Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum Question!

Thu Jan 12, 2006 2:59 pm

I noticed that the Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum Hamilton has 21 aircraft with current Canadian civil registrations...a number of them are regular flyers..like the Lancaster, Harvard, Mitchell, PBY and Beech 18 ....so my question is...which of their current fleet are rarely if ever flown...I don’t think I have see their Avro Anson flown in years??

CF-HOT Anson ANSON V
C-FKLD Beagle BEAGLE-AUSTER A-61
C-GZCE Beech D18S
CF-AIU Boeing A75N1
CF-FGF Cessna T50
C-FPQL Consolidated Vultee PBY-5A
C-FBXK Dehavilland DHC-1B-2-S5
C-GCWT Dehavilland DH 82-C
C-CDAK Douglas DC3-G202A
CF-CVF Fairchild M62A-3
CF-CVT Fairchild M62A-3
C-GCWC Fairchild M62A-3
C-GBDG Fairey F.F. 46 FIREFLY
CF-DLC Fleet 21M
C-FFUI Fleet 16B
C-FORT Fleet 60K
CF-ODR Grumman SCAN TYPE 30
CF-UUU Harvard HARVARD 4
CF-CWZ North American NA64 YALE
C-GCWM North American B25J
C-GVRA Victory Aircraft AVRO LANCASTER MK X

Thu Jan 12, 2006 3:25 pm

Thu Jan 12, 2006 3:59 pm

I don't think HOT is currently airworthy. I've never seen KLD, BXK, or ORD flying with the CWH. I've seen all the other aircraft in the air over the years, but some like FGF, and the Fleet Fort and Finch I haven't seen fly recently.

Jim

Thu Jan 12, 2006 4:28 pm

The DC-3 still flys. I have shots of it 2 years ago at Thunder (not flying but it had to get there somehow)

Thu Jan 12, 2006 5:41 pm

Add to that a new adition, a CM.170 Super Magister, N805DM that used to be in the good care of Michel Côté, our friend. It was based in Bromont until very recently.

Thu Jan 12, 2006 8:30 pm

I heard last year there were some airworthiness concerns about the Dak and they had to cancel the member rides in it for the majority of the season.

N.

Thu Jan 12, 2006 11:03 pm

Courtesy Aircraft had CF-ODR Grumman SCAN TYPE 30 for sale a while back.

Brian....

Fri Jan 13, 2006 7:04 am

Which of the aircraft are available for CWHM membership rides?

Fri Jan 13, 2006 8:52 am

CF-UUU was one of the two aircraft they were selling rides in when I was there last May. I didnt see it fly though.

I have flown on her in the past (1997 to be precise) and very nice it was too.

CF-AIU is the other aircraft they sell rides in.

Fri Jan 13, 2006 9:34 am

I have seen a number of membership rides being given on Father's day weekend..

The Havard, The Beech, Lancaster, Boeing A75 are pretty busy flying...

Sun Jan 15, 2006 10:03 am

Andrew et al--

Hm, wonder how I missed this post! I'm not up at CWH nearly as often as once I was, but as it happens I was up there yesterday for the first time since June. Can offer a couple observations...

Anson C-FHOT is indeed grounded, has not flown in five or six years. Oddly enough she's currently in the (very crowded) engineering section. It would certainly be nice to see her flyable again.

Harvard 4 CF-UUU, on the other hand, is probably the most active aircraft in the fleet with the possible exception of the Lanc. Their "Legends" pleasure-flights program has been quite successful, using the Harvard (at one time they had two Harvards in the program) and the Stearman CF-AIU. BTW yesterday the Stearman was looking very forlorn indeed minus its engine, so technically is not a current flyer...

Auster CF-KLD isn't there anymore. Not sure where she went, but iirc she had been on loan; I'm not sure she ever flew while at the Hope. Very confusingly, she is one of THREE museum Austers in Ontario that all wear the markings of British AOP.6 VF582 (Canadian Capt. Tees' Korean War aircraft).

There is an Auster at CWH though, C-GCID, which arrived a year or so ago. She's all yellow with British roundels. Don't think she's flown since arriving. Truth told, I haven't seen any of the trainers, except the Harvard and Stearman, and occasionally one of the Cornells, flying in recent years. I'm guessing that is probably a sponsorship issue more than an issue of condition...and of course Mt.Hope is ever less amenable to operations of light aircraft, too.

Finally met and chatted briefly with Sandy Thomson yesterday; his Fury C-FGAT was in the hangar as it apparently often is now. He had me climb up for a look-see in the (not exactly stock Royal Navy!) cockpit. Got a photo of me standing on the wingroot (unfortunately a tad blurry)...that's doubtless as near as I'll come... :roll:

The "quasi-military" livery on C-FGAT is really growing on me, I must say.

Fouga C-FHGD was present also, in an "orangey" rendition of the Belgian AF "Red Devils" aerobatic team livery. It's for sale. Anyone for a CM170?

Fellow working on the Lysander said they hope to fly that in the spring, so that will be another flyer in the fleet (at least for a while).

Cheers

S.

Sun Jan 15, 2006 1:35 pm

Unless I missed it, I didn't see C-GBDG Fairey F.F. 46 FIREFLY mentioned anywhere in the above. She was at Thunder in 2004.

Sun Jan 15, 2006 3:27 pm

Roger--

Firefly BDG is still active, though not to the degree of the Harvard, Stearman and Lanc. She usually flies (with sponsor Keith Houston at the stick) at CWH's Father's Day weekend open-house events, and also makes appearances at the occasional airshow, eg., the Brantford United Way event, the Waterloo aviation days (not really an airshow--static only), and as you note, at Thunder the year a dozen TBMs were there (I'm thinking CWH sent the Firefly because she was the TBM's predecessor in the RCN, and sadly CWH no longer has its Avenger)...

S.

Mon Jan 16, 2006 7:16 am

Thanks Steve and all for the flying undates on the CWH collection..

I photographed the Yellow Auster last June and I did note her ID...thanks for information on C-GCID

Any idea on why the Anson is ground for the time being?

And I have not see the Fort C-FORT flying for some time...I remember her coming to Ottawa maybe 6yrs ago? I kinda like that one...

Mon Jan 16, 2006 7:30 am

Andrew Semon wrote:Any idea on why the Anson is ground for the time being?

I'd shoot the CWH a direct e-mail for an official answer Andrew. I don't think the aircraft has flown for a long time. When I was there, I was told it was issues with the wood. (Not an 'official' answer, just a 1/2 remembered chat!) However it's a wooden construction wing. Once there's a doubt about the integrity, it's a teardown and rebuild. NDT for wood is an idea (I understand) in its infancy.

And a question for the experts. Would the CF-xxx series be 'old' and the C-Fxxx be 'new' regiestrations?