We hope you enjoyed answering the Canadian Aviation Moments in November. We encourage readers to send in their responses to the Canadian Aviation Moments questions at: info@cahs.ca. Your responses will be included in the following month's newsletter. Here are the correct answers:
Question: What aircraft, from the Imperial Gift, were experimented with in adapting World War I war-time photographic reconnaissance methods to mapping in Canada?
Answer: “In the autumn of 1920, an Avro 504K (serial uncertain) and a Bristol F-2B (G-CYBC), flying from the Rockcliffe Rifle Ranges, experimented in adapting war-time photographic reconnaissance methods to mapping in Canada. The Avro proved unsuitable (low ceiling, vibration) and the Bristol was too sensitive at the controls to be a good photographic aircraft, but the concept was considered sound, provided better machines could be employed: the D.H.4 and D.H.9 were considered best candidates.”
Source: CAHS Journal – Vol.47 No.1 – Spring 2009 – Page 30
Question: When and who established the original Snowbirds team in 1971? The establishment of the Snowbirds was connected with the Golden Centennaires in at least 2 ways. What were the two links between the Centennaires and the Snowbirds?
Answer: “Colonel O.B. Philp, former commanding officer of the Centennaires and base commander of Canadian Forces Base Moose Jaw (now 15 Wing Moose Jaw), established the original Snowbirds team in 1971. It was comprised of volunteer instructor pilots from the Canadian Forces Flying Training School in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan. They flew seven ex-Centennaire Tutor aircraft, practising in the evenings and performing on weekends.”
Source: Snowbirds – Behind The Scenes With Canada’s Air Demonstration Team – Photographs And Text By Mike Sroka – Page 23
Question: What was the connection between Rockcliffe and W/C William Barker, VC, the famous WW1 fighter ace?
Answer: “On a tragic note, W/C William Barker, VC, the famous WWI fighter ace, was killed at Rockcliffe on March 12th 1930, when he crashed onto the frozen Ottawa River after stalling his Fairchild KR-21 during a demonstration flight.”
Source: Airforce – The Magazine of Canada’s Air Force Heritage – Volume 28 No. 3 - Fall 2004
The Canadian Aviation Moments were submitted by Dennis Casper from the Roland Groome (Regina) Chapter of the CAHS.
The Canadian Aviation Moments questions for December are:
Question: What RAF bomber was Calgarian Charles Patterson, a WWII pilot, referring to when he observed: “I’d never seen such a dreadful boring-looking thing, nose-down, going at what looked like about fifty mph.”
Source: No Prouder Place – Canadians and the Bomber Command Experience 1939-1945 – Page 22
Question: When did the Canadian Government, prior to World War II, take the situation in Europe seriously in regards to appropriation of funds for defence spending? Of the planned, in 1939, eleven permanent and twelve auxiliary squadrons, how many were planned to reinforce the RAF in need? What were the most cutting edge bombers and fighters the RCAF had in the service inventory at the commencement of WWII hostilities?
Source: No Prouder Place – Canadians and the Bomber Command Experience 1939-1945 – David L. Bashow – Pages 19-20
Question: Who devised the name “Snowbirds” for Canada’s formation team? What year did the Snowbirds first appear, and where was their first appearance? How many shows did they do in the first year, and what was the public’s reaction?
Source: Snowbirds –Behind The Scenes With Canada’s Air Demonstration Team – By Mike Sroka – Page 23