Golden Centennaires
Here's the story of my paint scheme... copied from my website:
http://www.c-func.com/paint.html
It goes in the paint shop in just a few weeks... getting excited!
The story:
My plan is to paint C-FUNC in the colours of the "Golden Centennaires". This page explains the history of the scheme, and my research leading to contact with a couple of people intimately connected with this scheme.
One of the aircraft used by the Canadian Forces is the CT-114 Tutor. Until very recently, the Tutor was the primary jet trainer for CF pilots (now replaced by the CT-155 Hawk). The Tutor was built in Canada by Canadair (which later formed the core of what is now Bombardier Aerospace). The aircraft is perhaps more well known for it's role as a demonstration aircraft used by 431 Demonstration Squadron, The Snowbirds . What many Canadians in the generation before me may remember is that in 1967 (before the Snowbirds) the Tutor was used by a demonstration team called the Golden Centennaires. This was the Canadian Centennial year, and the Golden Centennaires were formed to perform at a number of airshows, including the opening and closing ceremonies of Expo 67 in Montreal. The Snowbirds were formed five years later in 1978.
The RV-9A vaguely resembles the CT-114 Tutor in overall shape (with the obvious exception of the "T"-shape tail of the Tutor). Especially with the slider-canopy having its front-located roll-bar, and side-by-side seating in the cockpit, the RV-9A more closely resembles the Tutor than any other Canadian military aircraft. This is fortunate for me, because I have always had a soft-spot for the CT-114, being that "Tutor" was my Air Cadet squadron's namesake ("822 Tutor Squadron") and that as a boy I was always captivated watching the Snowbirds perform at airshows. I had originally thought of painting my aircraft in Snowbirds colours, but discovered that another local Ottawa RV builder beat me to it with beautiful RV-8 painted in Snowbirds colours. Another RV-8 builder in Ottawa is planning to adopt the colours of the Golden Hawks Canadian demonstration team, who flew F-86 Sabre aircraft from 1959 to 1964. (Incidentally, another Canadian RV builder has painted his aircraft in the red and white paint scheme used for some of the Tutors in their operational training role). It was Paul Tambeau who mentioned the Golden Centennaires to me. After a bit of research, and looking at photos of their paint scheme, I decided that this is how I would paint my aircraft. I think it will be a real head-turner at airports!
I was able to track down Geoff Bennet, a former RCAF Flight Lieutenant who designed the paint scheme for the Golden Centennaires. Geoff and I spoke on the phone for about half an hour, and he loaned me his collection of Centennaire related treasures, including his original hand drawing of the paint scheme. There are some real collectors items in this stuff, which I have scanned and returned to Geoff along with a CD of digital copies.
I was delighted one day to receive an email from one of the original Golden Centennaire Pilots. John Swallow, who now lives in Vernon BC, saw my web page. John is building an RV-7A. Now I've been in contact with the designer of the original Golden Centennaire paint scheme, and with one of the team's pilots, and my excitement over this original paint scheme keeps growing.