ago through the efforts of Bill Thompson. On receipt of the salvage here the engine was disassembled, and found to have a tooth broken in the accessory drive, which jammed and caused instant engine failure. It was not impact damage.

The aircraft is being held against the time that funds can be found to rebuild and restore it, using components from another model 3155 the Museum holds. In the meantime, it is stored and is unavailable for viewing.

P.S. Jim’s typo “Norsemen” has been corrected to “Norseman”, to forestall a flurry of letters advising us that a Norseman is a Norseman no matter how many of them there are; as several Grumman Goose are never Geese.

ARTICLES WANTED

We would like to receive articles about events in Canadian aviation. Many of us know people who were a part of that history. If you can’t write, get him or her talking about the past, turn on the tape recorder, and send us the tapes. Others can then use them to write a story or article.

Because of the rapid changes in aviation over the past 40 years that the person who represents a phase of our history is not necessary living in a retirement home. The people who pioneered various types of flying which later turned into sub-industries have stories to tell that would be of interest to many folk who consider that an event that took place in 1950 is ancient history.

Please send your article along. No money can be paid, and we reserve the right to edit in the interest of clarity or space limitations.

ADMISSION FEES AND CASH FLOW

Due to the G.S.T. and increased costs, the Museum was forced to increase admission fees this year to $3 ($10 for family rate). The same rates also apply at special events.

Visitor numbers (not counting special events) were down slightly from 7,153 in 1990 to 5,658 (up to September 30) in 1991, partly as a result of the higher fees and partly because of cold and wet weather during the peak August period.

In spite of lower attendance, revenue was up, and we were able to hire a summer student to catch up on donations and the paperwork that goes along with the process of accepting them, and to help clerk in the Gift Shop. Gurprit Bains did a great job, and will be missed, although she will be working a few hours as her studies allow.

WINTER HOURS

Please note new, shorter operating hours at the Museum this winter. Beginning November 1 and extending until the end of February, the office will be open only three days per week – probably Saturday, Sunday and Monday, at the usual hours of 9-5. There is no end of work, just too few people to accomplish it, and burnout has set in. So, unless some unexpected funding becomes available to allow us to hire staff, or more volunteers come forward to work in the office, we have no other choice. So. You ask: How is the work going to get done? The answer is simply that it won’t. We’ll do what we can. The rest will remain undone and pile up even more

AIRCRAFT RESTORATION

Offers to work on aircraft come in regularly, and there are those who criticize that such offers are not encouraged. Much as we would like to accommodate those who want to learn how to restore airplanes, to put nearly forgotten skills to work, trying to accommodate occasional restoration assistance has not worked. Remember, some of these are one of a kind airplanes.

In a perfect world, a volunteer could put in as few or as many hours as he or she chose, doing what he or she would like to do – in most cases, work on airplanes. In our real world, there are many reasons why it isn’t practical. A few of those reasons are:

1. We are open to the public every day from mid-May to mid-October, and our first obligation is to provide the visitor, with a clean, interesting, and smoothly operating place to visit. The public is the reason that the Museum exists.
2. This involves keeping more that five acres of grass cut, flower beds and shrubbery weeded and pruned, parking areas clean and patched, buildings and fences mended and painted, airplanes washed, and much, much more. There is enough work for one person working full time doing nothing else. Few people have come forward to help with that, and few of those who have have followed through..
3. Automotive and yard equipment needs continuing maintenance and repair, partly because of enthusiastic but not necessarily mechanically minded operators. No one wants to do that.
4. The gift shop provides much needed revenue, but it doesn’t run itself. There is enough work for one person full time doing nothing but clerking, re-ordering, pricing and maintaining the inventory data base, and yes, sweeping the floor, dusting and washing the windows. Only one person has come forward to help occasionally. We need regular help.
5. The Museum exists to preserve aviation heritage in the form of hard artifacts and documentary items to exhibit, and to educate and entertain the public. We receive tremendous response from the public in the form of donations of artifacts, printed matter and memorabilia, but there is a great deal of paperwork and some physical work involved in accepting donations, cataloguing, data entry, and donor acknowledgements.
Two very capable people have been coming in one or two days a week for a couple of years to work with photographs, and they are a great help. After all these years, we have just signed up our first volunteer to catalogue the library collection, and it is great to see something happening again. Others drop in for a few hours and irregular times, but not nearly enough to keep abreast of the work.
6. The Museum exists because enough concerned people were and are interested in its aims and goals to become members, and in some cases to offer donations of their services and occasionally cash. But, members must be looked after by providing them with news updates, tracking dues, and organizing member functions. etc. That also takes time. Without this important service the club would slowly fall apart.
7. We have 24 aircraft plus several ground support vehicles on display now, and while the public likes to see them out in our park-like setting, those airplanes are deteriorating. Regular washing and waxing would help to slow that deterioration, but they don’t get regular cleaning bath and none were waxed this year for lack of volunteers. It makes little sense to restore more airplanes which will also have to sit outside, and which nobody wants to wash and wax.
8. The storage buildings are stuffed full – some would say with junk. Still, it is that very “junk”. which, with effort and a measure of genius, becomes the exhibits of which we can be rightly proud. There is a lot of work to sort and organize that material, but it can only be done well by one or two people working at it all the time. Our “band aid” measure of a gang of volunteers coming in occasionally and stirring it all up to make more room really only adds to the problem. Now, nobody knows where anything is.
9. There are two restoration projects in the shop now-the Cornell and the Waco. Both are on hold, except for some off-site work being carried out because the person hired (at no cost to the Museum) to restore aircraft is forced to spend his time helping with tasks 1 through 8, and has no time to teach and supervise occasional volunteers, no matter now enthusiastic and/or capable they may be. In most cases, time spent organizing work, tools, supplies and equipment for others to do could be much better spent doing the work himself, with the added benefit of getting a finished product of consistent quality, and in some cases, having to do the work over again. Also, limited shop space does not allow projects to sit around to be worked on a few hours a month.

The right wing of the Hampden is fitted to the airplane on site in early August.

SO YOU STILL WANT TO WORK ON AIRPLANES?

You can. You can help Fred Gardham with the Hampden in downtown Vancouver. Give him a call at 681-6886.

You can also work on airplanes at the Museum’s shop, provided that you FIRST conscientiously and consistently show up to take on one of tasks 1 through 8 above from the first of May to the end of October. Then, when it comes time to work on the airplanes, you are prepared to spend at least three days a week during regular working hours. Lastly, unless you can turn out work that meets the high standard of quality that we as a museum must maintain, no matter how slowly, you will not be doing the museum any favours by offering your time.

Pretty blunt and hard on volunteers? You bet! Wishes and good intentions don’t operate this museum. Too few dedicated people do, and they need more people to help on a REGULAR basis.

How can we change all this? It can be done, but it can only be done with the help of a full time (at least four hours per day, five days per week) Volunteer Coordinator. It is not an easy job, but it is probably the most important position in the entire museum. A permanent part time Volunteer Coordinator could find tasks to fit the time and skills that volunteers want to share with us. He could organize the tools, equipment and materials needed for each job, and the work would all eventually get done with the occasional and unstructured assistance now offered by volunteers.

Mike Gatey took on the task of Volunteer Coordinator this spring, and has done a tremendous job, but Mike has a full time job, and a family who understandably feel that he should share some of his time. Even the seemingly simple task of phoning volunteers for specific projects is very time consuming. The job is not as simple as it appears to be.

The Volunteer Coordinator must be either a paid position, someone who has taken early retirement, or has a lot of time available.

PLEDGE A VOLUNTEER COORDINATOR POSITION

There is a way to hire a Volunteer Coordinator, but we need your help.

Send in a series of post dated cheques, in any amount, no matter how small. Or, authorize us to Page 6 make a regular charge against your Visa or Master Card account. The regular deposits of enough of these small (or large) amounts into a dedicated account would provide the money needed to pay a Volunteer Coordinator. Then maybe the future will hold special volunteer aircraft restoration projects.

Such requests have met with very little, and usually no response in the past, but let’s change all that. Only you can do it.

Something had better happen soon. The few people who are doing this work now have about “had it”. It they bail out it won’t get done at all.

MUSEUM OF FLIGHT THE MUSEUM SEEN AND HEARD THIS SUMMER

SAFEWAY DISPLAY

The Canada Safeway store, Broadmoor, Richmond, BC, displayed the Grunau Baby III glider, and in the process won a chain-wide contest for the most innovative display. Two for one tickets were given out with the groceries, but surprisingly few have been turned in to date.

As usual, everything happened at once, and during the same week we also had a small display and sales table manned by Sheila Gennaro and Laila Bird at the Canada Day Celebrations at Bear Creek Park, Surrey. Some of the funds earned were donated to the Lions Club.

And, around the same time, the Museum helped celebrate the 50th Anniversary of the Boundary Bay Airport celebrations organized by the Boundary Bay Flying Club with a small display and sales booth manned by Laila Bird, Jane Robinson, Greg Evans-Davies, Inky and Norah Klett and Mel Neidig.

Phil Reimer, the CBC TV’s popular weatherman, did the evening weather broadcast live from the Museum this summer, and prompted a lot of new visitors to the Museum. He and the CBC crew are welcome to do it again whenever they want.

Reed Stenhouse (aviation insurance agents) made a 10’x20′ display booth available to the aviation oriented non-profit groups at Air Show Canada ’91 in the new Tradex building concurrent with the Abbotsford Air Show this fall. This static display was organized and manned by the Pacific AME Association, and included a display by the Museum.

Jane Etzkorn researched and set up the Museum’s Women in Aviation exhibit at the Canadian Women in Aviation conference held at Trinity Western College in Langley the same week as the Abbotsford Air Show.

Several articles on the Museum appeared in the Peace Arch News, the Surrey and Delta Now, and the Vancouver Province, and we received great coverage on Tourism BC’s “Inside BC” radio spot program.

A number of items appeared on radio, and many greater Vancouver area newspapers promoting the July 13th and 14th Wings & Wheels, and the British and European Car Meet and the All-Datsun Car Meets in September.

ABBOTSFORD AIR SHOW BOOTH

The Museum was one of the six non-profit groups who again sold Abbotsford Air Show souvenirs at the ’91 Abbotsford Air Show. It rained and it poured, and the first morning was spent trying to flood-proof our booth, but the sun finally broke through on Sunday afternoon. In spite of the miserable conditions, everybody was cheerful and it went well. Accounting for the airshow is not yet complete, and the Museum’s share of the proceeds will not be known for some time.

A well deserved thank you to John Clark, Derek Heuring, Yvon Chasse, Merrilee Elgood, Jane Robinson, Greg Evans-Davies, Madelaine Maser, Mel Neidig, Laila Bird, Kandy Besse, April Zalesky, Mark Zalesky, Ed Zalesky and Rose Zalesky.

The Museum’s booth, located close to the Stealth display, sold tee shirts, and a few other 1991 Abbotsford Air Show,

SPECIAL EVENTS SUCCESSFUL

WINGS & WHEELS ’91

The July 13 and 14 10th Annual Wings & Wheels was the usual success, with more exhibits than ever, and a better than ever air display, as well as all the other special attractions that are arranged for this, our big event of the year.

In spite of miserable rainy weather on Saturday, and a scowling Sunday morning sky which threatened more of the same, the sun finally broke through and visitors began streaming in. The final count was 2,519 people and 1257 cars of which about 50 were exhibit cars. More than 20 non-profit organizations and clubs set up displays and brought out vintage and Page 7 items at classic cars for exhibit. The 15th Field Artillery provided a military display and recruiting tent which drew lots of visitors, and the kids had plenty to do. The air displays were better than ever, the helicopter was busy giving rides, Snoopy and the Red Baron did their thing, and everybody went home happy (we think).

Vintage and Classic cars were a popular feature of the 10th Annual Wings & Wheels.

Food services were farmed out this year to a commercial caterer, because we couldn’t get enough volunteers to run our own booth. This resulted in a drop of about $3,000 in net proceeds, or more than 50%.

Not that there were no problems. The tents we arranged to borrow proved to be unavailable at the last minute, so we rented some sectional military surplus tents. Putting up the tattered and incomplete tents proved to be a time consuming and frustrating hassle, and cost a lot of extra time, so that not everything that should have been done to prepare for the event got done. When we finally got them up, the water poured in, and the exhibitors were kept busy moving around and otherwise trying to keep the water off their exhibits. A motley assortment of tarps and plastic kept out some of the water, but made that area of the grounds look like a refugee camp. For the most part exhibitors and visitors accepted the inconvenience cheerfully.

Lots of door prizes are a feature of the event, and we thank the many merchants who provided the merchandise and Gift Certificates which were drawn all day both days. For the first time ever, we were able to offer a major item as a door prize. Our special thanks go out to Air BC for providing a flight for two anywhere on Air BC’s route, which was won by Alex Blair.

Parking was handled in the usual efficient manner by 746 Cloverdale Squadron Air Cadets and 767 Dearman Squadron Whalley Air Cadets. A very special thank you to them all. They did did a great job in spite of getting drenched.

And what about next year? Planning should be starting right now, but the whole concept of mega events is being reconsidered. Events such as Wings & Wheels are a huge amount of work, taking place at a leisurely place over many months, and at a frantic pace over the last three weeks before the event, and we simply do not have enough people willing to take on the responsibility of organizing it and seeing that things get done.

Free admission and food vouchers are given to all exhibitors and their families, on the understanding that they are part of the exhibit and are therefore expected to stay all day. It hasn’t worked out that way, as we find cars coming and going all day. Cost of food is considerable, not to mention the extra work in preparing and serving it. The object is to promote the Museum, and Wings & Wheels has proven to be an excellent way of doing it. We receive excellent media coverage. Still, we would also like to cover expenses and perhaps a little extra, but with rising costs and dropping volunteer participation, we are not sure that we will be able to do so in the future.

More, smaller events may be the answer. They certainly are more practical. The work involved is very much less, planning does not have to be done so far in advance, and the net proceeds come in at about the same as Wings & Wheels. So expect a smaller Wings & Wheels next year, unless someone comes forward to take on the job of organizing it and doing the work.

BRITISH AND EUROPEAN CAR MEET

The 4th Annual British and European Car Meet was held on Sunday, September 8th, and was a huge success, in spite of a disappointing lack of publicity.

Most of the well known makes and many rare types were amongst the more than 80 cars on display amid the aircraft exhibits, to the delight of 753 visitors.

Enthusiastic organizers of the first annual Datsun Car Meet arranged for more than 50 display- Datsuns, some very rare. Air displays and good weather brought a good turnout. See story next page.

There were flypasts of warbirds, homebuilts and general aviation aircraft, a special aerobatic display by Tony Swain in his Harvard, and lots of door prizes, as usual. A special prize of a ride in a 1930’s (replica) open cockpit biplane (only exhibitors eligible to win) was donated by Barnstormer Tours based at Boundary Bay Airport.

A beautiful day and more than 70 display cars and lots of air displays combined to make the annual British and European Car Meet a very enjoyable event.

A beautiful warm and sunny day, beautiful cars and a great group of exhibitors made it a very special day, and the work involved was a fraction of Wings & Wheels. Thirty volunteers turned out to help with parking, food, security and all the other tasks that are involved in running this event.

If you’d like to display your British or European car at next year’s event, call lan Cox of the Old English Car Club and Registry at 604 463-1364 to arrange. lan is taking over from Steve Diggins as organizer of this event.

1ST ANNUAL ALL-DATSUN CAR MEET

The Datsun Roadster Association worked long and hard to promote and organize this event. On display were more than 50 registered Datsuns ranging from a 1959 Datsun 1000 through to a 1991 Nissan Sentra SE-R. Owners of Datsuns who drove in as visitors were also invited to show off their cars if they wished as well.

Once again, we had lovely summer weather. Enthusiastic Datsun Roadster Club members and 18 of our own volunteers carrying out the usual tasks combined to make the day a great success for those who were there as exhibitors, as volunteers, or as a visitor. Just over 500 people came through the gates in 236 cars. Look for the 2nd All-Datsun Meet next September, and perhaps a Japanese Car Meet some time during the summer.

Watch also for the annual Swap Meet which will be held in the Museum’s parking lot some time next summer. More details later or phone Ross Mullen at 538-5615.

SUMMER (?) WEATHER HURTS ATTENDANCE

Traditionally, our busiest period has been the last two weeks of July, August, and the Labour Day weekend. With Fall weather arriving in August this year, attendance was down dramatically. And, wherever people were on the Labour Day weekend, they weren’t at the Museum.

Attendance for this year was down from 1990, as were visitors to our special events.

Tour visits were down drastically this year, because we had no one to organize and guide tours on a daily basis.

EXCELLENT ELECTRONIC TOUR GUIDE

Through very good fortune, the Museum has been able to offer for rent professionally narrated taped guided tours (Walkmans) at the very reasonable rate of $1 which includes two headsets. Those who were persuaded to take one along almost invariably agreed that the tape made the visit much more enjoyable. Sadly, so many visitors don’t want to take them along. One of the reasons is of course, the extra $1 (50c each if there are two people). Another, usually amongst older visitors is being uncomfortable with a “machine”.

The most often cited reason (excuse) for not renting a Walkman tour is “I know all about airplanes”. Sadly, these people deprive themselves and their friends of a very pleasant experience which in no way threatens their knowledge or familiarity of airplanes. The tape is especially enjoyed by people who are somewhat unwilling visitors (wives and friends of enthusiasts), but these very people don’t want to spoil it for the person who considers himself the authority. As one wag put it: “I know all there is to know about airplanes, and what I don’t know I’ll make up, and so long as I keep a straight face no one will know the difference”. Sadly, much mis-information is passed along by well-meaning “experts”.

We have a very powerful tool to help people enjoy learning about our aviation past, but are forced to “hard-sell” it. Does anybody have any suggestions as to how to present the availability of this tape (beyond the obvious one of handing it out for free which we cannot afford to do), to encourage more people to rent it?

The company which produces the tapes and provides all the Walkmans is Insight Tours. Ours was one of a few pilot projects of a concept which has proven so popular that the company is now producing tapes for the Vancouver Museum, the Royal British Columbia Museum, Capilano Suspension Bridge and many other museums and attractions in Canada and the U.S.

TIME FOR CHANGE

The Canadian Museum Museum of Flight and Transportation, a public museum and non-profit educational facility, came about from an idea spawned by Ed Zalesky in the early 1970’s. As time went on, more people shared his vision for a an all-encompassing Aviation and Transportation Museum which would be educational and fun to visit.

It is now more than 14 years since the Museum was formalized as a non-profit organization and membership has grown steadily. It is also more than 14 years since the first proposal was made to the provincial government to help fund a homesite for the Museum. Working together as volunteers, members have accumulated a good collection of aircraft and other artifacts, but have not been able to raise the money to build a badly needed new facility.

Surrey’s expropriation in 1985 of the private property on which the Museum was temporarily enjoying free rent put a large monkey-wrench into carefully laid out plans for future self-sufficiency, and it was back to square one for fundraising.

During all this time, the bulk of the work in keeping the Museum operating, and its accumulated inventory of artifacts and “things” under some sort of shelter has been donated by one family- the Zaleskys. The time and money was cheerfully spent in the sincere hope that governments would provide assistance to provide a secure homesite which would allow this important heritage facility and tourist attraction to remain in the lower Fraser Valley.

As the years passed, money that should have come to the Canadian Museum of Flight and Transportation went instead to other, newer organizations, and to government sponsored facilities which act in direct competion for visitors, and therefore revenues.

The Federal government has been able to avoid funding at any level over all these years. Two years ago, the long and involved process of applying for capital funding was begun. It was made abundantly clear that we needed a study to determine just what we should be, where we go, and how we should get there before any consideration would be given to getting onto the very long waiting list for ever diminishing funds.

It was also made clear that little if any ongoing operational funding would ever be available, hence we have no choice other than to plan for self-sufficiency, and are therefore not the usual Museum situation which has as its main goal the preservation of its artifacts. While our main goal is the preservation of our artifacts, we are also function in a real world, and not in the protected artificial environment that Museologists have created for themselves. Surviving in the real world as we are forced to do dictates that you do what you can with what you can earn in any way you can.

Such self-sufficiency is a foreign concept to the people in charge of disbursing Federal funding. We are not a traditional institution, therefore we do not qualify for traditional funding, no matter that we have proven that we are providing what the public wants at little or no cost to the taxpayer.

But, we can’t go on like this forever. Cash or assistance in kind has got to come from somewhere if we are to carry on.

Because so much of the work and financial support has been provided by one family, many people wrongly believe that it is a private museum. The Museum and its membership is the sole beneficiary of all the work and money expended to date, and no one else.

In fulfilling a commitment made when the District of Surrey expropriated the property on which the Museum is still temporarily situated, a new potential location has been purchased by Surrey for use by the Museum. A workable lease is now being negotiated, but we must still find a way to obtain the considerable sum of money required to make the move to the new site a reality. The cost of providing parking, road and walkways, lighting, drainage, landscaping, etc. is tagged at nearly a million dollars.

While we can get along with makeshift buildings and shelters on the present site, no such leeway will be granted at the new site. We must find a way to fund steel buildings with sprinklers, fire prevention and security systems, some climate control, etc.- all the systems as required for the safe protection and preservation of artifacts, and public services.

The time has come to take a long, hard look at where the Museum is headed. The present benefactor family is burnt out, and are more than ready to phase out. Any realistic ideas are welcome.

YOUR NAME IN STONE

The plea for assistance with building an exhibit shelter last newsletter did not bring in a single offer, but we still badly need the shelter. We therefore have no choice than to let the project out to a commercial firm. This will cost much more as it is unlikely that the contractor will want to supervise volunteers, if, indeed any are available.

The money now in the Exhibit Shelter fund is insufficient to build the needed shelter on a contract basis. Can you help with a donation? While you won’t get your name in stone, you can get your name etched onto a plaque which will go on the building now, and which will stay with the building when it is moved to the new homesite. Your name goes on the plaque if you donate $50 or more. Smaller donations are welcome, but will not be eligible for inclusion on the plaque.

Donations for paint, gravel and blacktop also welcomed. The offer to put your name on the plaque applies if donation is $50 or more.

SPOTTY NEWSLETTER?

This “quarterly” newsletter appeared only once last year, and will likely only be published twice in 1991-spotty production, it must be conceded. There is no lack of news or interesting material to publish; only too much work for one person.

The last newsletter had a detailed account of what it takes to produce this newsletter, and a plea for assistance with all or some of the work.

Frank Kimmerley offered to help with the offset printing, and it is with his help that this issue is being published. Thanks, Frank. Another offer to help with the computer-based work is also being followed up.

Now, if we could only find someone to write it, and co-ordinate its entire production and distribution.

DOUBLE (Y)OUR MONEY!

Organizations such as the Vancouver Foundation can match funds donated to an Endowment Fund. Left untouched for a period of say, ten years, such a fund can grow at an astonishing rate, and help to ensure our future.

To set up an Endowment Fund, we need only to take your initial deposit to a trust company or bank to set up the formalities. The pledged amount need not be large, but it builds up quickly if small amounts come in once or twice a year regularly.

Consider also about providing for the Museum in your Will, with either a donation to the Endowment Fund (remember the matching grant), or by passing on aviation related items that you may have in your possession.

Discussing your Will and finances is not a popular subject but remember that rarely are a potential donor’s wishes carried out unless specific written instructions are made.

Whatever your decision, and whether or not you plan to provide in some way for the Museum, be sure to leave a Will clearly stating your wishes – the Public Trustee has no heart.

ADOPT AN AIRPLANE

The Adopt An Airplane program enables members or corporations to provide physical or financial support to help keep exhibit aircraft in clean and in good display condition. There are two categories:

PHYSICAL CARE PROGRAM

Sponsor provides hands on cleaning and waxing of the exhibits and assist with minor repairs.

CONTRIBUTOR CATEGORY

Donations to this fund are used to purchase supplies to keep exhibit aircraft in good displayable condition. Tax deductible receipts issued for donations over $10.

Signs listing donors will be displayed near the aircraft in 1992.

Airplanes available for ADOPTION are listed in Newsletter 38, and include all those on outdoor exhibit, but if you have a pet that is presently in storage, you may contribute to a fund that will continue to grow in value until such time as there are facilities to display.

RESTORATION FUND PROGRAM

Each aircraft has its own special fund which earns interest towards the time that the money is needed for restoration or repair. Some of these aircraft are on display now, while others are stored until there is enough money in the fund to begin restoration or repair.

Tax Deductible Receipts are available.

Any aircraft in the Museum’s collection can have a fund established for its use.

If you would like to help, please send your donation in any amount and indicate which aircraft you want to support. Use the handy form on the back page or simply send in your donation and advise how you want it applied.

If you cannot provide funds, but can spare the time to wash and polish airplanes, phone 535- 1115 and ask for Rose. There are 24 airplanes to choose from, and there are not enough people willing to stick to the job. In almost every case, one wash seems to be enough to dampen enthusiasm, but the airplanes need several washes each season. They also need waxing to help withstand their forced outdoor lifestyle, and no one has come forward to wax even one this year.

At least, polish the glass! Paint can be bought but plastic bubbles and conopies are irreplaceable.

TRAILER UPGRADING NEEDED

At present, most of the Museum’s trips are local or short haul, but we don’t have a light, reliable truck or a serviceable trailer of a suitable size, and are constantly trying to borrow trailers, trucks and vans. Having worn out three trailers and three trucks belonging to members over the past 15 years, the time has come to get our own equipment, as except for Mel Neidig’s loan of his small trailer, no one has come forth with other loaners in response to our request.

A basic chassis and two-wheeled trailer, without brakes has been donated, and hauled off to be worked on. This was in early summer and little if anything has been done. We really do need that trailer. Is there anyone else who can and will actually get the trailer roadworthy? Cost of materials is estimated to be about $1,500. Any donations to offset this cost would be welcomed.

NEW MEMBERS

AA warm welcome to the following new members who joined after March 1, 1991 (1847-1928). (Sorry, no room to list Renewals during this period. See elsewhere this newsletter for membership application

Adams, Robert C Gawler, Robin Murphy, Holly Paquetter, Andre J. Aerophilatelic Federation Goodwin, Terry of the Americas (E) Bachand, David & Kathie Bale, Samuel Family Green, Bill Perkins, Claudia Phillips, Thomas R. Geist, Max Guy, John C. Powley, Dennis Bannister, Gordon Bannister, Kurt Habgood, Nigel, & family Hansen, Julie Priebe, Eckehart Quigg, Frank (Lifetime) Barker, Mrs. Harris, Fred Rotech Industries Royal Canadian Legion, Brandlmayr, Mrs. Patricia Heuring, Derek Hiscocks, Richard Brown, M.J. Aldergrove (E) Royal Canadian Legion, White Rock (E) Brown, Robert Carolsfeld, Wolfgang & Darl Jervis, Fred Jagger, A.G. Johnson, Grant & Sharon Kaysser, Norbert Saunders, Ken Cave, Tom Sayle, John Cliffe, Jim Kendall, Jamie Kibble, Gordon Scambler, Dale Scott, Gordon Couvreur, Victoria Duthie, James Claxton, Arthur C. Lassesen, Kenneth & Family Silver, Steve Sirman, Bob McInnis, Nelson McLachlan, W. James Climo, Ben Stevens, Jack and Elaine Edwards, Harold MacLeod, Rod McNalley, Mac Stickle, Brent Strang, Don Eppler, Albert Evans-Davies, Robert & Ruth McWilliams, Ron Trayling, Greg Treadwell, Pat Fawkes, George Mahon, Bryan Fenby, Glen Franklin, Brian Marchant, Harris Van Den Ham, Bert Moore, Doug Morse, Ron Walkley, Terry Gardiner, Bill Whipple, Dave White, M.J. Gartner, Frank Muir, Douglas ene Page 13

PHOTO ALBUM

We share with you a sampling of photos from our historic photo collection. Please pass on your old photo to the Museum so they can be shared.

SKYWAY Assembling a Laister Kaufman glider at Langley Airport. Can. anyone identity the people in the photo and provide a date? CMFT Collection 65.30 Halph Coates Collection

Buhi Airsedan at Chilliwack, BC, 1928 CMFT Collection 005.4 Ralph Coates Collection

Fokker F14 mall plane operating be tween Edmonton and Winnipeg. 1929 CMFT Collection 700 16

Shell O’s Stearman at Chilliwack, BC 1928 1 CMFT Colection 695.2 Ralph Coles Collection

Barling NB.3 at Chilliwack Airport 1928 CMFT Collection

895 1 Hugh Coates Colectio (Bolow) Vickers Vedette at Chilliwack, BC, 1928 Haigh Coates Collection 4695)

Zeballon, B.C., 1930 The Norseman Bellanca Skyrocket, Fairchild 71, and deHaviland Rapide were typical of aircraft used for hauling passengers and freight in developing remote areas of BC and Northern Canada CMFT Collection 684.2 Dennis A Simmons Collec

Columbia Aircraf shop, Vancouver Air port, in the 1900’s CMFT Collection

70017 Donald P. Clean Collection Page 14 Page 15

LEARN OFFICE AND COMPUTER SKILLS

The Museum needs a part time Accessions Clerk to help record donations and follow through with entering the information into the computer and sending thank you letters using a word processor.

Hours are flexible, but since there is a lot of training involved, some commitment of fairly regular hours should be made, whether is is 4, 6, or more hours twice or three times a week, or whatever fits into your schedule. No experience is necessary, but typing (50 wpm) is required, and you must be well organized and like to do detail work. Age is not a barrier. The computer based tasks are optional and need not be a part of the work.

Phone Rose at 535-1115 if you can spare some time.

DONATIONS

The Museum gratefully acknowledges the receipt of the following donations of cash, goods and services received since publication of our last newsletter, and covering the period March 1, 1991 through September 28, 1991 (TR4143 – TR4405)

Other donations have been donated during this time, but are awaiting sorting or evaluation, and will be acknowledged in the next newsletter.

LARGE ARTIFACTS Aerospace Museum, Calgary Skowronski, Bob. Thompson, W.A. Trerice, Diane Vandeyck, Pam Volks, Irene Zalesky, April Zalesky, Mark gary Aerospace Museum of Cal- SMALL ARTIFACTS Barry, Doug Brown, M.J. Chasse, Yvon Cliffe, Jim Collins, Jack Gregory, Ross Hamilton, Colin Hampton, Bert Jackson, Stoney Kaduhr, James Klett, Norah Marsh, Don Marshall, A. Marshant, Harris Moonie, Gary Moore, Doug Moore, Linton Murphy, Holly Nanaimo Foundry & Eng’g Neville-Smith, Ken Phillips, Thomas Pins of Prestige Powely, Dennis Rotech Industries Sirman, Bob BOOKS, MAGAZINES, LOGS BROCHURES MEMORABILIA Bourque, H. Bruce/Beeson Publishing Burrell, Canav Books Cave, Tom Chappell, Gary Chittenden, Curly Clark, John Claxton, Arthur Coteau Books Country Fencing Edwards, Harold Eve Publishing Flightcraft International Fordham, Grace Fraser, Archie Gardham, Fred Gerow, Earl Graves, Ted Gregory, Ross Guy, John C. Heakes, Bob Hinson, Harold Hiscocks, Richard Hudson, D.F. Jackson, Barry Klett, Inky and Norah Kupiak, Dennis McBeaver, Anvid McGraw Hill Ryerson McInnis, Nelson Morrison, lan Museum of Flight Nelson Canada Niven, Larry Parks College Priebe, Eckehart Roskell, Rick Sass, Henry Scott, Gordon Simpson, Keith Skehor, Peter Skowronski, Robert Tupolev Aviation Group Van den Ham, Bert Vernon, Jerry Volks, Irene Wallace, Phillip Wilson, Ken Wilson-Brown, Paul Zalesky, April Page 17

UNIFORMS, MEDALS, TROPHIES, CRESTS Gregory, Ross Janzen, Kevin Mahone, Taji Marchant, Harris Parisotto, Helena Perkins, Claudia Sayle, John Scambler, Dale TOOLS, EQUIPMENT, FURNITURE, FIXTURES, CONSUMABLES Bond, Robert Clark, John Geist, Max Hampton, Bert Krywiak, Ron Maser, Harvey and Madeleine Morrison, lan Vernon, Jerry Zalesky, Mark PHOTOS, PRINTS, VIDEOS AEROPHILATALY Barker, Mrs. Blakely, H. A . Brown, M.J. Burke, Brian Carter, Steve Cruickshank, Colin Delta Cable Dines, Don Dunn West Productions Fair, Mrs. Fenby, Glen Gartner, Frank Gerow, Earl Hanneson, K.C. Harris, S.E. Heakes, Bob Henning, Robert Jervis, Fred T. Johnston, Grant Kibble, Gordon Klett, Inky and Norah Krywiak, Ron McBeaver, Anvid McLeod, Neil McNally, Mac McWilliams, Ron Morrison, Stephen Olson, Len Parry, Michael Pearson, Dorothy Pitre, Bev & Tom Powley, Denny Rempel, Brian Silver, Steve Small, C. Stuart Sullivan, Jim Thompson, W.A. Trayling, Greg Volks, Irene Wadmore, Patricia Whipple, Dave White, M.J. Yaswen, Gordon Hughes, Clara & William Irving, Arthur Malo, Paul E. Moffoot, G.A. Moore, Lin Nesbitt, J.D. Nicol, Marjorie No. 6 RCAF Group, Bomber Command Pacific Fasteners Pickup, Dr. Jack Pirozek, H. J. Quigley, Frank Robinson, Ross Royal Canadian Legion Aldergrove Royal Canadian Legion White Rock Skehor, Peter Stevens, Marc Telephone Employees Comm. Fund Thompson, Wilma Williamson, George SERVICE Air Cadet Squadron 746 Cloverdale Air Cadet Squadron 767 Whalley Canadain Warbirds ETC Concepts Fraser, Archie Kennelly, Frank Olson, Don Pacific Avionics R.A.A.C. MODELS, PLANS, DRAWINGS, MAPS Morrison, lan Tiffin, Joe Treadwell, Pat CASH Allen, Robert Anderson, Ed Anderson, Douglas Botterill, Clarence Coates, Walter B. de Visser, Peter Foster, Ed Gardham, Edna Gatey, Mike Goodwin, Terry Hampton, Bert Hampton, William Harvey, Robert Hetherington, Gail and John Hitchens, Frederick Hosford, Bill Rogers Cable St. John Ambulance Swain, Tony Thomas Aviation Western Warbirds Westland Helicopters Ye Olde Vette Shop

CANADIAN MUSEUM OF FLIGHT AND TRANSPORTATION GIFT SHOP

With Christmas fast approaching, think of the Museum’s well stocked gift shop for the perfect gift for your aviation- minded friends and relatives.

Come in and browse, shop by phone or order by mail.

TAX DEDUCTIONS FOR DONORS

The Canadian Museum of Flight and Transportation is registered as a Charity with Revenue Canada, and depends on the ability to issue tax deductible receipts to donors as a way of raising funds or acquiring artifacts and other goods.

There is much confusion as to what type of donation is eligible. Following is a very brief list. Your accountant can advise you on how you can save tax dollars by giving to the Museum. Why give your money to Ottawa when it can help here?

DONATIONS OF CASH

Eligible for tax-deductible receipt.

DONATIONS OF SERVICES

A construction firm, or other provider of a service product can bill the Museum for labour and materials, and the Museum pays the full amount. The donor can then endorse the payment cheque or issue their own cheque, and receive a tax-deductible receipt for the cheque.

DONATIONS OF GOODS

With a few exceptions, the donor of goods can be issued a tax-deductible receipt for the fair market value of goods – the amount that the item could reasonably be sold to an interested buyer. See note *)

CORPORATE DONATIONS

Companies do not need a tax-deductible receipt to write off a gift. They can claim it as a cost of business, usually as promotion expense. This applies to cash, goods and services. The company may wish a receipt, and if they do, it can be issued.

AUCTION SALES

Fair Market Value is considered the price at which the item sells even if the amount it sells for is many times the value (or less than its value). The selling price is the amount in which the tax-deductible receipt is issued.

AUCTION PURCHASES

Purchasers may not receive a tax deductible receipt for their purchase, even if they paid an excess amount. A company, however, can claim a purchase as a promotional expense.

TICKETS TO FUNCTIONS

Only the amount in excess of costs can be given as a tax-deductible receipt, subject to certain rules.

RAFFLE TICKETS

Not eligible for tax-deductible receipts except if the prize to be won is of negligible value.

*Note: Potential donors sometimes approach us with items for which they want a small cash amount as payment, or a much larger tax-deductible tax receipt instead. This is illegal and the Museum will not enter into such an arrangement. However, it is possible to receive some cash as part payment by returning a portion of the sale price. For example, if you have an airplane that is worth $10,000, but you can only donate $5,000, and provided that the Museum is in a position to so do, the Museum can pay you the full amount, and you then return $5,000 to the Museum, for which you can receive a tax-deductible receipt.

Excerpted from the Voluntary Action Directorate newsletter, with some additional notes of our own.

BE PART OF THE TEAM

Operating the Museum involves many jobs, each of which are as important as the other. Jobs include Office Assistants, Cataloguer, Janitorial, Grounds Maintenance, Equipment Repair, Exhibits Maintenance, Yard Surveillance, Parking Lot Attendant, Gift Shop Sales Clerk, Ticket Seller, Data Entry Clerk, Special Events jobs, and much more.

If you would like to become part of the team, please look over the list of jobs, then call Rose at 535-1115 if it is office/collection oriented, or Mike Gatey at 596-1365 for others. We’ll do our best to match you up with a job you like and can do. If you would like to take on more responsibility, consider becoming a volunteer coordinator along with Mike and Rose. Tasks can be organized so that three or four or more people co-ordinate “departments”, thus spreading the work load, and sharing the responsibility to ensure that needed work gets done efficiently and correctly.

PROMISES, PROMISES “PIONEERING AVIATION IN THE WEST”

Hancock House, the publishers for the Museum’s book based on interviews with B.C. aviation pioneers have actually advertised it on a flyer. We hope that this means that it will be published this fall.

The book has been in the process since 1985 when we received a grant from then Manpower and Immigration Canada to carry out taped interviews with aviation pioneers in the area. Three people were employed for six months, during which time, more than 75 two-hour audio tapes were produced, some of which were also videotaped. Money to purchase video equipment was partially paid by a grant from the “99’s Award in Aviation”.

Lloyd Bungey, one of the interviewers, went on to compile a book using direct quotes from the tapes tied together with a minimum of text. It is a story told in the words of the people who were there.

The project lay dormant for many years, until Arnold Feast took it on in 1989. He added more material and spent many hours editing. Ingy Wikene chose and researched the bulk of the photos, while Don Olson and Brian Rempel did the photo reproduction work. Desktop publishing was done by paid staff and Rose Zalesky, then passed on to the publisher who did. still more editing and tidying up. Under an especially generous publishing agreement the work was to be done during spare time. Still, we are hoping that it is now complete and in the printing process.

It is soft cover, with over 330 pages and 150 photos. Please bear with it. It will be worth the wait, and please keep your orders.coming in. Price is still $14.95 postpaid, but we now must add GST of $1.05 for a total of $16.00. See order form elsewhere.

Fred Gardham in his cramped workshop in Vancouver with the right wing of the Hampden shortly before it was taken out to the Museum for installation on the aircraft.

MEMBERSHIP BENEFITS

Many members would like to receive notice in the mail or a telephone call that their membership is due, but postage is expensive and the pressure of daily work makes it difficult to find time to phone.

Your expiry date is listed on your address sticker. Please check it now, and send us a cheque if it’s due or nearly due.

GST is included in membership fee
GENERAL MEMBERSHIP $20.00.
10% discount on most items in the Gift Shop
Free admission to the exhibits during open season (but not your guests)
Free admission to special events (provided you have your valid membership card ready)
Invitations to attend all Museum functions
The opportunity to work with the Museum to make it grow and succeed.

Other membership categories include:

FAMILY MEMBERSHIP $30- all members of immediate family residing at the same address. Full benefits. When applying please provide all names for card issuance.
LIFETIME – a real bargain at $300. You get a Tax Deductible Receipt for $300 and a complementary lifetime memership with full benefits.
FRIEND $10 for those with limited funds, or who want to keep in touch but not become involved. FRIEND members receive the newsletter, free admission to the exhibits during open season, voting priveleges, but are not entitled to a discount in the gift shop or other benefits.

GENERAL MEETINGS

Members meet quarterly, the third Thursday of the month. The Annual General meeting is in April, and members elect a new Board to serve for a year. The July meeting is held in conjunction with an outdoor event such as a barbecue, while the October and January meetings are held at Yic’s Dining Lounge, King George Highway and 104th St. in Surrey. The Spring and Fall meetings also honour volunteers.

Plan to attend, and bring a friend. Please phone so we can estimate how much food to order. See elsewhere this newsletter for ticket order form.

FALL GENERAL MEETING / DINNER

The Friday, October 18th meeting held at Yic’s Dining Lounge will have taken place by the time you receive this newsletter. “Technical difficulties” prevented this newsletter being distributed in time to provide notice through this newsletter. Phone Committee members Chris Watson and Norah Klett did their best to call all members, but if you were missed, please accept our apologies.

Ken Jones and another willing helper putting up a fence to help improve the appearance of the grounds and provide protection for stored items.

Maintaining the grounds, operating the gift shop, processing donations and providing member services is the present priority at the Museum. Restorations of aircraft, much as we would like to carry them out, will have to wait until better facilities are obtained.

THEY DID NOT GROW OLD

by Ron Hunt

The young men who were old enough to volunteer for aircrew in the Second World War had been inspired by the so-called glamour and superiority of the Allied fighter pilots in the First World War. The Battle of Britain, an adequate success for the British, motivated tens of thousands of men to volunteer for flying duties with the R.A.F. and Allied airforces. About 90% of the eager applicants were rejected. They were the children of the recent Depression. The young men selected for aircrew were physically and intellectually the cream of the Commonwealth, but they were, generally, not well led. The senior officers were neither mentally attuned, trained, or had any extensive operational experience themselves.

From 1941 to the end of the war, most of the new aircrew would be posted to heavy bomber squadrons. Operations were usually long, exhausting, and carried out on dark nights in bad weather, because only under these conditions could the losses be accepted (by the senior commanders, that is). The bombers did not have the altitude capability to get above the weather, as today’s jets do. Navigation aids were crude, generally ineffective except on short trips, and often could be detected by enemy fighters.

Enemy fighters, skilfully led and defending their own people and cities, steadily increased their ability to inflict heavy losses on the bombers. They would have defeated the night bombers sooner than they eventually did if Hitler had not interfered. With an excellent force of intruder fighters available, the Germans, by flying low over the bomber bases during takeoffs and landings, could have created chaos. But Hitler forbade this. He said it was important for German morale that the shot down bombers should be visible to the citizens.

The best bomber was undoubtedly the Lancaster with its superior carrying capacity and altitude. Pre-war bombers such as the Blenheim, Hampden, and Wellington were almost as fast; what they lacked was carrying capacity, and weight of bombs was what concerned the bomber leaders above all else (it was similar to the first war mentality, before the generals changed their tactics in 1918, that if only they could drop enough shells on the the enemy he would surrender).

Being accepted for aircrew training in any air force, was considered to be a mark of distinction. The airforce at first gave us a small, silver- coloured badge to wear on our civilian lapels before we were called up some months in the future. Until we were made sergeants or pilot officers and awarded our aircrew badges, we wore a small white piece of cloth on the front of our forage caps. Always, in many ways, the airforce made sure we considered ourselves special-we were going to need that feeling when we started operations. Probably no aircrew trainee completed training without some of his friends being killed during the training period. One casuality in seven occurred during training.

Few of these young men had ever driven a car or motorcycle or travelled more than a short distance from the place where they were born. Misled by propaganda to believe that the Commonwealth flying crews and their aircraft were vastly superior to the Germans (neither of which was true), they embarked on a training program which took about two years for a pilot or navigator under the Commonwealth Training Plan. Training schools, which had been planned before the war, were in Canada, the U.S.A. and South Africa. The long training period provided the young men with qualifications that were only marginally helpful to them when they reached an operational squadron; they would (at a high cost in lives) learn operational flying once they were actually engaged with the enemy. The long training, which in my own case involved digging, other physical activities and much waiting at various locations, was necessary because there were not enough aircraft or airfields to accommodate all the new flyers the training schools were turning out. In other words, until more aircrew were lost and more aircraft were built.

Until 1943 the Germans held a performance advantage in both planes and pilots. The much- loved Spitfire was able to survive during the Battle of Britain because it operated over its own country, had superior radar assistance and a supply of 100 octane American gasoline. Also, the German fighters were hampered by having a short range and being forced to fly at a reduced speed to closely escort the bombers. If the tactics later adopted so successfully by the Americans of having their fighters fly up to 100 miles ahead of the bombers to attack airfields and German formations had been used, there is a good possibility that the R.A.F. fighters could have been overwhelmed. More enemy planes were shot down during the Battle of Britain by Hurricanes than Spitfires because the planes they shot down were mostly the vulnerable bombers; the Hurricanes were actually protected by the Spitfires who dispersed and attacked the German fighters. The Hurricane, in spite of its successes, was in fact inferior to the German fighters.

Following the disastrous mistakes and criticism of the leadership and training of the British Army (and to some extent the British Navy, too) after the first war, the leadership of the Army and Navy was reasonably up-to-date and efficient when W.W.II started. The initial defeats were due to lack of equipment and the collapse of France. It was quite different with the Royal Air Force. The men who stayed in the regular force after W.W.I served in a class-conscious, devil-may-care environment. They flew “operations” in obsolete aircraft against troublesome tribes in the Middle East or India. They were men who loved to fly, loved the service and the friendship of men with similar interests. The Royal Air Force between the wars has been described as “The best flying club in the world”. What was important to these men was the school they had attended, the class to which they had been born, their family history, wealth and preferably a private income, and a man’s prowess at sports (especially rugby). Advanced training was not available and the whole air force operated as a sort of “old-boys” flying club.

Some 7,000 British heavy bombers were shot down, almost all by underneath attacks, yet only a handful were fitted with bottom turrets and the heavy bombers were blind underneath. Pilots were advised to dip a wing frequently so the mid-upper gunner could search underneath.

This was not too effective – a good night fighter pilot could shoot down a bomber in a few seconds after coming out of his hiding place beneath the bomber.

A controversial tour-of-operations scheme was enforced in the Allied airforces. On Commonwealth heavy bombers this was a first tour of 30 operations followed after six months or a year’s rest by a second tour, usually of 20 operations. The odds of a man surviving these two tours of operations were about 1 in 7. This system was a torment to the crews. At the beginning, the 50 operations seemed endless; and towards the end (for the few who survived), counting each one to complete the tour became an additional strain. After 10 or so operations, almost all aircrew were red-eyed, tired, tense men, blincking their eyes and frequently suffering from nightmares and bed-wetting. Some had a complete mental breakdown or were not able to continue. These men were often harshly treated and had their record marked “Lack of Moral Fibre”.

The Germans had no tour system. The disadvantage with this was a shortage of combat-experienced instructors. The advantage was that a man could be rested at any time when he showed signs of strain. Constantly in action, some German crews achieved remarkable successes. Hans Rudel, a dive-bomber pilot, flew on operations for six years, mostly in dive bombers, made over 2,500 operational sorties, was shot down 30 times and destroyed over 500 Russian armoured vehicles. Eric Hartmann shot down 365 planes, mostly on the Russian front- but a few American Mustangs, too. Wolfgang Schnaeffer shot down 121 night bombers. These men survived the war.

Chief of Bomber Command, Arthur Harris, stated after a major success against easy to find and attack Hamburg, that he could “devastate Berlin from end to end and end the war”. He stated: “There are those who say that bombing alone can not end the war. My reply is: It has never been tried, and we shall see!”

There was ample evidence to show that this was not true. Terror raids on Spanish cities during the Spanish Civil War, and by the Germans against London and other cities for the whole winter of 1940-1941 had shown not only that indiscriminate bombing did not break the morale of the population, but united them. After the fall of France and the miraculous escape of most of the Allied armies from France, England had had enough of war and in general was ready to let Germany keep what she had captured (or been given by Chamberlain). But now the aggressive Churchill was Prime Minister, and after a controversial political career, at age 65 he grasped the opportunity offered him and roused the nation to fight on. The enemy’s bombing raids on London and other cities caused many casualties, considerable damage and helped Churchill build up hatred against the ‘Brutal Enemy’. (The raids on London had been ordered by Hitler after Churchill ordered a raid on Berlin. Churchill did this to bring some relief to British airfields around London which had suffered so badly that they were going to have to be closed down). Churchill’s tactic worked and the German bombers abandoned their attacks on airfields and started bombing cities. The news media made the most of these “brutal” German attacks (particularly the attacks on London), stressing that even Buckingham Palace had suffered damage (minor). Not mentioned was the fact that England had decided, even before the war started, to have 4,000 heavy bombers bomb Germany into submission. (Because of the effort involved, this was never achieved).

German war production was not seriously affected by Allied bombing until the American precision raids were escorted by fighters in the summer of 1944. Two main types of bombs were dropped: incendiary bombs, which were not too effective against industrial plants which were built of brick or metal and guarded by firefighting patrols. The main reason for deciding to drop a higher proportion of incendiary bombs was to burn down the homes of the workers. The high explosive bombs were usually ‘high-capacity bombs. These were thin-skinned bombs carrying a large amount of explosive; they burst on impact and had a powerful blast effect. If a factory was destroyed, the steel machine tools were usually little damaged and could be moved to another factory-often in an occupied country or in a new location away from the danger of bombing. Even after the most successful attack ever carried out, the Hamburg raid, the important industries were producing again in about two months. The chief of Bomber Command was not unaware of all this; the primary idea was to destroy the homes, disturb the sleep and hopefully reduce the morale of the workers.

The bomber commanders, blooded in WWI, with the “press-on-regardless”, and “if we could only dump enough high explosive on the enemy HE will give up” attitude continued their attacks, providing the German propaganda ministry with something to distract the German people away from the disasters on the war fronts and rapidly mounting casualty lists.

Until the middle of 1942, the raids were small and most of the bombs fell in open country because of the lack of navigational equipment to find the cities on dark nights. At this period, many of the prewar, experienced crews were lost. After 1942, few well experienced men were available to train those to follow.

About a quarter of a million German civilians were killed during the bombing raids. In five days of day and night attacks Hamburg suffered 40,000 civilians killed, 40,000 wounded and 900,000 made homeless or were missing. In the terror attack on the unarmed city of Dresden in February 1945 over 25,000 were killed, mostly wounded soldiers, refugees and women and children who had moved away from other bombed cities.

Albert Speer, Hitler’s production chief, said that up to a million people were occupied in manning the anti-aircraft defences. Although many of these were women, under-age boys, and even some Russian prisoners of war, it was a drain on the German war effort. Some 20,000 guns, 10,000 or them heavy guns which could have been used on the Russian Front (if the facilities to transport, man and supply them with ammunition had been available).

Incredibly, the Royal Air Force was really two separate forces, each almost in conflict with the other: there was Bomber Command and there was Fighter Command. While 7,000 bombers were being shot down, mostly by fighters, Fighter Command had 1,000 fighters doing little except a few nuisance “sweeps” over the Channel to “targets” (mostly airfields) close to the French coast. Why a long-range fuel tank was not introduced earlier to enable the fighters to protect the bombers was partly because of the jealousy between Fighter and Bomber Commands, each afraid that the other would assume some authority over their squadrons. Losses of the fighters would have been high, but in view of the devastating losses of the bombers which carried 7 or 8 men, these losses would have been justified.

After the successful attack on Hamburg, the Germans knew the next series of attacks would be on Berlin and they planned a battle of attrition. Berlin was a long way from the English airfields, was a difficult target to find, and was a modern city less easy to set on fire than Hamburg. The weather was particularly bad in the winter of 1943-44. Cold, red-eyed gunners stared into the gloom for hours at a time seeking the elusive night-fighters.

In 18 major attacks on Berlin, only moderate damage was caused and many of the veterans of Bomber Command were lost in the struggle. The initial attacks on Berlin were scattered and created areas of rubble which prevented later raids from creating the fire-storms that had devastated other cities.

After a raid on Nuremberg in March 1944 when 104 bombers were lost either on the raid or crashed in England, Sir Arthur Harris, the Bomber Command chief, finally realized that the night- fighters had made losses too high to continue. Never again did Bomber Command send its whole force to one target.

Most pitiful of all, were the crews unfortunate enough to be flying the Halifax bomber which had a ceiling often as much as 6,000 feet less than the Lancaster. This made the Halifax more vulnerable to both fighters and flak. Higher- flying Lancasters were dropping bombs through cloud, smoke, fires and searchlights. Sometimes these bombs fell on the poor Halifax. It was withdrawn from most of the Berlin raids. On the disastrous Nuremberg raid, 30% of the Halifaxes turned back before reaching the target, and of those that carried on, 30% were shot down.

FEAR IS THE KILLER. At the time I was flying on operations, I did not realize how true this fact was. Only many years later when reading a book written by an ex-bomber pilot did I ponder this; it was true those who feared death, soon found it. Before an operation, it was natural to be afraid, but some crew-members were deathly afraid. Fear of the coming flight paralyzed them-only a sense of duty or a greater fear of being thought a coward prevented them from refusing to fly. These men were living lives of hell, more on the ground than in the air. They were filled with utter fear which disturbed their ability to sleep, caused lack of bladder control, stomach pain, twitches and nervous habits. They dreaded the coming death, probably a horrible death, that was, they sensed, to strike soon. The majority of aircrew sometimes felt fear, but a party, a few drinks, a game of football or a girlfriend pushed the fear aside most of the time. Some men just didn’t care, or more accurately, they had accepted the fact that they would eventually be killed and they hoped it wouldn’t be on the next operation because they had a new girlfriend they wanted to make first, or a leave or something pleasant coming up. But it didn’t seem important whether the anticipated death came on tonight’s operation or whether it would be postponed. Most of the survivors and “aces” came from this latter group. Probably it was because they could relax between operations, could think more clearly than those who were numbed with fear.

Wearing the flying insignia, whether as pilot, navigator, or airgunner was a source of great pride. All except the pilot actually wore only half a wing. Looking back, it is impossible to understand how we got ourselves into such a duty and how we carried on with so many of our friends going missing. It was easier to chance one’s own life than to see one’s friends go missing – almost certainly killed in a violent explosion or burned to death trapped by centrifugal force in a spinning. burning aircraft.

It was a merciless environment: enemy defences, foul weather much of the time, mountains to avoid (or crash into), the possibility of mechanical failure, the hazard of take-off and landing. The faithful ground-crew would stand beside us as we prepared to leave. So many times they waited in vain for their plane to return, as they has waited so many times before for a plane that never came back. With so much to concern us, we gave little thought to the dreary, demanding lives they led.

Often when I awoke, the bed next to mine would be empty; the bright eyed boy gone to his death during the night. New to operational flying, he still had the enthusiasm and innocence of a young man who has just reached his goal to be on an operational squadron. Those of us who had been around for several months were more cynical, more serious, about the grim duty we were required to do several times a week.

In operational flying, experience was the greatest safety factor. To gain that experience one was at great risk of death. After a number of operations, complacency was all too easy and all too dangerous to acquire. Frequently, the most unlikely ones survived, the most promising crews quickly finding death on a lonely night.

It happened a long time ago, and in a few short years those that are still around will have gone, too. At least they had a normal lifespan.

SHELDON LUCK’S LUCK HOLDS

Following is an excerpt from a 1985 taped interview by Ken Swartz with Sheldon Luck dealing with Sheldon’s “mishap” with a Boeing 40H4 operated by Columbia Aviation.

The interviews were conducted as part of our “Pioneer Profiles” series on B.C. aviation history and were drawn on to prepare the book “Pioneering Aviation in the West” Sheldon was one of those who was part of that history. He is now retired and living in Langley, BC.

Interviewer’s questions are in italics.

So what happened to Advanced, anyway?

Well, I left in the fall of ’35, to go with Columbia Aviation in Vancouver. Columbia Aviation had entered into an agreement with Mrs. Muncaster to take over Advanced Air Services. She wanted them to carry on and the principal stipulation as I recall that Bill (her son) must be accommodated somewhere in the operation, and given the opportunity to fly eventually. So I came out to Vancouver, got the first 40H4 Champ and that’s the one I wiped out. I see another book on the market now that says that Ernie Boffa took over my contract. That isn’t true. Something like less then two weeks later I was back on the fish haul with AMQ.

Well, tell me something about Columbia Aviation?

I didn’t know much about them even though I worked for them for a few months. They had the flying school here. Des Murphy was their chief instructor. Who else did they have flying for them? They didn’t have anyone that wanted to go into the north and haul fish in the winter time, anyway I can tell you that. That’s why they got an Alberta pilot.

How about the operation itself?

It was pretty ropey. Ewan Boyd was the chief engineer. He was only a kid and didn’t know any more as an engineer than I knew as a pilot. So we were well matched. Did he tell you what happened to that thing? Well, it backfired. Mind you, we had no carborator heat on those engines. They did install what they called a “hot spot” which again they did away with shortly after as they could be more dangerous then nothing at all. They heated the air end of the carborator but under certain conditions you’d heat it too much or not enough. So you’re better to have it full cold or nothing. And, we were having problems with the change of altitude, I suppose and the cold, cold weather more than anything. It’s a big engine… I think it’s 525 horse, a Hornet B. Practically the same engine they developed into the H for the Norseman and Harvards.

As I recall the story Ewing changed a power jet and had trouble seating it and that’s where he made his mistake. I took off in the morning and I noticed that it was quite warm at a couple of thousand feet above the surface. But the last end of the lake, the last thousand feet or so, you’re back in cool air again. The boys were waiting to throw the load on, (so I could) take off again. I took off and was climbing out – we were using a bay that came in off the south end of the lake because out in the centre of the lake (that lake was 14 miles long) was piled up four or five feet high with snow that would pack just like ice-the main arm of the lake was off to the right, probably about a mile. Now I was knocked out so there still to this day a lot a whole lot happened that I don’t recall. If it hadn’t been for the pictures…..

I suppose when the engine quit and it caught fire, I didn’t know it caught fire. There were sixteen men down on the ice and they saw it. They said the smoke was just bellowing out the back of (the airplane. I have a recollection that I was in serious trouble and I better get down to that arm. So I had to turn about eighty (or) ninety degrees to get down to this arm and there was another indentation to this arm which I suppose I saw right away and was making for. Now the next thing that happened I was getting out of the airplane. It was upside down, it’s wrecked, and all that saved my life was that the pilot sat near the tail in an outside cockpit. I crawled out of that hole and my belt broke. I was black and blue across (my lower body) for weeks. That’s the only thing that happened.

By this time the men – who had been out changing the nets I presume. They had their dog teams which is what they used it pick up their fish with and take them back to the camp – who, as soon as they saw the airplane in trouble they started up the lake. They could see me turn and they knew what I was likely going to do. The picture shows that if I had had twenty, thirty feet more I’d have made it, but I clipped the trees off just as neat as could be. So now I’m out of the airplane but I’m knocked out. I have a vague recollection that I was standing in back of the wrecked wing, on the side of the where the cockpit had been, and there was a crackling like leaves. That was the first thing I was aware of, it just sounded like leaves, dry leaves, crackling, then I realized the airplane was burning. By this time the dog teams were about three, four hundred yards. I heard them start to yell. hollering to me to get away. But I didn’t know this, I was just knocked stupid. I started to walk away, whether from their insistance or just common sense, and one of the tanks went off, blew up. I remember it lifted the whole wreck right up, scattered stuff around, and knocked me down again. I was in a heavy flying suit and wearing a face mask, (you had to flying in that open cockpit) and it knocked me down again and no sooner started moving away when the first dog team caught up with me. They grabbed me and hauled me back. I remember, we were all back from the fire a safe distance and watching her really go. Yeah I’ll show you the pictures, you wouldn’t think anybody would have got it live. That’s what got me the job at McConachie.

How?

Now, this was in January of ’36. We’d started this deal in ’35, late fall. The department didn’t have an airplane on skills, equipped to fly in the winter. (Grant) McConachie had a fish haul not far away. He was going up to his fish camp with a fresh airplane, a Fokker for somebody. GC-AFU. The inspector asked him if he would drop in at Peerless Lake and have a look at this crash and give him a(n unbiased) report on it – just tell what had happened. If someone had been hurt, they’d have had to have hired an airplane and gone up.

McConachie walked around and looked at it. I was all right, except I was sore. I was walking with him, and he turned to me and said (something like): “Anybody who could walk out of a mess like that, or a wreck like that, was meant to fly, or was born to fly”.