2010 - December

SPECIAL POINTS

OF INTEREST:

Irv’s arrival.

Labrador Celebration

More members please.

Board Briefings.

Spitfire progress.

Postwar tales of Indian

aviation.

Conscription, what was

it?

V O L U N T E E R V I G N E T T E : I R V F R A S E R

H O W , F R O M M A N U R E T O M U S E U M ?

handling of horse teams to

pick up the hay bales,

harrow the meadows and plough. Irv moved

to Toronto in 1959 and well remembers start-

ing off as a trucker taking loads of grass sod to the massive Don Valley Parkway construc-

tion site. During the

summer, he did that

and in the winter it

was snow clearing

and transportation.

Having then

decided to move into the construction busi-

ness, he joined Evans Construction in 1966 to

work on Expo 67. Their job was to complete

a helipad on Ile St.

Helene, right behind La Ronde, the chil-

dren‟s funfair section.

Following that,

Evans also got the job

of supplying and plac-

ing sod for all of the

Expo grounds, no small con-

tract! As Irv says, “After that, I went back to

Toronto to Ban-

diera Construc-

tion, near Pearson Airport. For

me, that was a

move into heavy

equipment transportation work on low-beds.

From there I was the Shop Foreman and then

into heavy crane operation work.”

The job sites were all over Ontario and

one or two in Edmonton. Staying with crane

operation work and in

Toronto, he moved on to

a company named Pow-

ell Contracting Limited. In 2005, he retired and

(Continued on page 2)

O N P R O U D W I N G S T H E C O M O X

V A L L E Y A I R

F O R C E

M U S E U M

A S S O C I A T I O N

N E W S L E T T E R

V O L U M E 4 , I S S U E 3

D E C 2 0 1 0

I N S I D E T H I S I S S U E :

Born in the friendly town of Belleville, Ontario, Irv

cut his teeth in the working world as a hired hand for

three years on a neighbouring friend‟s dairy farm. Such

peaceful pastoral beginnings are the envy of many! His

primary task was milking the cows and shovelling out the other stuff. Perhaps, your writer thinks, this initiat-

ed Irv‟s penchant for better machinery operations and

cleaner types of freight! At 13 years of age, he was renowned for his brisk

I R V F R A S E R ‟ S V I -

G N E T T E 1 - 2

L A B R A D O R 1 1 3 1 0

U N V E I L I N G 1 - 2

P R E S I D E N T ‟ S 3

M A N A G E R ‟ N D I R E C T O R 3

E D I T O R I A L 3

N E W M E M B E R S 4

C O M I N G E V E N T S 4

BOARD HAPPENINGS 5

Y 2 K U P D A T E 6

F R A N K ‟ S C I R C U S 7

U K C O N S C R I P T I O N 8

M A G A Z I N E S 8

FUN FARE 9

CVAFMA 10

QUARTER-BACK 11

NOTICES 12

The Wild One?

Excerpts from Col. Michel Lalumiere, 19 Wing Excerpts from Col. Michel Lalumiere, 19 Wing Excerpts from Col. Michel Lalumiere, 19 Wing

Commander’s 26, September 2010 address,:Commander’s 26, September 2010 address,:Commander’s 26, September 2010 address,:

“Ladies and Gentlemen, this museum Air

Park celebrates all these

venerable RCAF heritage

aircraft, representing over

40 years of service, and

today we celebrate the

Labrador by the addition

of #11310, a Class 113A Voyager, with Cana-

dian modifications. Do you remember in the

1980s, when the SARCUP came together, and one variant was made from

the Labrador and the Vo-

yageur? Well, 310 is that

variant, here in its SAR

colours, minus some later

modifications.”

“This is about the great

dignity and history that

these aircraft have earned

up until 2002 when our

first Cormorant was deliv-

ered and through to 2004 when the fleet of Labs was retired. Each aircraft had given us

(Continued on page 2)

New Addition

Official “unveiling”

Labrador #11310

V O L U N T E E R V I G N E T T E :

I R V F R A S E R

C O N T . .

O N P R O U D W I N G S O N P R O U D W I N G S V O L U M E 4 , I S S U E 3

D E C 2 0 1 0

moved to Comox to be closer to our

family.

“Captain John Low got me into the mu-

seum in 2007, at first

to help with fixing

up some benches and tables; but, the

stream of work into the makeshift hangar annex work-

shop didn‟t exactly slow down for some time! With

John‟s sponsorship, I joined 888 Wing, where I also vol-

unteered, but as a bartender, not a carpenter!”

Ed: Has your work had much to do directly with the

Y2K project?

“Well, the biggest part of that work was building

the crate to hold the Merlin in it‟s steel box. That took a bit and then

there have been the drawings shelves

you see above, plus a few other

shelves.”

“Later, when Jon Ambler

joined the museum as volunteer coor-

dinator, I found out that my job had just extended from

occasional work throughout the week to a full 7-day

week on all kinds of projects.” Was this a plan, your

editor asks himself, by his good wife Karen to speak

with Jon to ensure her “Old Man” is occupied fully and way out of trouble?

Ed: Can you please tell us your thoughts on making

the move from civvy to this?

“Yup, I am mighty pleased to be with the museum

and joining at 66 years old makes for a completely dif-

ferent career!” §

(Continued from page 1)

the benefit of between 13 and 14,000 hours of service. In 2004

we had the opportunity to fly six of them in formation, almost as

the last flight, which comprises 12 Labrador pilots. A very “moving” experience and logistically quite hard to do!”

“310 was delivered to 442 Sqn, Comox in the late 70s and

flew here for many years. I first flew 310 here in the SAR school

on its fifth flight and then a lot more when I came back here in

1994. It was a good bird and gave us many stories to talk about.”

“As well as by the United States Marine Corps, these aircraft

were flown by military forces in Canada, Japan, Sweden, Saudi

Arabia and Thailand and also by a handful of civilian companies,

like Columbia Helicopters.”

“We have many people here today and I‟m hoping that each

one of you in your life has either been assaulted by its harassing

noise or, luckily, been touched by its magic downwash. But, some of you have actually worked on the Labrador, whether as

aircrew, ground crew or maintenance.”

“So, I would like to see, by a show of hands, every single one

of you who has had the

pleasure of working on

this aircraft.” (Applause

for many hands).

“Aircrews, how many of

you had more than 4,000

hours?” (One hand went up). “Ahah, how many hours for you,

sir?” (To which the reply was), “10 hours less than Marc ___.” “Well done, well done; but, Marc‟s were not all legal hours were

they; were all yours legal!?

(Laughter.)

“Ladies and Gentle-

men, we are now discuss-

ing the future of this Herit-

age Air Park and about

what are the next aircraft

that need to come here, to

continue this great tradi-

(Continued from page 1)

tion for meeting the future needs of visitors and 19 Wing

Comox, alike. We have a fantastic organisation and staff

in the museum, bringing the volunteers together to provide

what you see here in front of you today.

So, why I am telling you this? It is an ongoing discus-sion to which these dedicated volunteers are bringing for-

ward some really great ideas. Some I hear of and many I

don‟t; but, I know that a lot more happens here on a daily

basis and you all

have a say in what

will happen in times

to come. So, please

use your influence and tell us why and how this Heritage Park should evolve, because it

sure is one of the greatest success stories of 19 Wing. Thank you for being here today.

It has been my privilege to introduce 310 to this celebration; even though, I know a lot

of you have had much more experience with her than I.”

Col. Lalumiere, 19 Wing Commander.


D E C 2 0 1 0

How time flies, another newsletter and its December already The Christmas party for the members is upon us and will be over by the time you read this. For those who

did not make it, I wish you and yours a Merry Christmas.

The CVAFMA is most grateful for the Air Force Association donation. It will certainly

help us to complete some of the projects we have in hand and in the planning stage. I urge all members to go into the display areas every time they come in; as, there are so

many changes to keep up with. As people who show visitors around we must be up to

date with these changes.

Also please ask your friends and neighbours if they would be interested in volunteering.

We need all the help we can get and, course, none of us is getting any younger! If not

able to volunteer, perhaps they would like to visit when you are on-duty and be given a

good tour, as well as to encourage a catching of the bug!

The Annual General Meeting is about five months away, so please think about running

for membership on the Board of Directors. As you know, New people bring new ideas to any organization.

Lastly, our quarterly briefing has just been held and many ideas were put forward for consideration. If you

have an idea, please pass it along to Jon or to me. Thank you, Don .

THE PRESIDENT'S

PODIUM

As we look back at the past year I am

astounded at all the areas where we made

progress. I think pride of place must go

to getting Labrador 310 back home, reas-

sembled, moved and welcomed into the Air Park. At the same time we got the

MiG 21 rolling on her way to a new

home in the National Air Museum. In the Valley we are con-

tinuing to work at putting the Snowbirds Tutor at the soon-to-

be info centre at the edge of town on Hwy 19, bringing great

publicity to the Museum and, hopefully, increasing visitor

numbers.

Our new 40" LCD and Blu-Ray DVD system is now in-

stalled, enhancing the enjoyment of "On Canadian Wings"

and other DVDs, which we are in the process of producing.

2011 will be busy and fun, starting

off with a serious Don Smith upgrade

of 407 Sqn in the Cold War, 409 Sqn

in the Cold War and the Japanese Fire

Balloon. This upgrade will require us to close to the public 11-21 January as

we install many new panels. The next

steps, later in the year, will include 442 Sqn and VU33. The

Library Upgrade will continue with new furniture, and, most

importantly, a reorganized shelving system and purpose-made

identification labels.

All in all, we can be proud of what we have done and ea-

gerly anticipate what we are about to do! Many thanks to the

volunteers who make it all possible! Jon & John.

M A N A G E R „ N D I R E C T O R ‟ S

E D I T O R I A L

This editorial work has certainly been a good slice

for me and I see my time with the newsletter is now 3

years...Phew!

A family penchant for procrastination has been an

interesting interference to the process on occasions;

however, I can now safely say that any lateness in pro-

ducing issues is more a result of having too much fun at

it and not wanting to finish off. The joy of no deadlines reigns

supreme. Balance that with often vain attempts at keeping the

printing department happy, with a smallish document (below

10 MB) to print, triangulates us to the present size.

Is this an excuse/apology for the fact that we didn‟t have

an issue this Fall and any future minor delays!? Hopefully so.

Nevertheless, the other day, I got to thinking that we prob-

ably have one or more volunteers in the Association, or

wannabees potential members, who would enjoy dab-

bling in this whole newsletter business. Isn‟t it time to

relieve this editor from having all the fun doing it?

The joys of editorial, writing, processing and produc-

tion stuff are interesting and very rewarding. Hence,

you will see a little advert in the “Notices” section at the

end of this document, fishing for such candidates.

On another tack, at our latest information session, it was

felt that a wider distribution of the newsletter might be an en-

couragement for new members. With this distribution, we are

going to look at that and put some copies out in strategic

locations. Any help with this would be much appreciated. §


D E C 2 0 1 0

☼ Melissa Boatman

Advantages to membership of the Association are in:

Being part of a community-focused organization

Broadening your network of contacts and new friends

Learning first hand about Canada’s role in military aviation

An opportunity to develop new skills

Involvement in a wide range of museum activities

A voting member of the Comox Valley Air Force Museum

Association (CVAFMA)

Opportunity to become one of the Association Directors

Enjoyment of membership activities and social functions

Discounts at the Air Force Museum Gift Shop.

A BIG WELCOME TO OUR NEWEST MEMBER:

Date COMING EVENTS

19 Feb 11: Cumberland Heritage Fair. Theme: Communications. CAFM display planned.

8-9 Apr 11: School District 71 Comox Valley Heritage Fair - CAFM and 19 Wing Fitness & Community Centre

TBD Apr 11: Canadian Forces Snowbirds at Comox and Snowbirds Autograph Session in library.

TBD Apr 11: CVAFMA Annual General Meeting 7 PM at the Comox Air Force Museum in the theatre

TBD May 11: CAFM participates in Cumberland Parade with Heritage Vehicles.

TBD May 11: Annual Garage Sale, Museum Parking Lot. (9 AM to 2 PM) (set up at 8 AM)

1 Jul 11: CAFM participates in Courtenay Canada Day Parade, with Heritage Vehicles, and Booth.

TBD Aug 11: CAFM participates in Comox Nautical Days Parade with Heritage Vehicles.

http://cafmvolunteers.pbworks.com/Heritage+Fair

http://cafmvolunteers.pbworks.com/Garage+Sale

A C C E P T A N C E S :

September Heritage Stone dedication ceremony drew two very nice messages of thanks.

Thanks from 888 (RCAF) Wing, re: our support to the recent AFAC AGM held in the Comox Valley. plus a cheque for

$10,500

from AFAC for support to the Museum.

Valley Charitable Bingo Society to CAFM for support, plus a cheque for $500.

Private donation of $2,000 specifically for Library projects.

School tours: Several very welcome and much encouraged tours occurred in recent weeks.

M E M B E R S : Numbers are currently 79 regular members and 20 life and honourary members,

Fees. regular $10 p.a, and $250 for life memberships have prevailed since the CVAFMA charter in 1999. A need for any

changes will be referred to membership in the 2011 AGM.

F U N D R A I S I N G : Snowbirds photograph sales are continuing well. Tax receipts issued, as requested, for the difference between the

amount donated and our cost of the photograph.

Heritage Stones. 193 stones now in the racks, with four more on order. Touch-up painting for damaged stones to re-

fresh

and seal the marking are in process. (See notice in this issue)

Gaming Funding. Next Community Gaming Grant application to be made before 30 Apr 2011.

D I S P L A Y S : H e r i t a g e A i r c r a f t :

Dakota rudder repair is in hand.

The Voodoo remains in work in 7 Hgr.

The CH-113 Labrador and the H-21 Piasecki are out of the Park for the winter.

The MiG-21 has left the Air Park, on the start of its journey to Ottawa.

CF-104 may be refinished by 19 AMS, if the Museum can provide the paint.

Air Park Memorial garden area. 19 Wing CE completed bench pad and sidewalk work.

Main Gallery Display Development: Don Smith‟s visit imminent (January) for the next phase of wall coverings in the

main gallery. He will also start the planning for the following phase. CAFM has the funds to cover all aspects of this large

project, thanks to the generosity of NDHQ/DHH.

Comox Mall Display: The CAFM information display has been installed at the Comox Mall. Vampire - Display Building: David Mellin continues his discussions with 19 Wing. CAFM needs to provide lighting

and nominal heating electrical power to the building. 19 Wing appears not to need any of the Air Park grounds for at least

the next 10 years.

BUILDINGS: Building 11 – the “Public Face”: There‟s a plan in the works to make the front of Building 11 less institutional and

friendlier, so as not to turn away potential visitors. What do you think of it so far?

Air Park Parking Area Improvements: Paved disabled `places will be created on either side of the park entrance, with

gravel in the lot improved to ease passage by wheelchairs and stairs from upper to lower levels of parking.

N E W P O L I C Y I N I T I A T I V E S : Board Policies adopted or amended are: 3-1 Membership; 59-2 CVAFMA & CAFM Agreement - Visitor Donations

Management December 2004, plus Annex A; 83-1 Protection of Personal Information - Privacy Policy; and 84-1 Records

Management. CVAFMA Executive Board

E X T R A C T S F R O M S E P T E M B E R & N O V E M B E R C V A F M A B O A R D M E E T I N G S


D E C 2 0 1 0


D E C 2 0 1 0

2. 2.

V I N T A G E W I N G S O F C A N A D A - Y 2 K U P D A T E

Action presently contin-

ues apace with the Engineers

well into the fuel tank sys-

tem work. She doesn‟t look

too different from the out-side, but big changes are

taking place on the inside!

In other news, the Merlin

63 that came with the hulk

has turned out to be too ex-

pensive to re-build. We sent

the engine to the States for an inspection and they stripped her

down to the crankshaft, finding that most of the connecting

rods would need to be replaced. She had sat around too long

awaiting her turn, I guess. Fortunately, Vintage Wings of

Canada has a Packard-Merlin that will fit very nicely on our

engine mount with a few mods, so this little hiccup will not stop us. Our research shows that there were some Mk IXs fly-

ing in the war with Packard-Merlins, so we are not too far off

the mark.

A very recent visit from the VWoC Chief Engineers (les

grandes fromages!) this week, took them over our aeroplane

and paperwork with a fine tooth comb, and we are pleased to

report that we‟re doing just fine. The commitment that VWoC

made to build Y2K is by far the largest project of any they

currently have on hand, so their interest in its progress is very

intense.

We make dozens of decisions here in the hangar every day, but a recent question from a visitor regarding our re-build pro-

cess has prompted me to try and explain how some of the de-

cisions are made. I‟ll use the process of how we go about get-

ting, for example, a bracket that holds the fuel tank in place.

To begin with, the engineer, as he is approaching the fin-

ishing of the fuel tank, is thinking about how he is to attach it

to the airframe:

The plans show that the tank is held in place with four “L”

shaped brackets, complete with picture and part number. He looks, expectantly, into our inventory list, searching for

the part, but of course it‟s not there. He then searches the

VWoC inventory list, but still no luck.

He then approaches the Production

Manager and says he needs four of the-

se brackets, and tomorrow would be

just fine. The Production manager be-

gins a frenzied search (thank God for

the Internet) for some of these and finds a couple of used ones in a shed in Southern Essex, for

which the owner wants the equivalent of the Crown Jew-

els! Well, we clearly can‟t stick these old ones on our aer-

oplane; but in this business, if you have an original part,

you are allowed to make a copy of it and get it certified for

use. So, we send off for these bits.

Don‟t get me started on UK Customs or their partner-in-

frustration, Canada Customs, who between them delight in

making life miserable for people trading in aeroplane bits!

Suffice it to say that some con-

siderable time later, and well

after our engineer has threatened

us repeatedly, the old brackets

arrived. Now all we have to do is make some more.

There are several very clever

people around here, who can

take chunks of metal and turn

them into just about anything.

They need plans and drawings

to do it properly (and legally), so

we have to send our bits off to a

registered and certified drafts-

man. He measures, prods,

pokes, photographs and other-

wise meddles with the bit, goes to his computer and produces a

set of 3D drawings, which we can give to the machinist along

with some certified materials (plus the

mandatory blank cheque) and ask him

nicely to make four of these, if he‟s

not too busy.

After what often seems like an inter-

minable period, he produces them, and

beautiful to see they are; but, we still

can‟t use them! They have now to pass the scrutiny of our

Quality Assurance people, who need more paperwork than the weight of the metal itself, plus heat treatment

certificates, NDT certificates, the engineer‟s

birth certificate and proof of citizenship,

and…. Oh sorry, got carried away there. Any-

way, until all of that is done the bits go into

our Bonded Quarantine Stores under lock and

key, and they are only released to our (by

now) apoplectic engineer when the work order is signed off.

Multiply that process by the 8,546 other pieces in that aero-

plane and you can see why the process of re-building and re-

storing vintage aeroplanes is not for the faint of heart (or wal-

let). Fortunately, there are also folks in the biz who have origi-

nal and certified parts that we

can use, so that makes it easier.

Unfortunately, these folks also

know what they‟ve got, and are

usually not in the negotiation

mode. “Take it or someone else

will..”, is their motto.

For the next issue of this newsletter, I‟ll discuss something

a bit less complicated, like how to build an atomic reactor.

Hopefully we don‟t have a readership in Iran.

Yours Aye, Terry

p.s. BTW, please drop by and see us sometime.


D E C 2 0 1 0

Since 1942, Frank Steven has logged somewhere over

31,000 hours, including flying 72 different types of aircraft in

command. With his PPL recently hung up for good, this

newsletter has been asking him about his career, which is pep-

pered with interesting stories. __________________________

Following WWII, life for the military in India demanded

work on critically needed civil development assistance. Many

of the wartime logistical systems remaining in place to assist

with development changes over the next decade or so. Posted

to the Burma Campaign in 1945, Frank, only heard of the Jap-

anese surrender, while en route. Thus he and his squadron

were diverted, via Bombay, to serve on the west coast of India

in the Cannanore District, to assist the newly formed Chemical

Defence Research Establishment (CDRE).

His squadron of Mosquito and Vultee Vengeance fighter-

bombers, was to be equipped with DDT spraying equipment,

which had just been very successfully used for antimalarial health precautions for the troops. Em-

phasis was now on providing the same

health precautions for India‟s civil popu-

lation.

At just over 20 years of age, as

squadron CO, Frank found himself di-

recting all it‟s operations from satellite

bases near the CDRE out to small satel-

lite airstrips. Operations were under the

overall command of RAF Mauripur, near

Karachi. Here, we look at some of the

idiosyncratic occurrences experienced at the post:

The first has to do with the available communications. With no military telephones at all, they had an old wartime Code

and Cipher system (C&C), a forebear of the RTTY news

ticker tape. With only reciprocal text messaging, i.e. similar

to present-day the cell phones, and along poor lines of com-

munication, C&C clarity was fuzzy at best and dialogue

practically impossible. This led to some quaint messaging:

Says Frank, “Conveniently, I had a communications of-

ficer who handled all this traffic and one morning he re-

ceived an order to „..destroy all aircraft and report to

RAF Mauripur‟.” Although strange, it was not a com-

plete surprise to receive such messages, for many a possi-

ble reason.”

Frank and his staff responded with alacrity and speed. He

told his staff, “That‟s fine and quite easy to do. We‟ll

start by taking an already damaged Mosquito, remove its fuel, oils and fluids, (an early green movement?), tow it to

the end of the

runway and

push it into the

Arabian Sea.”

“Having disposed of the

Mosquito, I decided we did not have time to do another

that day, so planned to continue the next day. When we went back into the office, there was a message on the

C&C system requesting: „..estimated time of arrival of

aircraft in Mauripur!‟” “Clearly, by wondering why

their aeroplanes were not showing up, Mauripur had mis-

understood what was sent to us. So, I told the C&C of-

ficer to check the message once more. It was as had been

originally relayed, so Frank would check it out when he

got up to Mauripur to at least resuscitate his ashen-faced

officer.

Frank returned the message, advising of some difficulty

but would begin by bringing an aircraft up the next day.

He took one of the Vultee Vengeances!

In Mauripur, he found out that the command had original-

ly been entered as: “...deploy all aircraft to Mauripur..” Whoever was responsible for confusing „deploy‟ with

„destroy‟, somewhere along this tenuous communication

line, was never identified; but, such occurrences were

never repeated. No names, no pack-drill.

Frank‟s second and more direct landing experience was in

having to force-land his Harvard he used for ad-hoc flights:

“I used it for ad-hoc trips to and from the outlying strips

along the coast. This landing was forced by a leak in my

fuel line, spraying the canopy and almost obliterating my

view. As always, I was looking for possible emergency

landing places, but under me was mile upon mile of flood-

ed paddy fields.

I made a simple

approach aiming

for a larger pad-dy bank, hoping

to do so without

ploughing into

the water. Un-

fortunately, that

did not work

100%.”

“I was now back

to communica-

tion difficulties! “I could not radio back to my base from

anywhere; so, to my squadron, I had disappeared. It was

actually something of a blessing as I spent a wonderful

week with a local family, looking after the aircraft and awaiting any search party. Good experience for my 2 IC,

no doubt.”

As he explains, “My pilots searched along my roughly

planned route and one of them eventually spotted the Har-

vard. It was soon back to based for me and I‟m sure RAF

Mauripur were wondering about me by this time, if they

hadn‟t begun to before!” §

1944 - India

U N H A P P Y ( ? ) L A N D I N G S — I N D I A

Wot, no body!?

2.


D E C 2 0 1 0

The word conscription has

always stirred up a hornet's nest in Canada; however, in the

United Kingdom for two his-

toric periods, it was accepted

as necessary. In WW1, it was

introduced in 1916 for all men

aged 18-41, with certain ex-

ceptions, and was in effect

until 1919. In 1939, in spite of

Neville Chamberlain's “Peace

in our Time”, the Military

Training Act was passed in

May to train single men aged 20-22 for six months and re-

leased as militiamen.

Issued suits and uniforms, the militiamen went on Active

Reserve status, routinely mustering for short periods of train-

ing and to an annual camp. This was a first for the UK, at

least, during peace time.

Before the first intake completed its six months period,

WW11 broke out and a new statute known as the National

Service (Armed Forces) Act was passed. All the militiamen

were then directly absorbed into the army. The new Act

covered men, ages 18-41, with certain exemptions such as requirements for : fitness, essential services, farming etc..

Although the war ended in 1945, “call up” continued and the

Act remained until December 1948.

Peacetime conscription was then formalized into a new

statute, The National Service Act of 1948. From January

1949 onwards, all healthy males aged 17-21 were to serve in

the armed forces for 18 months with 4 years in one of the

reserve organizations. Once their basic training was com-

plete, they served in all places at home and some with UK

forces overseas, including combat situations.

In October 1950, because of the Korean War, there was a

need to increase the size of the armed forces so the 18 month service was increased to 2 years and as a compensation, the

reserve portion was reduced from 4 years to 3 ½ years.

The call up under the 1948 Act terminated on 31 Decem-

ber 1960. The last man to be released from national service

was Lt. Richard Vaughan of the Royal Army Pay Corps on

13 May, 1963.

The bulk of men served in the Army, with the Royal Air

Force coming second. The Navy and Royal Marines re-

ceived a few men and, to make sure you got into those ser-

vices, it was best to have joined the Royal Navy Reserve or

Royal Marine Reserve when you were 17.

Don Manley

A N H I S T O R I C A L S N I P P E T

U K C O N S C R I P T I O N

When the first movable-type printing

presses were invented for document

production (the Jikji) in Korea in

©1230 AD and reinvented by Johannes

Gutenberg in ©1450 AD, magazines were clearly the object of their desires

and the muse that excited their genius-

es.

I postulate that any other of human-

kind‟s endeavours, that are worth printing, come in a poor

second to the magazine. Prove me wrong, please!

The storing and distribution of information, photographs,

data and statistics and other imponderables in magazines far

surpasses the ability of mere books to do likewise. If a bound

book were to contain the same spread of interesting and varied

information as the average magazine, the size and weight

would be prohibitive. Add economies of the binding, mass and the necessary quality of paper to the equation and magazines

stand out as clear winners.

The Comox Air Force Museum has an outstanding collec-

tion of magazines. Although now pared down to about 40%

of its former

glory, it still

contains a valu-

able source of

material, going

back to the very

dawn of flight.

Some maga-

zines printed in

languages other

than English,

i.e. French, Ger-

man, Hungarian,

and Polish, are contained within the body of the magazine

section and add a further dimension to the value of the collec-

tion.

I hope to have a few articles in future

“On Proud Wings” issues, which will pique

the reader‟s interest and, perhaps, promote a bit more attraction to our wonderful collec-

tion.

Geoff Plant

NATURE’S MOST NEARLY PERFECT BRAINFOOD!NATURE’S MOST NEARLY PERFECT BRAINFOOD!

Spotters’ QUIZ

Espionage etc..

1. On 9 August, 1915, before going into production,

which prototype warplane inadvertently fell into

enemy hands?

Fokker E.II, Morane Saulnier N, de

Havilland D.H.2 or Nieuport 11?

2. Which aircraft was the Hasegawa Model Co. able to examine, after its pilot Viktor Belenko defected to

Japan on 6 Sept, 1976?

MiG 21 MF, Su-15, Su-25, or MiG-25?

3. Munir Redfa, a disgruntled Iraqi Air Force Orthodox

Christian, defected to Israel in 6 August, 1966.

Which aircraft did he deliver intact?

Tu-16, MiG-21, Su-22, or MiG-25?

Non—Espionage

4. What kind of aircraft did Canadians fly to shoot

down their first V1?

5. What is the name of the oldest surviving Canadian-

built aircraft?

Answers at bottom of page 12.

2.

L I G H T E R T H A N A I R


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A complaint has been lodged saying that it is too long since we

have had a good picture quiz question. In that case, your publisher

is providing you two such questions, which are:

No clues, except that the credit for image #1 may be of some help.

1.

If you are new to these frivolous activities, the trick is to send your

answers on both images, with as much specific detail as reasonable, on or

before 28th February, 2011, to:

[email protected] or phone him at 250-650-0166. The most

correct answer will receive $10 of CVAFMA‟s hard-earned funds.

The winner, if any, will be announced in the Spring newsletter.

A tie will be settled by pulling one winner from a wedge cap.

2.

Of new “relaxing” Airline Staff humour.

by Kulula Air, South Africa.

"Please pay attention to the safety announce-

ment, because you will be writing a short

test shortly".

"To operate your seat belt, insert the metal

tab into the buckle and pull the belt tight.

It works just like every other seat belt;

and, if you don't know how to operate one by

now, then you probably shouldn't be allowed

out unsupervised."

"There may be 50 ways to leave your lover,

but there are only 4 ways out of this air-

craft."

Anyone caught smoking, will be asked to leave

the aircraft".

"Thank you for flying Kulula. We hope you

enjoyed giving us the business as much as we

enjoyed taking you for a ride."

F U N F A R E

Museum Director John Low, Capt. 19 Wing Heritage Officer

Assistant Director WO Mike Barnucz

Program Manager & Volunteer Coordinator Jon Ambler

Gift Shop Manager Ken Oxley

Contact Information

COLLABORATIVE OPPORTUNITIES

To join our Association, download the application on our website (below) under Volunteer, leave a phone message

at the Museum, or drop by and fill out an application. For only $10 annually, some of the benefits you receive include

our newsletter, discounts in the gift shop, and a voice in the organization.

If you are currently receiving this newsletter by mail, please forward your email address to receive a high quality

issue via the Internet.

Our thanks to those of you who have contributed articles and other material for this issue. If you have been thinking of

doing so, with something of interest to submit, whether it be a photo, story, or anything relevant to what we do and who we

are, please don‟t hesitate to send it along to the contacts below:

[email protected] or leave a message at the Museum;

Your editor at: [email protected] ; or

Visit www.comoxairforcemuseum.ca or drop by the museum to find out more about current activities.

§

Phone/Fax: 250-339-8162

E-mail: [email protected]

Website: www.comoxairforcemuseum.ca

Spitfire/Y2K Project Website: www.y2kspitfire.com

OPENING TIMES: Museum, Library and Gift Shop 10 am - p.m. Tuesdays—Sundays, incl.

Spitfire Hangar Saturdays 10am-3pm

Heritage Airpark May-September - 10 am - pm, in Museum times

Comox Air Force Museum

19 Wing Comox, Lazo BC V0R 2K0

Newsletter Editor Rodney Jones

Special Reporter & Photographer Ken Oxley

President Don Manley

Vice President Bob Mortimer

Secretary David Stinson

Treasurer Mike Spooner

Membership Bill Cuell

Bingo Coordinator Herb Lightfoot

Fund Raising Dave Mellin

Director at Large Mike Hendren

Observer John Low

Observer Jon Ambler

Director at Large Val Kaehler

Director at Large Chris Tuck

CVAFMA Executive 2010-11


D E C 2 0 1 0

mailto:[email protected]

http://www.comoxairforcemuseum.ca/

mailto:[email protected]

http://www.comoxairforcemuseum.ca/

http://www.y2kspitfire.com/

N O V E M B E R I N F O S E S S I O N

V T O L W I N T E R S T O R A G E

M i G - 2 1 F A R E W E L L

Q U A R T E R - B A C K R E V I E W ( T H E P A S T T H R E E M O N T H S E V E N T S )


D E C 2 0 1 0

A ‘ H a n d s O n H i s t o r y ’ — P r o j e c t

“ T H E B I T T E R B A T T L E F O R C A E N ”

B y k i n d p e r m i s s i o n o f : P a y t o n P e t e r s o n ( 9 ) , I s a i a h T i e d e ( 1 0 ) ,

V i c t o r P e n n e r ( 1 0 ) & C o l t o n P e n n e r ( 8 ) .

(currently on display in our library)(currently on display in our library)(currently on display in our library)

F I F T H A N N U A L D E D I C A T I O N O F H E R I T A G E S T O N E S & Y 2 K O P E N H O U S E

B L D G 1 1 M A K E O V E R

Watch this step for more

Joel’s Gate welcome.. Along the manicured paths..

..to the customarily sweet finale.


D E C 2 0 1 0

Q U A R T E R - B A C K R E V I E W C O N T . .

'Twas the week before Christmas, when all through the Museum Not a volunteer was stirring, not even Don Grenon.

Graphic panels were hung on the wall with great care, In hopes that Don Smith soon would be there.

2010 Spirit of the Volunteer Award

Thanks Mike, for a Job

Well Done

As I did my e-mail, and was turning around, Down from the workshop Irv Fraser came down.

He was wearing a ball cap, and making no fuss, Though all of clothes were full of sawdust.

He said he was working, and lasting all day; I said what about painting? He said: “just ask Ray!”

Then in through the mailbox arrived our newsletter. Our editor Rodney makes it better and better.

While upstairs in the storeroom, resting their bones, Was Mike Hendren and Lynda, repainting our stones.

At the garage sale she was everyone’s pal All chatty and cheerful, of course we mean Val.

So we went back to the Museum, a thing of great beauty. All credit to our volunteers, who do vital duty.

Being a part of the museum is a wonderful ride, and we look at last year with tremendous pride. All our team efforts make a wonderful sight,

so Merry Christmas, thank you all, and good night.

So we organized a party, and said what the hell Let’s invite the boss, Le Colonel.

So he called us back, and said “I’ll be there” So John, Jon, Mike and Ken, it’s your leave to prepare.

So we look at our business, the heritage movement, We govern ourselves, with constant improvement. In front of the Museum, the steps were a menace To get them all fixed, we just called on Dennis.

The library books get put on wrong shelves, But we have Loretta, she’s better than elves.

The lights on the heaps of the un-shoveled snow Showed a serious slip-hazard for Steve Mac and Tom Lowe.

The flickering street light was losing its power, but Sally and Garry were still tending our flowers.

♫ ♪

N O T I C E S

Answers: 1. de Havilland D.H.2; 2. MiG-25; 3. MiG-21; 4. de Havilland

Mosquito; 5. McDowell monoplane, on display in the Canadian Aviation Museum.

Heritage Stones For Sale $155.00 ea, with tax receipt


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A chAllenging need for “petroglyph” writers, with steAdy hAnds, hAs just A chAllenging need for “petroglyph” writers, with steAdy hAnds, hAs just A chAllenging need for “petroglyph” writers, with steAdy hAnds, hAs just

arisen here in our museum! The Association is refurbishing the paint on the arisen here in our museum! The Association is refurbishing the paint on the arisen here in our museum! The Association is refurbishing the paint on the

Heritage Stones from the Air Park. Heritage Stones from the Air Park. Heritage Stones from the Air Park.

Volunteers are needed to assist with the ongoing touch up painting of the Volunteers are needed to assist with the ongoing touch up painting of the Volunteers are needed to assist with the ongoing touch up painting of the

Heritage Stones. No straightHeritage Stones. No straightHeritage Stones. No straight---liners refused.liners refused.liners refused.

Please Meet Wednesday mornings at 1000 in the Museum.Please Meet Wednesday mornings at 1000 in the Museum.Please Meet Wednesday mornings at 1000 in the Museum.

there’s a place for you on.. there’s a place for you on.. there’s a place for you on..

..writer,..writer,..writer,

..interviewer,..interviewer,..interviewer,

..designer,..designer,..designer,

Whether you be accomplished or Whether you be accomplished or Whether you be accomplished or

novice...novice...novice...

..editor or more,..editor or more,..editor or more,

thenthenthen

,,, The Newsletter

Team

Talk to us at: 250 650 0166 or

[email protected]

http://picasaweb.google.com/stemcat5/ComoxAirForceMuseumHeritageStoneDedicationCeremony2007

G I F T S H O P

A T T H E C O M O X A I R F O R C E M U S E U M

U N I Q U E G I F T I D E A S

Anyone interested in Aviation will cherish a gift from our collection of hundreds of items.

Something for any budget, any age.

Toys, models, clothing, mugs, hats, books, models, clocks, decals, posters, patches, pins etc.

Open Tuesday to Sunday 10 AM – P.M.

[Located outside the gate at CFB Comox at Ryan Road and Military Row]

250-339-8162 www.comoxairforcemuseum.ca

N O T I C E S


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Here’s wishing you happy reading, a Merry Christmas and a Worthy New Year.

http://www.comoxairforcemuseum.ca

2010 - December

Documents

Transcript of 2010 - December