Friday, April 24, 2009

Snowbirds meet Hawk One


Hawk One, the Centennial Hornet, and the Snowbirds have been at CFB Comox this past week working up for the airshow season. (Photos courtesy of the Canadian Department of National Defence.)

Now that's what I'm talking about!



I'm still not sure if I like the Centennial Hornet paint scheme, but this is a nice photo.

Thursday, April 16, 2009

Boys, Load Up Those Fireflys

Here is a nice set of photos of Royal Canadian Navy Fairey Fireflys being readied for action. The first three are Firefly FR.1s and the last aircraft is a Firefly IV. (All photos courtesy of the Canada Department of National Defence/Library and Archives of Canada.)




Friday, April 3, 2009

A Short History of Canada's Air Force

One of the problems of being a Canadian Air Force fan living in the U.S. is that the vast majority of non-Canadians...and sometimes Canadians too...don't know much about the (R)CAF. April 1, was the 85th birthday of the (R)CAF and to honor that anniversary, and to educate members of the CAF, the Air Force published a short little book on the service's history called "On Windswept Heights: Historical Highlights of Canada's Air Force." You can download it by clicking here.

Wednesday, April 1, 2009

A Harvard Education

I was back in Tillsonburg this past weekend for the final edition of Harvard Ground School. A couple of the Harvards were doing pilot checkouts.

Harvard Mk. 4 CF-WLH about to depart on a flight.


North American built Harvard Mk. II C-FRWN RCAF # 3830 was also flying some ops.




Harvard Mk. 4 C-FRZW RCAF # 20422 was in the hangar for its annual.



Harvard Mk. II C-FMTX RCAF # 3191 is under restoration. It should be back flying in a couple of years.


CHAA is building a Harvard out of spare parts for static display. The rear fuselage is from Harvard Mk. II RCAF # 2885.