| 
  • If you are citizen of an European Union member nation, you may not use this service unless you are at least 16 years old.

  • You already know Dokkio is an AI-powered assistant to organize & manage your digital files & messages. Very soon, Dokkio will support Outlook as well as One Drive. Check it out today!

View
 

On this day in Canadian Aviation History August

Page history last edited by Comox Air Force Museum Library 14 years, 4 months ago

On this day in Canadian Aviation History

 

01 August

1943

The first Canadian-built four-engined aircraft, the Avro 683 Lancaster X, was flown at Malton, Onatrio.

1952

No. 427 Squadron was reformed at St. Hubert, Quebec and equipped with North American Sabre fighters.

1958 

The North American Air Defence Agreement (NORAD) came into effect.

1964

A/M CR Slemon, the last original RCAF officer, retired after serving as Deputy Commander of NORAD.

02 August

1925

The only Viking IV stationed at Ottawa was the British-built G-CYES and it was written off.

03 August

1909

The Silver Dart, Canada's first aircraft, crash landed at Petawawa, Ontario.

1926

The Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) began operations with Canadian Vickers Vedette flying boats, with a base at Lac du Bonnet, Manitoba.

04 August

1914

The First World War thrusts the fledgling aviation technology into prominence. Canada has neither pilots nor aircraft in its armed forces, but about 22,000 Canadians bravely fly with British squadrons, in planes like the SPAD VII.

1943

F/L AA Bishop and crew in a Short Sunderland of No. 423 Squadron sank the German submarine U-489.  The Sunderland was shot down; five crew were lost and six saved.

05 August

1940

No. 2 SFTS was officially opened at Uplands Airport, Ontario, by the Governor-General.

06 August

1957

F/L WJ Marsh was awarded the George Medal when he rescued the pilot of a crashed North American Sabre at Chatham, NB.  Four assisting airmen Cpl Onarheim, LAC Henderson, LAC Gommer and LAC Meier, were awarded the Queen's Commendation for Brave Conduct.

 1969

A sonic boom from an air show smashes windows in eight blocks of downtown Kelowna.

07 August

1919

Ernest Hoy is the first to fly over the Canadian Rockies, in a Curtiss JN-4, travelling from Vancouver to Calgary. Unable to climb above 7,000 feet, he has to fly between mountain peaks, with vicious updrafts and downdrafts pulling at his plane and only 150 feet between him and the craggy peaks of Crawford Pass. On his return flight, he cartwheels shortly after takeoff and, badly shaken, never flies again.               

08 August

1948

FW 'Casey' Baldwin, the first Canadian to pilot an heavier-than-air flying machine, died at Neareagh, Nova Scotia.

09 August

1949

The first Canadian passenger jet (second in the world after the British), the Avro Canada Jetliner, is flown at Malton.  Despite its advanced design, it never saw production and was later sold for scrap.

1950 

The first Canadian built Sabre Mark 1 flew.

1950 

Al Lily became the first Canadian to break the Sound Barrier.

1974

A Buffalo of 116 ATU was shot down by a Syrian Missle while on a routine flight between Beirut and Damascus. The flight was commanded by Capt. Gary Foster of Comox. Nine Canadians lost their lives.

10 August

1990

Prime Minister Mulroney announced that Navy ships, HMCS Athabaskan, HMCS Terra Nova, and HMCS Protecteur accompanied by five Sea King helicopters from 423 Squadron, would deploy to the Persian Gulf.

11 August

1909

The first flight of the Baddeck No. 1, a Canadian-built aircraft, by the Canadian Aeroplane Company, took place at Petawawa, Ontario.

12 August

 1909

The first flight of a Canadian-built, powered, heavier-than-air machine was made at Petawawa, Ontario, by the Canadian Aerodrome Baddeck No. 1    

1941

No. 414 (Army Co-Operation) was formed in England

13 August

1909

Baddeck No. 1, Canada's second aircraft, is wrecked at Petawawa, Ontario.  The pilot, JAD McCurdy, survived.

14 August 

1945

          V-J (Victory in Japan) Day

1959

Canadair was awarded a contract to manufacture the CF 104. 

15 August

1940

First RCAF victory in the Battle of Britain was scored by S/L EA McNab who destroyed a Dornier Do 215 while with No. 111 Squadron RAF.

16 August

1947

The first flight of the DHC-2 Beaver was in Downsview, Ontario by WWII flying ace Russell Bannock on 16 August 1947. The first production aircraft was delivered to the Ontario Department of Lands and Forests, a design partner, in April 1948.

17 August

1940

No. 1 (Fighter) Squadron became operational and commenced patrols from its base at Northholt, England.

18 August

1943

RCAF contributed 74 aircraft to the RAF attack on the German rocket experimental facility at Peenemunde.

1951

RCAF aerobatic team flying DH 100 Vampire fighters performed at the National Air Races in Detroit, Michigan.

19 August

1942

Six fighter and two army co-operation squadrons of the RCAF supported the Canadian attack on Dieppe, France.

20 August

1941

No. 415 (Coastal) Squadron was formed in England.

21 August

1927

The first Canadian-built, modern, all metal, low wing monoplane, the Northrup Delta, was flown from the St Lawrence at Longueuil.

22 August

2002

First CH-149 Cormorant was delivered to the Canadian Forces.

23 August

1954

First flight of the Lockheed YC-130 Hercules prototype took place at Burbank, California.

24 August

1943

P/O DF McRae and crew, flying a Vickers Wellington of No. 179 (RAF) Squadron, sank the German submarine U-134. 

2001

Air Transat Flight 236 runs out of fuel 11,700 metres over the Atlantic Ocean, forcing pilot Robert Piché to fly the plane without thrust or hydraulic power. The pilot glides the aircraft and its 291 passengers to a safe landing on Terceira, a Portuguese island.

25 August

1928

The crash of a B.C. Airways Ford Trimotor in Puget Sound, Washington, during bad weather kills seven people and is called Canada’s first major air disaster.

26 August

1940

No. 1 (Fighter) Squadron engaged the enemy in the Battle of Britain and destroyed three and damaged four enemy aircraft.  F/O RL Edwards was the RCAF's first battle casualty.

27 August

1953

Nos. 414, 422 and 444 Squadrons, comprising No. 4 Fighter Wing, flew from Canada to their new base at Baden Soellingen, Germany.

28 August

1928

Famed bush pilot Clennell (Punch) Dickins leaves on his 12-day survey of the eastern Arctic. He covers 6,336 kilometres in 37 hours of flying; he often navigates by the sun.

1942

No. 129 (fighter) Squadron was formed at Dartmouth, Nova Scotia.

29 August

1956

RCAF Sabre-5 flew 2740 miles in 5 hours and 30 seconds (Vancouver-Gimli-Halifax) with F/Lt Ralph Annis and F/O Chick Childerhose.

30 August

1974

Maj Wendy Clay, a doctor, qualified as a pilot six years before the pilot classification is opened to all women.

31 August

1946

Stranraer CF-BYL, operated by Spilsbury & Hepburn Ltd, Vancouver, predecessor of Queen Charlotte Airline, disappeared without a trace with seven on board on a flight from Prince Rupert to Stewart, British Columbia.

Comments (0)

You don't have permission to comment on this page.