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.
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