2012 - 40th Anniversary of the Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum. Our history continues...
In late 1982, CWH members Burke Seitz and Alan Grant donated a 1936 Piper J-2 Cub (C-GNGO). CWH member Bob Kidd ferried the aircraft in from Maple, Ontario. The Cub was to be restored to commemorate the training program of the Canadian Flying Clubs Association for the RCAF in WWII. However, before restoration was completed, the Cub was included in a multi-plane trade and ended up somewhere out west.
In March of 1983, the latest acquisition to the Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum flew into Hamilton from Maniwaki, Quebec. Stinson HW-75 (C-FBSU) had been donated by CWH member Deryck Brown. After a quick cosmetic restoration, "Blue Thunder", as it was nicknamed, emerged in the same RCAF markings it had worn years before. In RCAF service, the Stinson was used in the training of wireless operators at Prince Albert, Saskatchewan. Unfortunately, the HW-75 was lost in the 1993 hangar fire. CWH is always on the lookout for a replacement and it is probably just a matter of time before this happens.
Sometime in 1983, Al Ludford donated his Fairchild 24 Argus (C-FGZL) to the collection, already painted in yellow RCAF markings. It was a four-passenger, general-purpose aircraft. The RCAF acquired two of these light aircraft when an American citizen and a staff member of Reader's Digest magazine each donated an Argus to the service. No. 12 Communication Squadron, based at Rockcliffe in Ottawa initially used the aircraft. One day a visitor to the Museum commented that the Fairchild 24 was painted incorrectly as it should be silver, not yellow. He had flown them, remembered it being silver and had the B&W photos to prove it. However, it is hard to tell if a light coloured aircraft in an old B&W shot is yellow or silver. Fortunately, there was a yellow Cornell in part of one of the pictures and this clearly proved the Argus was definitely not yellow. Eventually, she was repainted in the correct colours. Years later, it was sold off but the current owner in Ontario still keeps it wearing its silver RCAF paint scheme.
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