PDF - The Windsor Flying Club

The Windsor Flying Club Presents:
THE WINDICATOR
C
WIN ONTA
CT
260 DSOR
US:
0
F
W i n A i r p o LY I N G
rt R
dsor
CLU
d,
, On
B
tari Unit 10
TEL
oN
5
E
8V
(519 PHON
1A1
) 96
E
9-13
FAC
20
(519 SIMIL
E
) 96
9-13
22
Spring 2011
Issue: Twenty-Nine
New Renovation Projects At The
Club Take Off !
www.windsorflyingclub.com
The Voice of the
Windsor Flying
Club, a non-profit
organization since
1944.
IN THIS ISSUE
CLUB RENOVATIONS
Over the Christmas Break, while our fleet was
grounded by a quick spell of winter weather,
our volunteers worked harder than Santa’s
elves to transform the Windsor Flying Club
into an inviting, new space with fresh paint,
fur niture and an even more friendly
atmosphere for 2012.
Continued on Page 4
A new pilot shop stands in the lobby of the Windsor Flying Club.
NO. 7 ELEMENTARY FLYING TRAINING SCHOOL
Presented to the Algonquin Club of Windsor
and Detroit in 1996, F. J. Ted Douglas provides
an excellent account of the history of
Windsor’s aviation community from the Border
Cities Aero Club to the Windsor Flying Club.
Continued on Page 9
WE’VE GOT IT ALL
While we may have a new look, we’ve got the
old favourites such as Tech Corner, lists of
upcoming events, photos and details of recent
Club events. We’ve also got a few tales from
recent cross-country trips.
Before the Ops Desk underwent a massive overhaul.
A work in progress...
THE WINDICATOR!
Board of Directors
Perry Burford - President
Richard Bradwell - Vice President
Jeremy Schisler - Treasurer
Denis Schryer - Secretary
Aaron Barnhard
Perry Burford
David Gillies
Peter Marshall
John Robinson
Rick Woodall
Instructors
Todd Johnson - CFI
Trevor Burns
Adam Crema
Bill Crosby
Karl Klinck
Ops Desk Staff
Cindy Masse - Office Manager
Adam Bannon
Tracey Bradwell
Denis Hamelin
Andrew Meyer
Krishna Patel
t!
Forge
t
’
n
o
D
e ve r y
ning
n
u
r
is
m. If
9:00 p
ch o o l
S
d
n
a
d
n
r
G ro u
:00 pm
kills, o
PPL
logy s
ween 6
t
o
e
r
o
b
c
e
e
,
t
f
t
r
e
e t
y nigh
your m this is the p
h
s
e
Tuesda
r
f
e
r
ation,
ed to
r navig
u
you ne
o
y
n
up o
brush
do so!
spot to
PAGE
Upcoming Events
Hunt The Bunny
Saturday March 31, 2012 - 8:00 am to 12 pm
Back by even more demand, Hunt The
Bunny promises to be another great event.
Hidden in Essex County is a large pink bunny
waiting to be found, just before Easter! The one
to find it in the fastest time gets the bragging
rights. In the event of rain, Hunt The Bunny will
be held on Sunday April 1.
Euchre Night
Friday April 13, 2012 - 7:00 pm
For only $5, come and join us for another fun
night of progressive Euchre and friends on Friday
the 13th! Sign up at the Ops Desk and be sure to
brush up on your Euchre skills.
For further information on any event, do not hesitate to call
the Ops Desk!
2
THE WINDICATOR!
PAGE
3
A Note From The Editor
Dotting your I’s and crossing your T’s...
Hello and welcome to the Windicator’s
twenty-ninth issue! It has been an absolute
joy to prepare and write for this issue. It’s
filled with plenty of articles for you to enjoy
so kick back, relax and read on!
NEW RENOVATIONS
If it’s been awhile since you’ve been to
the Club, I highly suggest that you stop by you’ll be delighted at the new interior!
Starting in December of 2011, we’ve been
overhauling the inside of the Club to
provide a much more updated appearance.
Tracey and Rich Bradwell, Cindy Masse,
Perry Burford, Rick and Tanya Woodall,
Aaron Barnhard and myself have worked
hard to renovate the main lobby.
As 2012 progresses, we’ve got plans to
spruce up the briefing room as well as other
areas of the Club. We’re always looking for
volunteers, supervisors or coffee-fetchers! If
you’ve got some spare time, talk to the Ops
Desk and I’m sure we can find you a paint
brush!
SPRING HAS SPRUNG
Spring has come early to Windsor,
much, much earlier than normal. And what
better way to inaugurate spring than by
burning a few gallons of AvGas?
This spring there are plenty of
aviation-related events for everyone to sign
up for! A staple is our annual ‘Hunt The
Bunny’ competition on March 31 with a
rain date of April 1. This year we’ve got a
BIG surprise for our foxes so be sure that
you bring your binoculars.
As always, I’d like to thank our
contributors, and our photographers. But
I’d also like to thank everyone for their
patience on this issue. After the renovations
wound down, time began to
slip away as it always does. So
thank you for waiting around.
Thank you not only to
everyone who took the time
and effort to write for the
Windicator, but to Denis
Schr yer for editing and
proofreading every issue
before it is sent out. Without
your support, the Windicator
simply wouldn’t exist. So thank
you, Denis.
I hope you find this issue as enjoyable
to read as it was to prepare. Don’t hesitate
to contact me at the Club or via email
(andrew@windsorflyingclub.com) if you
have any questions, comments or concerns.
See you around the Club!
- Andrew Meyer
“The way I see it,
you can either work
for a living or you
can fly airplanes.
Me, I’d rather fly.”
- Len Morgan,
American aviator
and writer
THE WINDICATOR!
PAGE
4
A Brand New Look
New Renovations For A New Year
What began as the
brainchild of Tracey Bradwell and
Andrew Meyer in early November,
turned into a reality over the
Christmas holidays as the inside of
the Windsor Flying Club was
s tripped, painted, filled and
assembled with a new updated
interior.
On December 21, the
Board of Directors approved the
budget to overhaul the lobby to
make it more inviting to the public
and to make a more pleasant
environment for our students to
study in and for our members to
relax in. With the budget approved,
the next day Tracey and Andrew
began taking everything off the
walls, and removing furniture in
preparation of the massive overhaul.
With the walls bare, they began on
the lengthy and sticky task of
removing the wallpaper. What a
mess that was. Not only did the
walls have to be moistened, but the
industrial strength glue had to be
dried, sanded and scrapped before
anything could happen. Ninety
percent of the time, the same area
Director Rick Woodall works diligently to add the new rock facade to the Ops Desk.
was repeated again and again until
the walls were nice a smooth.
Then came time for the
painting. Thankfully Rick and
Ta n y a Wo o d a l l , p a i n t e r s
extraordinaire, came to help out and
apply two coats of paint on the
entire lobby while Perry Burford and
Aaron Barnhard hung the new glass
doors on the offices and the oil tag
storage room. The trim was then
painted white to match the doors
and the place really began to take
shape.
New drywall in the entryway.
THE WINDICATOR!
PAGE
The evenings flew by as the paint dried and the volunteers took some well deserved breaks.
On New Year’s Eve, Rich
Bradwell and Rick Woodall began
to difficult task to adhering the new
rock facade to the front of the Ops
Desk which was going to be the
main ‘WOW’ factor for the lobby.
Done over two days, Rich and Rick
did an excellent job cutting the tile
and attaching it to the desk. Now
finished, the new Ops Desk
definitely stands out and certainly
invites people in.
By January 2, most of the
hard work was completed and it
was time to replace the furniture
and assemble the new pieces. After
an exhaustive search, Tracey found
an excellent set of tables and chairs
for the sitting area, while finding a
matching piece for the lobby.
Since the old pilot’s shop
was covered up with the new rock
facade, it was decided that the Club
would invest in new cabinets that
would stand along the old Weight
and Balance wall. Tracey, Andrew
and Rich assembled them one
Monday night and installed new
glass doors on them and new locks.
Almost instantly, the main lobby
was transformed into a sleek and
modern facility for anyone to use.
Every aspect of the project
moved along beautifully - except
the trophy wall! Originally, it was
painted a dark red, which
ultimately looked pink. Then it was
painted a darker red, then a dark
blue, brown and then blue again.
Finally, Cindy had a fantastic idea
of using a Venetian plaster which
looks spectacular. Although it took
4 cans of paint and made the wall
at least an inch thicker, it is finally
the perfect wall to showcase the
Club’s trophies.
5
New doors throughout the Club.
However, the space still
isn’t fully completed. Ever since
December 21, Tracey and Cindy
have been on the hunt for a new set
of sofas. Nothing seems to match
well enough, and anything that
does is far too expensive. In due
time, the space will finally be
complete with the new sofas.
While a simple mention
will not suffice, Tracey and Andrew
would like to thank everyone who
dedicated their Christmas break to
the project. Rick and Tanya
Woodall, Aaron Barnhard, Perry
Burford, Mary Guthrie, Denis
Hamelin and anyone else who
supervised, thank you! The project
could not have and would not have
been completed with you!!!
Stay tuned for phase two
coming soon....
THE WINDICATOR!
PAGE
6
THE WINDICATOR!
Ernie Chauvin and Peter Marshall supervise Rick Woodall.
The final result...
PAGE
President Burford painting door trim.
7
THE WINDICATOR!
PAGE
8
No. 7 Elementary Flying Training
School
Originally prepared for the Algonquin Club in Windsor, Ontario on Feb. 9, 1996.
“Last summer, the aviation
community in Windsor held a triple
celebration, to commemorate:
- The 50th anniversary of the
completion of World War II pilot
training for the Royal Canadian
Air Force at Windsor Airport.
- The 50th anniversary of the
founding of Windsor Flying Club,
a chartered member of the Royal
Canadian Flying Clubs
Association.
- The 25th anniversary of the Air
Force Memorial in Jackson Park, a
rose garden which has as its
centrepiece a World Wart II fourengined Lancaster bomber,
mounted on a concrete pedestal.
This evening’s presentation
is concerned with the first two
events, which were linked.
Although this is probably
bad form, I would like to begin with
the annotations. Needless to say,
these anniversaries led to a great
deal of research on the events and
from this emerged two important
primary resources.
First, the so-called Graybiel
report was found in an unlikely
place. The report is misnamed, in
that it was written by the manager
of the flying training school, not by
Hugh A. Graybiel, who was the
general manager of The Windsor
Star. Mr. Graybiel merely received
it, for reasons we will discover as we
go along. The report was found
among the papers of W.F. Herman,
founder of The Windsor Star,
presumably because Mr. Graybiel
gave it to him. Anyway, we take our
primary research material where we
can find it.
The second resource is a
man, E. Maurice Robinson who is
now in his 80’s and lives in Old
Walkerville. Anybody who ever
spent any time around Windsor
Airport knows Maurie Robinson
because he lived his entire life there.
He learned to fly with the old
Border Cities Aero Club between
the two world wars, he was an
aircraft maintenance engineer for
the flying training station during
the war, and he kept on repairing
airplanes for Leavens Brothers after
World War II.
Maurie wrote a monograph
which he titled, “The History of
Aviation in Essex County - 1920 to
1992.”
The material contained in
this presentation comes mainly
from those two resources.
The history of aviation in
Windsor had its beginnings in 1919
when a gaggle of veterans from the
Royal Flying Corps met socially
and a year later formed the Border
Cities Aero Club. In those days,
Windsor, Sandwich, Walkerville
and East Windsor or Ford City, as it
w as s o m eti m es c alled , were
separate municipalities. The club’s
name was coined to embrace them
all.
The members who formed
the club were for the most part
fighter pilots of the Royal Flying
Corps and laterally the Royal Air
Force, the survivors of aerial circus
combat over the trenches of France
in World War I.
Maurie Robinson claims in
his monograph that the Border
Cities club was the first in Canada
to be chartered by the newlyminted Royal Canadian Flying
Clubs Association. This is
confir med by a copy of the
THE WINDICATOR!
program for Windsor Airport’s
1928 opening day.
By forming its aero club
immediately following World War I,
the Windsor area appeared to be at
the cutting edge of the merging
s p o r t av i at i o n d eve l o p m e n t .
However, considering that there
was no airport and no planes when
the club was formed, the claim is
r a t h e r h o l l o w, s i n c e s o c i a l
organizations do little more than
talk about the subject at hand.
This was to change. The
Chamber of Commerce, in the
1 9 2 0 ’s, fo r m e d a n Av i at i o n
Committee and became a branch
of the Aviation League of Canada,
Mr. Robinson tells us. The Border
Cities Aero Club joined all three
groups, and to good purpose. The
Chamber wanted to encourage
airport development as a tool for
the region’s economic development.
T h e a i r p o r t fo u n d e r s
appealed for airport property to the
Walker Land and Building Co.,
which was owned by the Walker
distilling family. The company
responded with a piece of
pasturage which was given rent-free
for five years, plus $10,000 to build
a hangar. Imperial of Canada
installed fueling facilities and
matters were underway.
The reason the Walker
family had land available was the
huge farm operation that Hiram
Walker established, to dispose of
PAGE
the high-protein mash he had on
his hands after he distilled whiskey.
He established a beef cattle farm in
Sandwich East township, and
trucked the mash to the feeding
stalls there. Today, of course, the
horse-drawn tank wagons that he
used would have recycle symbols on
their tailboards, for that is what he
was doing.
The land given for airport
use was on old Highway 2, at the
back of Mr. Walker’s cattle farm.
The present Windsor Airport
passenger terminal is on that site.
Walker Airport, as it was
then known, opened on Sept. 8,
1928. Charles Fox of Windsor has
8mm film of that event, and I have
seen it. The best overview shown in
this film was taken from the
Goodyear Tire blimp. Imagine - the
advertising dirigible was around
even then. The movie
photographer also shot footage of
the Hiram Walker farm holdings,
including two crescents of houses
for the farm workers and all the
barns and outbuildings that have
since largely disappeared.
The Border Cities Aero
Club was responsible for operating
the airport. Pilots Ed. Johnson and
L o r n e S i m p s o n fl e w t w o
government-prided DeHavilland
Moth aircraft and they gave
instruction and sightseeing flights.
The club was in business.
9
T h e air port w as als o
designated as an emergency field
for American Airlines flights
carrying U.S. mail across Ontario
and barrels of oil were stored there
to be set afire to guide in any planes
that needed to make an emergency
landing at night. There was a
rotating beacon on what looked like
a windmill tower. These were not
exactly high tech days.
The Great Depression
savaged Windsor, more so than any
other Canadian city. Conditions
were so bad here that the city
defaulted on its municipal bonds.
There were few disposable dollars
for sport aviation and the aero club
fell on hard days.
There was a slight upturn
when John Canfield rented the
airport and became its manager.
Most old-timers remember Mrs.
Canfield more than John. She was a
vivacious blonde musical comedy
star who
had a short bout of
success on Broadway. She looked
gorgeous in leather helmet, goggles
and swashbuckling flying togs. But,
although the glamour helped, the
club went under financially in 1938.
Significantly, it retained its charter.
The advent of World War
II changed everything, and the
events that would raise Windsor
from a sod field and its biplane
barnstormers to a sophisticated
airport capable of hosting jumbo
jets like the Boeing 747 and the
THE WINDICATOR!
supersonic Concorde, began in
London, England.
The British knew very well
they would need a tremendous
number of pilots, navigators,
b o m b a rd i e r s, w i re l e s s r a d i o
operators, gunners, etc., to wage an
air war, and also that the numbers
required would have to come
largely from the British
Commonwealth countries.
They also understood that
England was a poor place for
training air crews in wartime. A
wobbly student pilot with 10 hours
of dual instruction flying a slow
cloth-covered biplane is inclined to
lose his confidence if he is fired
upon by the four guns of a
marauding Messerschmidt ME 109.
England needed a safe
h ave n f o r a i rc r e w t r a i n i n g.
However, the British negotiators
erred by proposing that Canada
operate an air training plan to fill
the ranks of the Royal Air Force.
This kind of English superiority
offended Canadians and in 1938,
Prime Minister William Lyon
Mackenzie King shot that idea out
of the air with his rhetorical guns.
T he negotiations that
followed were tough, even bitter.
The flavour is well portrayed in the
book, “Behind the Glory,” by Ted
Barris of Uxbridge, Ont.
Macmillan Canada Ltd. published
his work.
PAGE
Mr. King had a fixation.
Although he was willing to commit
Canada to the war, he stubbornly
insisted that Canadian participation
be identified as Canadian. For
example, he railed against putting
Canadians into British units as
reinforcements, where they would
lose their identity. His insistence on
this point in the negotiations for the
air training plan was the first
expression of the kind of
nationalism that later led to the
distancing of Canada from the
Mother Country.
Mr. King won, of course,
for the British were hard pressed
and had no choice. Canada would
operate the British Commonwealth
Air Training Plan, as a major
component of the Royal Canadian
Air Force. The training syllabus
blended the best of the R.C.A.F.
and the R.A.F. and satisfied both.
The R.C.A.F. would receive
trainees from all the British
Commonwealth countries,
including Britain, Australia, New
Zealand and South Africa.
Canadian candidates would be
trained as R.C.A.F. personnel and
they would go overseas into
R.C.A.F. squadrons. This was
generally, but not always, the case.
Certainly, some British officers
ended up in command of Canadian
squadrons and some Canadians
ended up in R.A.F. units. But they
wore Canada flashes on their
10
shoulders, in keeping with Mr.
King’s dictum. To illustrate the
point, Johnny Johnson, the top
British Commonwealth fighter ace
in the war, commanded a Canadian
squadron. He was also the only Brit
in the squadron, which was a rather
hard row to hoe.
Community leaders in
Windsor were well aware of these
developments, and saw them as a
golden opportunity to give the city
a vast improvement in its
transportation facilities that would
be of tremendous benefit to
economic development after the
war. They also wanted and needed
any employment for their
depression-ravaged city that a
training school would
provide.
At the threshold of World
War II, the R.C.A.F. had developed
a plan for the training of the socalled “Provisional Pilot Officers,”
or PPO’s. They turned to the
civilian flying clubs to provide
instruction and operate the
programs.
The Border Cities Aero
Club managed to capitalize on this
program by offering their airport
facilities. The government sent in
one instructor and a DeHavilland
Moth, and a handful of candidates
were trained here. They were
housed in a tourist home across the
road from the airport.
THE WINDICATOR!
When the BCATP became
an established fact, the PPO
program was scrapped and there
was a scramble on the part of
communities all over the country
and notably in Ontario to be
designated as one of the training
sites. Every town wanted a new
airport. But there were conditions
that had to be met first.
A candidate for selection as
a training site had to have control
of sufficient land to build a
standard form of airport with three
runways, laid out in a triangular
pattern, and all the required
buildings. Private companies were
to operate the schools under
contract to the Department of
National Defense. However, the
candidate companies had to prove
financial responsibility which meant
having sufficient capital. Most of
the companies were formed by the
existing flying clubs, some by
commercial aviation operators. All
of the companies that operated
elementary flying schools were spun
out of the flying clubs.
The Border Cities Aero
Club was bankrupt, although it had
access to an airport. All it had to
offer was its charter as a flying club.
Some other action was required.
To cope with this situation,
government officials approached
Hugh A. Graybiel, general
manager of The Windsor Daily
Star, to recruit the necessary
PAGE
community support. He called up
W. H e n r y C a n t e l o n , a n
industrialist, and H.J. Merlo, a
wealthy contractor. The three
raised the required capital from 60
citizens of Windsor and they
formed the fiscally-responsible
Windsor Flying Training School, to
undertake the operation of No. 7
Elementary Flying Training School
in Windsor.
It is worth noting that
much of what these people did was
the result of fervent patriotism. For
sure, they wanted an airport that
would serve this city after the war as
an economic generator. But also,
Mr. Graybiel specifically ordained
that nobody was to make a profit
from an investment in the training
company. The best training possible
was to be given at the lowest
possible cost.
These principles were carried to the
extreme.
City government under
Mayor David Croll bought the
required land surrounding the site
of the old Walker Airport to meet
the final condition to attract the
school and make a contribution to
the air effort.
Every small town in
Ontario wanted in on this scheme.
Thus it was that tiny communities
like Brantford, Aylmer, Dunnvile,
Hagersville, Jarvis, Centralia and
Goderich ended up with welldeveloped airport properties of the
11
standard government plan after the
war.
The business of paving
runways and building hangars,
barrack buildings, canteens, drill
halls, gun butts and the like, was
merely logistical. The tougher
problem was finding pilots with
commercial licenses who could be
trained as instructors.
One reason for choosing
Canada as a vast training airport
was its proximity to the United
States. Dozens of American pilots
flooded across the border to take
jobs as civilian instructors. Many
risked their American citizenship by
swearing allegiance to the Crown in
order to join the R.C.A.F. One such
was James A.O. Crowe, the retired
outdoor editor of The Detroit
News. He flew navigation students
out of Brandon, Man., and before
the war ended, was qualified to fly
the red hot Mosquito bomber.
Those who know Jim find it hard to
picture him at the throttles of a pair
of 1250 hp V-12 Merlins, flying an
aircraft capable of breaking the
sound barrier in a dive. He is more
at home with a 5 horsepower
Johnson outboard.
The definitive research
material on No. 7 E.F.T.S. Windsor
is found in the so-called Graybiel
report, which is in the city’s
archives, at the Main Branch of the
Windsor Public Library.
THE WINDICATOR!
The document is the final
report of the Windsor Flying
Training School, written by the
general manager, Albert A.J. Pelzer.
It should be noted that Mr.
Graybiel, who started the move for
the school, did not accept an office
with the flying training company.
Those who knew Mr. Graybiel, and
I am among them, would
understand why. He refused office
for ethical reasons. Newspapermen
are loathe to join any public
institution because when they do,
they deprive themselves of the right
t o c r i t i c i z e, w h i c h i s t h e i r
fundamental role as journalists. Mr.
Graybiel was a highly ethical
publisher.
The Graybiel report tells us
the following things:
T h e Wi n d s o r F l y i n g
Training Company was issued
letters patent on June 12, 1940. It
named its officers. Mr. Cantelon
was president, Mr. Merlo vicepresident, and Mr. Pelzer was, from
inception to windup, the company’s
general manager.
What kind of school was it?
This wartime institution
was a strange blending of military
a n d c i v i l i a n a u t h o r i t y. T h e
company was operated by civilians
who were responsible for its
performance. However, the general
manager of the company was not
the commanding officer. The
R.C.A.F. provided the chief flying
PAGE
instructor and he was the station
commander responsible for military
discipline. It appears, however, that
he was not superior to the civilian
general manager. Obviously, there
was a delicate relationship here, but
by all
accounts, the business
between civilians and the military
was conducted smoothly and
amicably.
The purpose of an
elementary flying training school
was to take the green candidate off
the street, teach him the elements of
airmanship, the beginnings of
navigation, and to get him to the
point where he made a solo flight,
did a couple of solo cross-country
flights, was able to do elementary
aerobatics, and understood how to
fly a light aircraft in day and night
conditions.
One can easily recognize
planes used in the air training plan.
All were painted bright yellow. All
had the red, white and blue
R.C.A.F. roundel on fuselage and
wings. All had large “buzz”
numbers that could be read from
the ground should some citizen
want to complain about low flying.
Graduates from a school
like the one in Windsor went on to
a Service Flying Training School
where they flew single-engine
Harvards and twin-engine aircraft
such as the American-designed
Cessna Crane and an improved
Canadian version of the British
12
Avro Anson. Pilots graduated with
wings from the S.F.T.S. schools, and
if destined for combat, they went
overseas where they finished their
training in O.T.U’s or operation
training units. There, the R.A.F.
finally got their hands on all
candidates, at least for the combatready training.
The Windsor school began
with Fleet Finch biplanes. These
had an interesting and entertaining
characteristic. Their five-cylinder
radial Kinner engines had a bad
habit of blowing the top cylinder
head. Instructor and student would
be flying along when - bang - the
top pot would fly off and disappear
over the upper wing, leaving a
dangling piston and connecting rod
flailing in the air. This, of course,
was forced landing time.
Syd Hutnick, who ran the
aircraft maintenance program at
No. 7, actually tried to process a
modification to tie down the top
cylinder head with safety wire, but
he got nowhere.
The Finch also had a mean
characteristic. It was too
underpowered to recover from an
inverted spin. If the pilot got into
one of those, he had to bail out.
The Finches were soon sent
off to training schools in Quebec
and were replaced with
DeHavilland Tiger Moths, an
airplane type much cherished today
by vintage plane buffs. Cliff
THE WINDICATOR!
Robertson, the movie star, owns a
Tiger Moth. So does Dr. Murray
O’Neill of Windsor, His is painted
just as it was when in service at
Windsor in World War II.
Finally, the Americandesigned Fairchild Cornell lowwing monoplane was the trainer of
choice that was in use when the
school closed.
We should not forget the
human side of the school. Pilots
came here from all over the world.
Before the air training scheme
closed its hangar doors, candidates
from virtually every country in the
free world were trained in Canada.
The community did what it
could to make the boys feel at
home. A local theatre, for example,
sent buses and carried the entire
school personnel downtown for a
screening of “Captains of the
Clouds,” the only movie ever made
about the training scheme. The
stars were James Cagney, Allan
Hale and Dennis Morgan, and the
film included a cameo appearance
of Air Marshal William Avery
Bishop V.C., Canada’s greatest
World War I fighter ace.
The Chrysler Girls Club,
the YWCA Girls Club and a ladies
club on the station all sponsored
dances. Airmen were invited home
to dinner by many Windsor citizens.
Golf clubs and other sports facilities
opened their doors to the man in
Air Force blue.
PAGE
And there were stories of
daring do. One instructor and
student, practicing low level flight a
little too enthusiastically, took the
top off the blind of some duck
hunters on the River Canard.
Angry hunters fired shotguns at
them. There were several hundred
holes in the Finch and more than a
few pellets in the instructor’s arms.
The Royal Canadian Mounted
Police were called in. But nothing
came of it. The pilots were not
supposed to be over River Canard.
They said the incident happened
off Kingsville. Of course, nobody
in Kingsville knew anything about
it. In this case, Dudley Doright did
not get his man, because the
wounded weren’t telling a straight
story.
The picture of the first
graduating class from No. 7 E.F.T.S.
includes one Mac J. Brian. He had
the honour of being the first
student to bail out of a Finch.
During his initial training, he and
his instructor fell into the fatal
inverted spin. They parachuted
safely into an Essex County field.
After the war, Mac Brian became
the first chief flying instructor at
Windsor Flying Club.
There were other
institutions set up to offer recreation
and stimulate the mind. The rules
of the ”Gen Club” might well be
emulated by us. The club met in the
“homey” lounges after lunch to
13
discuss general topics including
current events. Guest speakers often
came in. Anybody who dispensed
wrong information to the club was
accused of peddling “duff gen“ and
his membership card was forfeited.
Those who lost their cards were
said to have “pranged.” For those
uninitiated in the language of this
World War II sub-culture, to
“prang” is to crash. A biplane was a
“kite.” Therefore, if you crashed a
Finch you “pranged the kite.”
Well, how did all this turn
out, here in Windsor?
Statistics for No. 7 E.F.T.S.
run from July 22, 1940, to Nov. 19,
1944. The school took in 2,267
students for training and graduated
1,673 or 74 percent. The windup
report in the archives, using service
averages, concludes that 1,500 of
these pilots finished service flying
training and got their wings, and 75
percent of that number were
commissioned as officers.
And the R.C.A.F. did not
throw away the 514 washouts. It is
estimated that 385 of these became
navig ator s, bombardier s, air
gunners, wireless operators, or flight
engineers.
The normal civilian staff
for the school numbered 185, with
78 in the hangar doing aircraft
maintenance. A third of the staff
was over the military age limit of
45 and 10 percent were under 18
years of age. Windsor was also the
THE WINDICATOR!
first elementary school to employ
women and for more than office
work. They also packed parachutes,
refueled aircraft, and worked as
aero engine mechanics.
At the onset of this
program in Canada, flying clubs
formed 22 companies to train
pilots. Civilian aviation companies
formed 10 additional companies to
train navigators, air observers,
gunners, etc.
Soon after the program
began, the 10 commercial aviation
companies realized that they were
operating well within cost
limitations and were actually
making money from the fees paid
for work done. They voluntarily
agreed to surrender all profits.
The flying clubs did not
want to go quite that far. They too
wanted to operate without profit,
but they felt some proceeds should
be tucked away for the benefit of
sponsoring flying clubs and they
agreed to a complex formula for
that purpose.
In the windup report, Mr.
Pelzer says the Windsor company
received $1.6 million from the
government for the conduct of its
program. However, the business
was accomplished for 87 percent of
t h a t fi g u r e . T h e C a n a d i a n
gover nment got a refund of
$203,802.32, and under the
formula, $21,700 was reserved for a
beneficiary flying club.
PAGE
The Windsor Flying Club
was immediately formed. The
Border Cities Aero Club transferred
its charter to the W.F.C. which then
received the funds that had been
reserved from the training plan.
The club also occupied part of the
main hangar and one of the
barracks buildings that had been
built for the air training plan.
Today, of the more than 20
buildings that went up on the site of
No. 7 E.F.T.S., only one, the old
large hangar, remains. Other
buildings were sold and moved
away. One, for example, ended up
on the campus of the University of
Windsor. Another serves as the hall
for a nearby church.
There is no denying the
fact that the British Commonwealth
Air Training Plan or BCATP, was
one of the most remarkable events
in the history of aviation. Never
before or since have so many
airmen from so many countries
been trained within the borders of
a single nation. The plan not only
churned out pilots, navigators, and
other air crew, it also produced
riggers and aero engine mechanics,
armourers, and those from all the
other ground crew disciplines.
There was even a highly secret
radar school, the first outside of the
British Isles.
Barris, in his book, says the
total expenditure on the BCATP
was on the order of $1.9 billion of
14
which Canada paid $1.6 billion.
Nearly 200,000 air men were
trained, including Free French,
Czech, Polish, Belgian, Dutch and
N o r we g i a n ex p at r i at e s. T h e
number killed in BCATP training
accidents was 856 against a total of
nearly a quarter million. Although
any casualty is to be regretted, that
number appears to be low by World
War II standards.
There are no statistics on
the number of instructors involved
in this plan, or on their origins. The
total is thought to be 5,000.
Because they never entered combat,
they got no medals and had to be
content with a short passage of
thanks in a Winston Churchill
speech. He recognized them as
unsung heroes.
The show ended in
October, 1944, when the air crew
pipeline was clogged and the
government began closing down
the schools.
Today, Windsor Airport is
among the best equipped in
Canada. The Government of
Canada ended up owning it all and
it covers 2,000 acres. The longest
runway - 7-25 - is 6,.900 feet long.
Fully-laden Boeing 747 jumbos and
the supersonic Concorde have
flown from this airport.
The Maurice Robinson
survey of 1992 shows that 75
aircraft were based at the airport,
including 26 registered for
THE WINDICATOR!
PAGE
15
commercial flight and 47 for private use. Two scheduled commuter lines operate into the airport, and there are
charter services, flight schools, and, or course, Windsor Flying Club.
The navigation aides are top line, and the airport is a designated a Customs entry point. The Michigan
Air National Guard has designated Windsor as an alternate airport, and every once in a while, a pair of F-16s will
streak in, touch the pavement, and roar off. Their training regime requires that they be familiar with their
alternate, and the controllers at Windsor welcome them.
If the truth be known, Windsor probably has more airport than a city of 195,000 needs.”
- F. J. Ted Douglas
F. J. Ted Douglas’ affinity for aviation, like many of us, began at a young age with RC models and hanging out at the
local airfield, and he flew the full size versions in Windsor from 1947-49, obtaining his private pilot’s license in 1948
at Inter Provincial. He was married in 1950 and his first child arrived the following year, so that was the end of flying
for him, at least until his third child (Mary Guthrie) got “aviation disease” and provided the opportunity for stick time. He supported his aviation habit (and others) through journalism at the Windsor Star and subsequently the Detroit
News. He is a long-time WFC and CH2A member as well as a Yellow Bird pilot.
THE WINDICATOR!
Tech Corner
PAGE
16
In 2004, when I proposed the idea of
My pick for this newsletter is my second
writing an article about flight computers to the
flight computer, also received in 1965. When I
then editor of the Windicator, Ali Jaber, I
got this one, it was significant to me because of
thought that it would be interesting to share at
the name of the famous aviator whose name
least a few of the
adorned
the
unique computers and
computer’s logo. As a
navigation devices in
youngster, I read every
my extensive arsenal
book and scrap of
with my fellow flying
paper that told the
club members and
exploits of aviation’s
pilots. Expecting to
pioneers, and I had
write only one article,
read much about an
maybe two, there was
American pilot who
no order to the
seemed to be more
particular computers
famous for what he
presented in that debut
failed to do than for
offering in the April
what he accomplished!
2004 issue of the club’s
newsletter. After that
James Jose ph
first article, I could not
“Jimmie” Mattern was
have imagined the
born in Illinois in 1905,
uninterrupted string of
and learned to fly at
instalments in what
Ryan Field in San
has become a regular
Diego California in
newsletter feature.
1926. He purchased a
Front of the Mattern M-2 “Course and Mile-Gage”. The inch markings help to
indicate the overall size of the computer. Each leg is about 7 1/2 “ (19cm) long
Waco 10 biplane, did
and almost 2” (5cm) at the pivot end.
It was in the
some bar nstor ming
April 2005 Windicator
and became a
that I presented the computer that was the very
Hollywood stunt pilot, flying in films that
first that I owned, a Jeppesen CR-2. I had
included Howard Hughes’ now classic, “Hell’s
received it in 1965, in used condition and
Angels”. He’s universally famous for two failed
without a manual, as a gift at the age of 10
solo attempts in 1932 and 1933 to break the
years. I still use it, in fact, it’s the one that I
record for aerial circumnavigation of the world,
probably use the most.
earlier set by Wiley Post and Harold Gatty. He
THE WINDICATOR!
PAGE
17
contributed much to aviation throughout the
dividers, distances are read directly on scales
1930’s and early 1940’s, but again, he’s most
graduated in nautical miles, statute miles and
remembered for his “failed circumnavigation
kilometres for world aeronautical charts (WAC)
attempts”. His license was revoked in 1946
and only in statute miles for sectional charts.
because of a medical condition, but he
There’s also a “degrees scale”, and when the
continued to promote aviation and was an avid
base leg of the computer is oriented along the
supporter of the space programme throughout
north south reference lines of the chart, the free
his life.
leg is rotated to parallel the intended course or
track line. The course is
Perhaps taking
simply read opposite
advantage of his earlier
the course index line.
c e l e b r i t y, J i m m i e
Pretty simple stuff, but
marketed a navigation
handy nonetheless.
course and mileage
T he base leg also
computer. Considered
features a Celsius/
basic in both design
Fahrenheit conversion
and operation, the
table, a five inch ruler
Jimmie Mattern
and an International
“Course and MileMorse Code chart.
Gage” Aeronautical
Model M-2 was
O
n
e
introduced to the
advantage that I find
world, with copyrights
with the Jimmie
in 1949 and 1950.
Mattern M-2 is the
ability to carry out
In addition to
time/distance
the usual time/distance
problems easily with
s c a l e s f o r fl i g h t
only one hand free.
planning and related
The legs of the
The back of the M-2 features a typical speed/time/distance computer for flight
flying tasks, the M-2
“dividers” can be used
planning and for required checks while in-flight.
could handle altitude
as a handle, with the
and
airspeed
thumb left free to rotate
corrections as well as nautical and statute mile
the single rotating disc.
conversions. Again, pretty basic on the computer
side.
I recall using the Jimmie Mattern M-2 on
a particular cross-country trip to Toronto Island
The course and mileage side is the
airport in a Piper Cherokee 140 (PA28-140).
interesting part. Resembling a set of navigation
According to my logbook, my air time on the
THE WINDICATOR!
PAGE
18
outbound journey, for 180 nautical miles, was
Mattern, who had attempted the first round-theone hour and fifteen minutes, a groundspeed of
world solo flight in 1932. He did not succeed - a
145 knots. The return trip weighed in at two
frozen fuel line brought his plane down in Siberia
hours and fifty two minutes, significantly more
- but he wanted something of his to make that
than double the time of my original flight to
trip, albeit at speeds he could never have
Toronto Island! Groundspeed on the way home
foreseen. Neil had the watch strapped round the
was just 62 knots, only 44% of the average
right arm of his spacesuit." After describing the
groundspeed achieved on the eastbound leg. I
splashdown of Gemini 8, Dave Scott comments:
remember that, given
"And through it all,
the incredible
Jimmie Mattern's
turbulence on that
watch had kept on
flight, I was happy that
ticking."
I chose the M-2 for its
single hand operation!
To s h o w
that Jimmie’s fame was
For those who
not limited to just his
have not heard of
wrist watch, his pilot’s
Jimmie Mattern, nor of
license was carried
his famous feats of
aboard Apollo 11, and
aeronautical prowess,
along with Neil
… please note that he
Armstrong and Buzz
has been honoured by
Aldrin, landed on the
the
American
moon on July 20 th
a e ro n a u t i c a l
1969. And all this while
community in an
Jimmie Mattern was
unusual manner.On
still alive!
March 16, 1966, when
the Gemini VIII
Where have
mission blasted off,
your wrist watch and
Jimmie Mattern came up with a great logo for his flight computer. It was well
command pilot Neil
thought out with the M-2 outfitted with wings and a map of the world framed by
pilot’s license been?
the cardinal compass points. Also note the airplane, not quite completing a
Armstrong was
circumnavigation of the logo!
wearing Jimmie
…. Happy
Mattern’s wrist watch.
navigating !!!!
- Denis Schryer
In the book "Two Sides of the Moon" by
Dave Scott and Alexei Leonov (Thomas Dunn
Books, 2004), Dave Scott writes: "Neil also
carried a wristwatch belonging to Jimmie
THE WINDICATOR!
PAGE
Trivia Night
BRINGING TOGETHER THE CLUB’S BRIGHTEST MINDS
After ten rounds of
puzzling trivia, there could
only be one winner! The
second revival of ‘Three
Guys and a Chick”, made
up of the three guys
(Denis Hamelin, Neil
Arnold and Andrew
Meyer) and one very classy
lady (Catherine ThomsonMcGhie) stole the lead
early and never looked
back. The Barnstormers,
comprised of Jerry and
Bonnie Rempel &
Stephanie and Aaron
Barnhard walked away
with the second place
trophy held above their
heads.
While the questions
were incredibly hard, odd
and ‘murderous’, the
laughs kept on coming as
Q u i z M a s t e r Tr a c e y
B r a d w e l l b ro u g h t u s
through each round.
There may have only
been six teams, but the
competition was fierce.
The Fabulous Fabric Four
were edged out of second
place by a slim margin,
showing their skills and
First Place: Denis Hamelin, Catherine Thomson-McGhie, Neil Arnold & Andrew Meyer
trivia knowledge along the
way.
Thank you to
everyone who came out
and had an excellent
night! There were some
great laughs, good food
and even better fun!
Thank you to our Quiz
Master extraordinaire,
Tr a c ey B r a d we l l , fo r
putting on an excellent
event - once again! Trivia
night would not exist
without you!
Be sure to take part
next time.....
Some of the
night’s highlights....
The trophies up for grabs....
Second Place: Jerry and Bonnie Rempel & Stephanie and Aaron Barnhard
19