On this day in Canadian Aviation History

 

01 April

1918

Formation of the RAF by amalgamation of Royal Flying Corps and Royal Naval Air Service.

1924

Most of the aviation work that had been done in British Columbia up to 1924 was done in conjunction with the Air Board, then the Canadian Air Force and finally the Royal Canadian Air Force which came into being April 1, 1924. The RCAF withdrew from patrol duties despite its success in this role. A few of the people who had been flying for the military until this time decided to strike out on their own. They wanted to form independent companies, and still make a living doing what they enjoyed most - flying. Don McLaren was one such person and he formed a company called Pacific Airways, in February 1925.

1937

No. 3 Repair Depot authorized to form at Vancouver.

1953

The CF-100 entered Squadron service.

02 April

1955

Trans-Canada Airlines introduced the Vickers Viscount airliner into regular service, making it the first North American airline to use turbine power aircraft.

1971

Last internal Yukon flight from Victoria to Trenton.

03 April

1968 

The RCAF's P2V Neptune flew its last operational mission. A few would later be activated when the Argus was grounded after cracks were discovered in some.

04 April

1942

S/L L.J. Birchall and crew sighted a Japanese flotilla 350 miles south of Ceylon.  Thereafter he was known as the Saviour of Ceylon.  He was shot down and taken prisoner.

1947

One of Canada's first TCA pilots Bill Straith is killed in an accident in New Mexico.

1949

NATO Agreement signed by member nations in Washington, DC.

1990

CF-18 #792 crashes on the weapons range at Cold Lake, pilot killed.

05 April

1910

The first built Canadian built monoplane and the first airplane for export, Canadian Aerodrome Hubbard Monoplane, was flown at Baddeck. Nova Scotia.

06 April

1962

The RCAF retired the last Canso flying boat (162 Squadron) at Downsview, Ontario.

07 April

1948

The Royal Canadian Navy's aircraft carrier, HMCS Magnificent, was commissioned to replace HMCS Warrior.

1972

Both CF Bomarc SAM Squadrons closed.

08 April

1954

Construction of Pine Tree defensive line announced.

1991

Three Chinooks seen for the last time at CFB Edmonton.

09 April

1942

No. 421 (Fighter) Squadron was formed in England.

1964

Official retirement of the Lancaster at Downsview, Ontario. 

1964

First flight of a DHC-5 Bufalo aircraft took place in Downsview on this date.

10 April

1942

No. 132 (Fighter) Squadron was formed at Tofino, BC.

1953

No. 1 Air Division now located at new HQ at Metz, France.

1970  

The first of four Boeing 707's designated the CC 137 arrived at Trenton.

1972

LCol Roy Windover awarded the Louis Bleriot medal by the FAI for reaching an altitude of 30,800 ft in a glider.

11 April

1921

The first Canadian Air Force flying fatality occurred at Camp Borden, Ontario when S/L K. Tailyour crashed in an Avro 504K while performing aerobatics.

1954

S/L RG Christie flew from Vancouver to Ottawa in 3 hrs, 46 mins flying time with stops at Calgary and Winnipeg.  He was flying a Canadair-built North American Sabre V.

12 April

1937

Frank Whittles tested on the ground, the first jet engine (U-type).

13 April

1938

Ground was broken at Malton Airport, Toronto for the Aircraft Division of the National Steel Car Corp.  The plant later became Victory Aircraft Ltd and Avro Aircraft Ltd.

14 April

1941

402 "City of Winnipeg" Squadron carried out the RCAFs first offensive patrol over enemy territory.

15 April

1941

No. 404 (Coastal Fighter) Squadron was formed in England.

1946

Formation of the first post-was Auxiliary Squadrons was authorized: 400 (Toronto), 401 (Montreal), 402 (Winnipeg), 418 (Edmonton), 424 (Hamilton), 439 (Montreal), and 442 (Vancouver).

1947 

Trans Canada Airlines inaugurated Transatlantic Service between Dorval and Preswick with the North Star.  Flight was 8 hrs, 39 mins.

16 April

1980

A contract was signed at CFB Uplands for 173 CF-18A Hornet fighter aircraft.

17 April

1985

CP Air began first Boeing 737 Series A 300 service when C-FCPG flew from Vancouver to Winnipeg and Toronto.

1944

F/O TC Cooke and crew in a Consolidted Canso of No. 162 Squadron sank the German submarine U-311, southwest of Iceland.

18 April

1958

The Avro CF-105 Arrow prototype exceeded M 1.5 at 50,000 ft during a test flight at Malton, Ontario, piloted by J. Zurakowski.

19 April

1927

Canadian Vickers Vanessa made it's first flight, from the St Lawrence at the Canadian Vickers plant by Flt Lt R. S. (Bill) Grady, who then made a series of flights, terminating on 27 April.

20 April

1920 

The first civilian aircraft to be registered in Canada was (G-CAAA) registered in Sask. to Aerial Service Company of Regina.

21 April

1918

Capt Arthur Roy Brown of 209 Squadron was credited with shooting down Baron von Richthofen, the leading German fighter pilot.

1946

No. 168 (Heavy Transport) Squadron was disbanded at Rockcliffe.  It had completed 636 trans-Atlantic flights between 15 Dec 1943 and 02 Mar 1946.

22 April

1943

The Air Cadet Corps was made a component of the RCAF by Order-in-Council. 

1946

First flight of a tailless glider developed at National Research Council, Ottawa from a design by Prof GTR Hill.  Flight was made from Namao, Alberta.  The glider was piloted by S/L R. Kronfeld, RAF in a towed flight by an RCAF Douglas Dakota piloted for F/O Robertson.

23 April

1941

No. 405 (Bomber) Squadron was formed in England.

24 April

1912

Billy Stark returned to British Columbia with his pilot's licence and a new Curtis "Flyer." Stark took Daily Province sports editor Jim Hewitt up for a flight.  Hewitt, who was British Columbia's first air passenger, related his impression of the flight to his readers. Later that same day, Olive Stark became the first woman airplane passenger in Canada.  She sat beside her husband on the lower wing of his Curtis, bundled up against the cold, looking both proud and apprehensive.

25 April

1928

Charles A. Lindbergh landed on the Plains of Abraham, Quebec City, in a Curtiss Falcon carrying pneumonia serum for Floyd Bennett.

1945

The last bombing attack was carried out by No. 6 (RCAF) Group with 192 aircraft dropping over 902 tons of bombs on Wangerooge Island.

26 April

2001

Pilot Sean Loutitt lands in Chile after a daring two-day flight to the South Pole in a Twin Otter to rescue an ailing U.S. scientist. It was the first rescue of its kind in the harsh Antarctic winter.

27 April

1943

No. 405 (Bomber) Squadron, now transferred to No. 8 Pathfinder Group (RAF), carried out its first Pathfinder operation.

28 April

1911

The first aeroplane flight in the Province of Alberta was made by Hugh Robinson of the Curtiss exhibition flying team of Edmonton, using a Curtiss pusher biplane.

1932

Louis T. Reichers flew from Montreal Quebec to Havana Cuba; 1,786 miles in 9 hrs in Lockheed Altain "Golden Eagle".

29April

1975

A seven-pound baby girl was born on a 442 Squadron Buffalo medical evacuation flight.

30 April

1909

Casey Baldwin and JAD McCurdy formed the first Canadian aviation company, the Canadian Aerodrome Company, at Baddeck NS with the assistance of Alexander Graham Bell.

1951

No. 404 Squadron was reformed at Greenwood, NS and equipped with Avro 683 Lancaster 10MR aircraft.