On this day in Canadian Aviation History

01 February

          1961

                    The Vickers Vanguard entered service with  Trans Canada Airlines.

Delivery of the first C-130 Navigation Trainer to 429 Squadron Winnipeg.

1927

The first NCO pilots Began training at Borden. They were A. Anderson, R. Marshall, A.J.Horner.  They received their wings 30 April 1927.

02 February

          1962 

At Halls Beach N.W.T. a 412 Squadron North Star 17520 lost power to three

                    engines in quick succession just after takeoff.  The pilot turned back and lined up to land

                    and the fourth engine began to lose power. A wheels - up landing was made safely in the

                    snow to the right of the runway.  All on board were safe.

1961

The first commercial use of the DHC-4 Caribou took place.

03 February

1931

Canadian Airways flew the first international service between Winnipeg and Pembina, North Dakota.

1942 

The Canadian Women's Auxillary Air Force was renamed RCAF Women's Division

04 February

1917  

Work began at Camp Borden to make this the main training site for the Royal Flying Corps.

1915

First Canadian air casualty in WWI.  Lt. William F.N. Sharpe was killed in a training accident in England.

05 February

1945 

RCAF Air Transport Group was formed at Rockcliffe Ontario.

1920

No. 2 Squadron, CAF, and No. 1 Canadian Wing Headquarters were disbanded in England.

1968

The first CF-5A was taken on strength by the CAF.

06 February

           1941

                     A Trans Canada Airlines Lockheed 14 crashed at Armstrong,Ontario.This was the

                     first loss of passenger life for the airline.

1968

First flight of the CF-5.

07 February

1915

War Office asked Canadian Government to begin recruiting for the RFC.

1964

The Golden Hawks are disbanded.

08 February

1948

The RCAF Flyers hockey team won the Olympic Gold Medal.

09 February

1945

Balloon bombs launched by Japan were found near Moose Jaw, Sask.

10 February

1925

Pacific Airways Ltd. was formed by D.R. MacLaren and took over the fishery patrol from the RCAF.

11 February 

1954  

No. 1 Overseas Ferry Unit left St. Hubert Que with the first 14 Sabres for Squadrons in Europe led by S/L R. Middlemiss.

12 February

1957

423 Squadron began flying their CF-100 Canucks from St. Hubert, QC to Grostenquin, France in order to join No. 1 Division.

13 February

1928

Prospecting Airways Ltd. was formed for aerial prospecting.

14 February

1953

The RCAF accepted the first of 69 de Havilland Otters.

15 February

1923

King George V granted the prefix "Royal" to the Canadian Air Force.

16 February  

1956  

B-47 51- 2059 (later RCAF X059) arrived  at Cartierville where Canadair would modify it to test the Orenda Iroquois engine for the Avro Arrow.

17 February

1909

Canada's first African-Canadian pilot, Gerald Bell, was born.

1939

Detachment from No. 1(F) Squadron travelled to Vancouver to accept first RCAF Hurricanes.

18 February

1920

Formation of a Canadian Air Force was authorized by Order-in-Council as a non-professional, non-permanent force under the Air Board.

19 February    

1959

Last flight of Arrow 201 and the end of the Arrow Program which was ended the next day. 

20 February

1971

Last round-the-world flight for the CC-106 Yukon departed Trenton in support of Canadian Outposts.  It returned to Trenton after 17 days having logged 91.5 hours in the air.

1959

"Black Friday" Avro Arrow terminated.

1959

Prime Minister Diefenbaker announced the cancellation of the CF-105 contract in the House of Commons.

21 February

1941

The co-inventor of insulin, Canadian Nobel laureate Sir Fredrick Banting was killed in a war-missioin flight in Newfoundland.

22 February

1917

The prototype Curtiss JN-4 (Can.) was accepted by the RFC Canada at Long Branch Aerodrome, near Toronto, Ontario.

1958

On the occassion of the departure of G/C Ralph Weston as RCAF Comox Commanding Officer , 407 Squadron had all 12 of it's Lancasters in the air for a cerimonial flypast.

23 February

1909

The first successful "airplane" flight in Canada was by J.A.D. McCurdy at Baddeck, N.S., February 23, 1909. On the birth of Canadian aviation, McCurdy piloted his biplane, the "Silver Dart," for half a mile over the ice-covered surface of Baddeck Bay. The next day McCurdy flew four miles in a complete circle returning to his starting point. These flights were recognized by the Royal Aero Club of the United Kingdom as the first successful heavier-than-air flights by a British subject anywhere in the British Empire.

24 February

1940

The prototype Hawker Typhoon made its first flight.

25 February

1940

The first RCAF unit, 110 Army Co-op Squadron, arrived in England.

26 February

1958

The RCAF accepted the first Avro CF-105 Arrow.

27 February

1917

The first military flying in Canada took place when the RFC Canada began training with three Curtiss JN-4 aircraft at Long Beach Aerodrome near Toronto.

28 February

1983  

W.O. John Croker became the first service man in the Canadian Forces to exceed 10,000 hours on a C 130 Hercules.