Aviation and Heritage Roundup June 2025
Provided by Paul Squires, CAPA-ACCA Contact, Wetaskiwin, Alberta
Of Note: Museum visitor, John Clarke came through Wetaskiwin and Penhold on his tour of Canada, Alaska and the western US. He really enjoyed his visit to the Western Antique Aeroplane and Automobile Museum, so I thought I’d pass it along.
Home – Western Antique Aeroplane & Automobile Museum
June 30 – Zeppelin Museum in Friedrichshafen, Germany
Zeppelin-Dornier-Combination – An Aviation Enthusiast’s Dream | TravelPulse
June 30 – Bombardier to plan ASW version of Global 6500
Leonardo and Bombardier Eye Maritime Variant of Global 6500 as Italy Weighs Fixed-Wing ASW Options – The Aviationist
June 30 – RAF Museum moving artifacts to new site
RAF Museum Launches Major Campaign to Relocate 50,000 Historic Artifacts – Vintage Aviation News
June 30 – Five year old Airbus 220 (C Series) scrapped for parts!!
A 5 Year Old Airbus A220 Has Already Been Scrapped
June 29 – Detailed look at B.787 safety and allegations.
How safe is the Boeing 787 Dreamliner, really?
June 29 – Fallen airman honoured by donation at Trenton
Flying Officer killed in WW2 honoured in Air Force Museum ceremony | Belleville Intelligencer
August 30, 1944. #19 OTU Whitley V AD712 ZV-L dived out of clouds and broke up in the air on a navigation exercise. Sgt G.H. Barr RCAF, Sgt R.M. Dickie RCAF, F/S F.L. Frank RCAF, F/O J.W. Tucker RCAF, Sgt F.C. Moran RAF and Sgt E.F. Cooper RAF killed (Linzee www.rafcommands.com).
June 28 – The RAF is getting nuclear weapons again. A brief history of their previous experience
A Brief History of Nuclear Weapons in the Royal Air Force – The Aviationist
June 26 – Calgary Hangar Museum celebrates 50 years with renovation plans
Calgary’s Hangar Flight Museum celebrating 50 years | Calgary Herald
June 26 – University Ballooning Competition in Japan
By students, for students! The 29th All Japan Inter-College Hot Air Balloon Championship | World Air Sports Federation
June 26 – a look at RAF Museum Cosford
RAF Museum Midlands (Cosford) – Restoration, Storage, and Disposals Update – Vintage Aviation News
The Canadian connection to Hampden P1344 and the other Hampden’s lost in Russia September 4-5, 1942.
A force of 32 Hampden TB.I torpedo bombers from 144 RAF Squadron and 455 RAAF Squadron was sent from England to airfields in Northern Russia to provide additional protection to convoys supplying the Soviet Union. Flying at extreme range without long range tanks 26 of these aircraft arrived in Russia (R.C. Nesbit, others)
4-5 144 Sqn. Hampden TB.I AE436 PL-J suffered an overheated engine and flew into high ground on a remote mountain in far Northern Sweden en route to the USSR. F/O W.H. Bowler, F/S J.P. Campbell and F/S J.S. Jewett killed. P/O D. Evans RAF and Cpl B.J. Sowerby RAF survived the crash and fire, then managed to walk 20 miles through the mountains to safety in extreme conditions, taking 3 days (R.C. Nesbit). 144 Sqn. was being re-deployed to Russia to provide protection to convoys after the losses of convoy PQ-17 and ran into bad weather. To disguise the violation of Swedish neutrality P/O Evans and Cpl Sowerby claimed to be evaders from an aircraft shot down in Norway. The wreckage of the aircraft and the remains of the crew remained undiscovered until found by hikers in August 1976. The wreckage has since been recovered and is being restored for display in a museum in England. (See www.forcedlandingcollection.se/RAFe/RAF024-AE436.html for the story of it’s discovery)
4-5 144 Sqn. Hampden TB.I AE356 transiting to Murmansk and strayed out of the safe “approach corridor” for the Afrikanda airfield (R.C. Nesbit). It was attacked by a Soviet fighter (possibly a Hurricane) in error, which killed F/S W.T. Tabor. The aircraft was forced to ditch just off shore of the Kola Inlet near the Russian village of Severmorosk, pilot Sgt W.H. Hood, Sgt D. Turnbull and Sgt R.J. O’Neil and 1 RAF (possibly Cpl Baker) safe (via H. Moyle www.rafcommands.com). F/S Tabor was buried at Severmorosk by a party from 144 Sqn. In 1993 Russian sailors presented his family in Thunder Bay with a .50 cal. shell filled with earth from the grave. This loss was also the subject of an article in the June/July 1994 of Legion magazine.
4-5 144 Sqn. Hampden TB.I P1344 PL-K, K for “Kitty”, shot down over Northern Finland by German fighters after getting lost on a transit flight to Russia. F/S G.E. Miller, Sgt J.M. Robertson RAF and Sgt D.C. Garrity RAF killed, P/O E.H.E. Perry RAF and Cpl C. Shepherd RAF PoW. F/S Miller, Sgt Robertson and Sgt Garrity have no known grave and are commemorated on the Runnymede Memorial. The aircraft was recovered from the crash site and in 1992 became part of the collection of the RAF Museum where it is being restored. (See http://www.aircraftconservation.org/handley-page-hampden-restoration for details, and Aeroplane Monthly magazine, January, 1992 for photographs of the recovered aircraft.
4-5 144 Sqn. Hampden TB.I P1273 PL-Q shot down by German fighters enroute to Russia and came down in a swamp on the Kola Peninsula. Sgt K.C. Smith, Sgt K.S. Piper, Sgt E.D. Blind, Sgt H.L. Bertrand RAF (Can.) and Cpl G.R. Desforges RAF bailed out and were taken PoW. The remains of this aircraft were recovered and are on display at the Wings Museum in England. Sgt Bertrand was a Biggs’ Boy (K. Stofer). He recalled that this was his first operational flight, and as he stood on the wing of the aircraft controlling it before dropping off he was bitter that all the training he had taken to become a pilot was wasted (pers. comm, Hank Bertrand, 1974; www.jncohen.net). Postwar he became a civil engineer and worked in Yellowknife.
4-5 455 Sqn. RAAF Canadian built Hampden TB.I P5304 UB-H crashed in mountain in a remote area of northern Sweden enroute to the USSR, Sgt E.J. Smart RAAF, F/S T.G. Nicholls RAAF, Sgt L.A. Biggins RAF, Sgt J.M.O. Harris RAAF and fitter Cpl D.H. Nelson RAAF killed.
4-5 455 Sqn. RAAF Canadian built Hampden TB.I P5323 UB-L ran out of fuel and crashed short of Kandalashka Airfield in Arctic Russia, P/O Patrick, Sgt McIver, Sgt Darnell, Sgt Clokessy and LAC Bryans all safe (H. Moyle).
June 27 – Anchorage Alaska Fly By Festival gearing up (that ragged looking Catalina in the background is actually a Canadian built OA-10 Canso)
Anchorage gears up for Annual Fly By Festival at Alaska Aviation Museum | Things To Do | youralaskalink.com
June 27 – Gifu-Kakamigahara Air and Space Museum, Japan
Sorahaku: Exploring Japan’s Gifu-Kakamigahara Air and Space Museum – Vintage Aviation News
June 26 – A visit to the Shearwater Museum
Canadian Naval Aviation Heritage Preserved: Inside Nova Scotia’s Shearwater Aviation Museum – Vintage Aviation News
June 26 – Should the US FAA use Nav Canada as a model? Is a Crown Corporation ‘private industry’?
Why The U.S. Needs To Privatize Air Traffic Control
June 26 – New technology, but still not perfect
Edmonton lands the latest air traffic control technology in Canada
Over 200 flights delayed at Vancouver airport this weekend | CBC News
June 26 – Effects of airline deregulation in Canada
Turbulence ahead — the real impact of deregulating Canada’s skies | Vancouver Sun
June 26 – Bear shuts down airport in Japan
Bear blocks runway forcing flight cancellations at airport in Japan
June 25 – Model train even to honour end of Second World War
Moore Museum model train event honouring Second World War anniversary | The Sarnia Observer
June 25 – Group ends 20 year search for missing airliner in Lake Michigan
75 years after the then-worst crash in US history, search ends for a plane in Lake Michigan | The Independent
June 25 – Turning the abandoned Everglades Jetport into a prison for immigrants in the USA
The abandoned Florida airport being turned into ‘Alligator Alcatraz’
Dade-Collier Training and Transition Airport – Wikipedia
June 24 – 60 years later pilot marshals B-52s like he used to fly (that design is approaching 75 years old!)
Retired veteran pilot reconnects with B-52 after six decades | News, Sports, Jobs – Minot Daily News
June 24 – Survey supports teaching of Air India bombings to be taught in schools (note political leanings of source)
Over 60% Canadians want Kanishka bombing taught in schools: Survey – Hindustan Times
June 23 – New aviation hub planned for Calgary
‘Prime location’: New aviation hub lands at Calgary International Airport
Latest addition to an aviation industry that’s really taking off – CTVNews
June 23 – Politics and fire fighting in the USA
Anticipate conflicts in wildfire collaboration well before the fire season, report says – Wildfire Today
‘Aerial Firefighting Enhancement’ act passed by Congress – Wildfire Today
June 22 – Helicopter landing gone wrong
Watch: Helicopter flipped and crashed in Michigan
June 21 – Military Heritage Day at Chatham
Military Heritage Day showcases impressive planes, vehicles, history | Chatham Daily News
June 21 – Losing the night sky
Under attack: How humanity is losing the night sky
June 20 – Bushplane Museum opens new exhibit honouring wildlife officers
New exhibit launches at Sault bushplane museum | Sault Star
June 20 – Putting the Philippine Mars back together at Pima
‘Continues to inspire’: Crews reassemble Philippine Mars water bomber at Arizona air museum
June 20 – MiG-21 work of art
From Warplane to Work of Art: The Stunning MiG-21 Project Premieres June 21 – Vintage Aviation News
Very different from the 2010 Tate exhibit of fighters as art
Tate Britain. Fiona Banner’s Harrier & Jaguar | Flickr
June 20 – Progress on Junkers F.13 at Winnipeg Museum
Royal Aviation Museum of Western Canada Re-Assembles Junkers F.13 – Vintage Aviation News
June 20 – the Fire Aviation site has become part of the Wildfire Today reporting.
Report on fatal 2023 crash of fire mapping aircraft due to ongoing and chronic pressurization failure that was unaddressed.
Triple fatality report finds cabin pressure defect caused lack of oxygen – Wildfire Today
June 19 – Pan Am is back, sort of
Pan American Airways Relaunches as a Private Jet Tour Operator – Bloomberg
Pan Am nostalgia takes flight under new ownership | Toronto Sun
Pan Am Will Fly Again in 2025, But There’s a Catch — Daily Passport
Pan Am: Tracing the Transatlantic – New York Aviation History
June 18 – King Air on the roof. You don’t see that everyday
2 Injured After Beechcraft King Air Crashes Onto Hangar Rooftop In Kansas
June 17 – Airport Appreciation Day in Salmon arm
Aircraft, emergency personnel and vintage autos to touch down at Salmon Arm airport – Kelowna Capital News
June 17 – Artifact from Empress of Ireland traced and donated to museum
Search for century-old artifact from Canadian shipwreck solved with a call from the U.S. | CBC News
June 17 – C-160 Transalls go into service as water bombers in Australia
Large fixed wing fleet set to expand with three C-160s – Wildfire Today
June 17 – ATR and P&W Canada sign deal to develop improved turbo-prop engines, including electric/gas power mixed versions
ATR Partners With Pratt & Whitney Canada To Develop Next-Generation Turboprop Engines
June 15 – Biography of astronaut becomes controversial in new US policies
‘People didn’t like women in space’: how Sally Ride made history and paid the price | Documentary films | The Guardian
June 12 – Award winning flying replica Sopwith Triplane in Czech Republic
Czech reconstruction of ace WWI pilot’s Sopwith Triplane wins FAI Phoenix Group Diploma 2025 | World Air Sports Federation
June 12 – Empire State Aerosciences Museum in New York State
The Empire State Aerosciences Museum – New York Aviation History
June 11 – Bellanca Air Cruiser N2191K, ex-CF-BTW, touring BC this summer (note, actually it was Punch Dickins who was involved with the discovery of Radium on Great Bear Lake, when he picked up the Labine party during the search for the missing MacAlpine Expedition in 1929. Labine noted the deposit and asked Dickens to note it’s position it so he could return the following year.)
A piece of aviation history has landed in Vanderhoof, B.C. | CBC.ca
Aerial Visuals – Airframe Dossier – Bellanca 66-75 Aircruiser, c/n 721, c/r N2191K
June 10 – Downsview Aviation Park developments
Bing Videos
June 9 – Simcoe County Museum re-opens.
Simcoe County Museum re-opens grounds with modified access on June 9 – Simcoe County
June 9 – Halifax Rescue Project centre section re-built
Progress in Arnprior – HALIFAX BACKBONE is healed – Halifax 57 Rescue
June 9 – Curating in a Radioactive environment.
The hunt for Marie Curie’s radioactive fingerprints in Paris
(Of note: I met a retired scientist from the NRC in the Comox Museum library who had been asked to write a brief for Transport Canada on radium in aircraft instruments. His conclusion, in brief, was that if the glass was intact and the seal undamaged it was not a problem, but should be monitored. If the glass was broken or missing “don’t lick the dial” (his words). We know how that ended and he was not pleased, but never take these items for granted.)
June 9 – “Look! It’s Bird! It’s a Plane! It’s a …. zebra??”
Watch: Runaway pet Zebra airlifted after capture in Tennessee
June 9 – Frederick Forsyth, author of the aviation classic The Shepherd, has died
The Day of the Jackal author Frederick Forsyth dies
Frederick Forsyth: Life as a thriller writer, fighter pilot, journalist and spy
‘Fireside’ Al Maitland reads Frederick Forsyth’s The Shepherd | CBC Radio
June 9 – Boeing — a new trend
Aer Lingus regional flight forced to land at Belfast City airport
Detroit-bound plane returns to Heathrow due to windscreen crack
June 8 – First post war homebuilt registered in Canada
An unloved aircraft which was not unloved at all: The Payne Knight Twister Nobody Loves Me of Québec pilot Leon Beliaeff, the first amateur-built aircraft registered in Canada after the Second World War? Part 1 | The Channel
June 5 – Latest on new CL-515 water bomber production. How can it take so long to build new airplanes?
Demand for water bombers has ‘skyrocketed’ as Canada grapples with more intense wildfires | CBC News
June 4 – RIP Marc Garneau
Marc Garneau, 1st Canadian astronaut in space, dead at 76 | CBC News
Marc Garneau, Canadian astronaut and politician, dies at 76
June 4 – Second World War bombs defused in Cologne
Cologne defuses WW2 bombs after 20,000 evacuated in German city
June 3 – Canadian Aviation Museum, Windsor, acquires HS.748
This decommissioned plane has a new home in Windsor, Ont. | CBC.ca
Air Creebec Donates Historic HS748 to Canadian Aviation Museum – Vintage Aviation News
June 3 – Soldier from First World War identified
Canadian WW I soldier identified 108 years after his death | CBC News
June 3 – AXIOM 4 crew announced, includes members from USA, India, Poland and Hungary
Shubhanshu Shukla: The Isro pilot taking India back to space after 41 years
June 2 – British hypersonic engine program dead (sounds familiar)
What happens when a high-tech project fails?
June 1 – Ukraine used Museum exhibits to profile attacks on Russian strategic bombers
Museum Bombers Reportedly Helped Ukraine Strike Russian Air Bases. Here’s How | UNITED24 Media
June 1 is also the 29 anniversary of the Ukraine handing over the last nuclear weapon on it’s soil in exchange for guarantees of security by Russia.
May 28 – Stored nuclear waste and Ignace, Ontario airport (or aerodrome)
Aerodrome or airport? The Township of Ignace will consider both | CBC News
May 27 – Labrador City acquires hovercraft for water rescue
Labrador City fire department adds hovercraft to firefighting arsenal | CBC.ca
May 25 – CC-295 Kingfisher SAR aircraft completes first operation. Finally.
New RCAF plane completes 1st operational parachute rescue deep in B.C. mountains | CBC News
May 11 – The R-100 visit and politics
Blind intransigence or subordinate’s blunder? John Armistead Wilson and the presence of a bilingual announcer at Saint-Hubert Airport, Québec, during the arrival of the British civil rigid airship R-100, part 1 | The Channel
(Part 2 web address is not accurately linked, it diverts back to part 1, but can be found at the general site The Channel | The Channel)