Carpentering for the Carpenter

One hundred years ago Canada entered a new age. On February 23, 1909 the first Canadian airplane took the the skis. It took off on a frozen river and traveled about a mile at an altitude of 30 feet and a speed of about 40 miles per hour. The plane pictured here is a replica of the "Silver Dart" at the Reynolds Alberta Museum.

After WWI, airplanes opened up Canada's vast northern lands. In the 1970's our family flew into and out of Uranium City, the isolated community were we served as pastor of our first church. We usually flew in a four motored DC4 but a few times we flew on a DC3, like the one pictured here. It was a lot slower and noisier than the DC4. Later on we flew on a Bowing 737 jet. Now that was the lap of luxury!

We saw these planes at the Reynolds Alberta Museum. Roger enjoyed taking the controls of a helicopter. In fact he did not want to come out.

The Museum also featured a vintage bi-plane that was in full operation. In fact for more money than I cared to part with you could go for a ride it its open cockpit.

Two people could ride side by side in the front seat while the pilot operated it from the back seat.

The star attraction of the airplane exhibits was the one and only replica of the Avro Arrow.

The intriguing story of the Arrow is still filled with mystery. It was designed, tested and constructed between 1953 and 1958 in Malton , Ontario. It was the most advanced interceptor of its time. It was capable of Mach 2 and could fly as high as 50,000 feat.

Only five such planes were built when the program was abruptly canceled by the Canadian government on February 20th, 1959, Some 14,000 employees lost their jobs and about another 15,000 in spin-off industries. Within two months all planes, parts and production equipment were officially scrapped.

32 engineers moved to the U.S. and worked for NASA. This prompted the Canadian expression, "the brain drain," which we apply to other situations as well.

Why the Arrow was canceled remains a mystery. Speculation involves politics, economics, military strategies, and security in the middle of the cold war.

However enough information was gleaned so that many years later the full scale model pictured above could be built. I am thankful for having the privilege of seeing it. It will soon be moved to other venues for other people to view.

Just a few highlights from Canada's one hundred years in the air.

# posted by Mister Ed T @ 10:33 PM