On this day in Canadian Aviation History

 

01 October

1920

Refresher training began at Camp Borden, Ontario.

1924

Pilot E.A. Alton set out on the first recorded aerial mail flight from Estevan, Saskatchewan to Winnipeg, but unfortunately was aborted by a crash.

1938

The newly-formed Trans-Canada Air Lines began regular air mail service between Winnipeg and Vancouver.

1942

No. 149 (TB) Squadron was formed at Dartmouth, Nova Scotia.

1946

RCAF returned to a peacetime footing and many Regular Force personnel were reduced in rank.

1950

No. 411 Squadron (Auxiliary) was formed at Toronto, Ontario.

1953

No. 440 Squadron was reformed at Bagotville, Quebec, and equipped with Avro Canada

CF-100 fighters.

1954

Nos. 425 and 432 Squadrons were formed at St. Hubert and Bagotville, Quebec, and equipped with Avro Canada CF-100 fighters.

02 October

1944

No. 435 (Transport) and 436 (Transport) Squadrons were formed in England.

03 October

1963

The DH 106 Comet aircraft were retired from RCAF service.

04 October

1957

Avro Canada CF-105 Arrow prototype was rolled out from the plant at Malton, Ontario.

05 October

1944

Five pilots of No. 401 Squadron destroyed a Messerschmitt Me 262, the first jet aircraft brought down by either the RAF or RCAF.

1964

RCAF provided air transportation and honour guards during the visit of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II to Canada.

06 October

1927

Western Canada Airways commenced contract airmail service between Lac du Bonnet, Wadhope and Bisset, Manitoba.

1944

No. 6 (RCAF) Group sent 293 bombers to attack Dortmund, Germany.  This was the largest force sent out by the Group.

07 October

 

08 October

1943

F/L AH Russell and crew in a Short Sunderland of No. 423 Squadron sank the German submarine U-610 in the North Atlantic.

09 October

1930

Erroll Boyd launches his flight across the Atlantic in the Maple Leaf. En route, he encounters rough weather; his plane suffers an electrical failure and a clogged fuel line. He becomes the first Canadian to fly the Atlantic when he lands the next day on the British island of Tresco.

10 October

 

11 October

1960

The Hon G.R. Pearkes, VC, DSO, retired as Minister of National Defence and was replaced by the Hon Douglas Harkness.

1963

The Vertol CH-113 Voyageur helicopter entered RCAF service.

12 October

1942

Famed RCAF ace, Buzz Beurling, was shot down and wounded over Malta.

13 October 

          1964  

                    Queen Elizabeth was flown from London to Ottawa on the first Air Canada DC 8

                    sporting the new tiles  and paint scheme.

1956 

The first CP-121 Tracker  was delivered to the RCN  for duty on HMCS Bonaventure. 

14 October

1942

P/O Beurling, flying a Supermarine Spitfire of No. 249 (RAF) Squadron, destroyed three enemy aircraft over Malta, but was shot down and wounded.

15 October

1920

The first commercial passenger flight into the Canadian north was made this date between Winnipeg and The Pas, Manitoba.

1942

No. 426 (Bomber) Squadron was formed in England.

1945

Nos. 423 and 433 (Bomber) Squadrons were disbanded.

1950

First Technical Training Unit was formed in the RCAF Auxiliary at Vancouver.  Over the next three years, eight additional units would be formed.

1951

RCAF Ground Observer Corps was formed.

16 October 

 

17 October

1951

RCAF took delivery of the first CF-100 Canuck in Malton, Ontario.

18 October

1927

Count Jacques de Lesseps and his mechanic were lost in a Schreck flying boat in the Gulf of St. Lawrence near St. Felicite, Quebec.

1943

No. 168 (Heavy Transport) Squadron was formed at Rockcliffe, Ontario.

1958

The last Canadian-built North American Sabre, the 1815th produced, was delivered to representatives of West Germany.

19 October

1943 

The RCAF's worst  accident killed 24 servicemen travelling on leave from Newfoundland to Montreal. The aircraft was a Liberator from No. 10 B.R. Squadron.

1945

No. 168 (HT) Squadron flew Canadian Red Cross medical supplies from Rockcliffe Airport to Poland.  One Boeing Fortress crashed at Munster, Germany, during the operation, killing the five crew members.

20 October

1924

First recorded RCAF mercy flight took place from Vancouver BC to Norway House, Manitoba.

21 October

 

22 October

1940

S/L EA McNab, No. 1 Squadron, was awarded the DFC for services in the Battle of Britain.

1956

An officer exchange program was inaugurated between the RAAF and the RCAF.

1956

No. 401 Squadron (Auxiliary) was first of six auxiliary squadrons to be equipped with North American Sabre fighters.

23 October

 

24 October

1947

First flight of a Grumman HU-16 Albatross prototype.

25 October

1940

F/L GR McGregor and F/O BD Russel, No. 1 Squadron, were awarded the DFC for services in the Battle of Britain.

1960

National Aviation Museum was opened at Uplands Airport by Hon J. Angus MacLean, acting on behalf of Prime Minister John Diefenbaker.

1982

Canadian Armed Forces accepted the first two CF-18 Hornet fighter aircraft at CFB Uplands.

26 October

1943

F/L RM Aldwinckle and crew in a Consolidated Liberator of No. 10 Squadron sank the German submarine U-420 in the North Atlantic.

1956

Royal Canadian Navy accepted the first seven of 100 Grumman Tracker aircraft at Downsview, Ontario.

27 October

1918

Col. William Barker shoots down a German plane over the front lines, then is attacked by a large formation of enemy aircraft. He sends three more German aircraft to the ground, while suffering serious gunshot wounds to his legs and elbow; crash landing near the Allied lines.  He was awarded the Victoria Cross.

1927

The first Canadian-built , metal-hulled flying-boat, the Canadian Vickers Vista, was flown from St Lawrence at Montreal.

1982 

The first CF 18  Hornet arrived to 410 Squadron OTU CFB Cold Lake.

28 October

1958

Canadair C-5 of the RCAF, piloted by W/C WK Carr and crew, flew Prime Minister Diefenbaker on a round-the-world tour.

1960

RCAF 435 Squadron accepted its first CC-130B Hercules transport aircraft at Uplands.

29 October 

1963 

The first Canadair CL-41 Tutor jet trainer entered RCAF service.

30 October

1942

F/O EL Robinson and crew in a Lockheed Hudson of No. 145 (BR) Squadron, destroyed the German submarine U-658, 320 miles east of St. John's Newfoundland.

1942

F/O DF Raymes and crew in a Douglas B-18 Digby of No. 10 (BR) Squadron destroyed the German submarine U-520 far out in the Atlantic Ocean.

1945

No. 166 Squadron was disbanded.

1963

Mrs. Hester Dunlap, spouse of A/M CR Dunlap, christened the first production Canadair CL-41 for the RCAF, "Tutor".

31 October

1934

The first Canadian-built aircraft with all-metal, monocoque fuselage, the Fairchild Super 71, was flown from the St Lawrence at Longueuil, Quebec.

1945

No. 165 (Transport) Squadron was disbanded. 

1963

LAC HF Schulz rescued an RCAF officer on board a Canadair CL-44D Yukon aircraft, who was in danger of being sucked out of a cargo door.  LAC Schulz was awarded the British Empire Medal for Gallantry.

1979

Death of Sir Barnes Wallis, inventor of geodetic construction, bouncing bombs, and swing-wings.  He was 89 years of age.