Vintage Wings of Canada (VWC) has acquired a Sabre! Canadair Sabre Mk V with RCAF s/n 23314, c/n 1104 and c/r N8687D arrived at the Gatineau Executive Airport on the 19 September 2007, at 11:19 AM. Ferry pilot Ron Iberg was at the controls.
With the 100th anniversary of powered flight in Canada on the horizon (23 February 2009) VWC has been looking for a unique way to contribute to celebrations commemorating this event, beyond what it already does every day. Another significant piece of Canadian aviation history is the Golden Hawks display team, which was formed to celebrate the 50th anniversary of powered flight in Canada. VWC founder Michael Potter comments, “A wonderful way to recognize the 100th anniversary is to bring back a Golden Hawk Sabre. The Sabre has so many memories as a front line fighter of the Korean war era, and also the with Golden Hawks formation team that captured the hearts and minds of people all across Canada.”
The plan is to make the aircraft available for public events. Tim Leslie, Chief of Flying Operations at Vintage Wings comments, “It is Vintage wings intention to fly the Sabre at a number of events celebrating the 100th Anniversary in 2009.” The airframe has been mothballed for almost 10 years. When the Sabre arrived in Gatineau via a ferry permit, the VWC crew started scoping the work required to prepare the jet for the 2009 season. Leslie continues, “The plan is prepare the aircraft over the winter in Gatineau and register the aircraft in Canada. Although many things can happen to alter the plan, we hope to have the Sabre flying by May. It will be painted in the distinctive red and gold colours of the Golden Hawks and will become known as ‘Hawk One’.”
This new-to-VWC airframe is a jet, and is the first jet in the VWC collection. One might ask if the necessary skill-set is available to VWC for jet operations, but don’t be concerned, as a number of the VWC air crew are seasoned jet pilots, ready to step into the role of a Sabre pilot. Checking out on the Sabre are Tim Leslie, Mike Potter, Doug Mathews and Paul Kissman – all have jet time, some with thousands of hours.
As for the long term operations of the Sabre, VWC isn’t looking beyond 2009 at this point, but rather is simply focusing on the mission to commemorate and educate. Leslie explains “It is something new for Vintage Wings to be operating a jet aircraft, and we will be easing ourselves into this type of operation. We feel the 2009 milestone, and recognizing the 50th anniversary of the Golden Hawks is in keeping with everything else we have done at Vintage Wings.” VWC’s three main purposes are to commemorate the achievements of our veterans, educate Canadians and inspire our youth. Leslie continues, “What we haven’t done yet is to pay tribute to the importance of the Cold War and Canadian aviators who flew during this period. This part of our history is often overshadowed by events of the Second World War or modern technologies like the CF-18. We need to remember there are a significant number of pilots and crew members from the 1950s and the 1960s who deserve to be recognized. We looked at how best to put an exclamation mark on the 100th anniversary of powered flight in Canada, and we hope Hawk One will be that exclamation mark.”
Potter reinforces the point that VWC is not converting to jet operations, “This is not a new Vintage Wings focus where the Sabre will be the first in the collection representing the jet age. However, that airplane is going to garner a lot of attention. It will be based at the Gatineau airport, we are going to learn about it and people will see it on display. It will be a major point of interest for Vintage Wings visitors.” People are able to view the collection via prearranged group tours and open house events in the summer of 2008. See
www.vintagewings.ca for more information.
Mike Henniger
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Mike R. Henniger
Aviation Enthusiast & Photographer
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