I lost my wonderful father to cancer on Dec. 28th. Just posting a few photos here to celebrate his 63 year love affair with flying. He joined the RCAF in 1949 and was in for 27 years flying the Harvard, B25, P51, Vampire, T33, F86, Neptune, Argus and DC3 among others. The Canadair MK 6 Sabre with the Orenda engine (1400 lbs. more thrust than the J47) was his favorite airplane. He flew this in Europe in the mid to late '50s in an era that was a free-for-all dogfight arena for the huge NATO force there at the time. As they say- those were the days- never to be repeated and he was in it and loved it.
He later flew corporate in a PA31P and King Air E90 until 1996.
He helped me build my RV6A and we flew together a lot when it was done. I checked him out in it so he could borrow it whenever he wanted and he was always excited to tell me about his trips around Alberta. In 2008, we flew it together down to Reno for the air races which we went to many times. A very memorable trip in a plane we built together.
His last flight as PIC was on his 84th birthday in 2012 (last photo).
He lived and breathed aviation his whole life and spent 17,500 hours in the air. He really lived his dream, had a wonderful life and was an amazing father. Gonna miss you a lot Dad. Blue skies.
Rabat 1956. 430 squadron
He later flew corporate in a PA31P and King Air E90 until 1996.
He helped me build my RV6A and we flew together a lot when it was done. I checked him out in it so he could borrow it whenever he wanted and he was always excited to tell me about his trips around Alberta. In 2008, we flew it together down to Reno for the air races which we went to many times. A very memorable trip in a plane we built together.
His last flight as PIC was on his 84th birthday in 2012 (last photo).
He lived and breathed aviation his whole life and spent 17,500 hours in the air. He really lived his dream, had a wonderful life and was an amazing father. Gonna miss you a lot Dad. Blue skies.
Rabat 1956. 430 squadron
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