Canadian Armed Forces C130 Hercules 130323 at CFB Namao September 1973

The venerable Lockheed C130 Hercules has been faithfully serving the air forces the world over since the type first went into service with the US military in the mid 1950s. The RCAF has operated the type without interruption since the very early 1960s through present. The very first C130 Hercules entered RCAF service on October 28, 1960 when four C130B models were delivered to 435 Squadron. Follow on aircraft were in the form of the larger C130E model which provide domestic and global trooping and cargo services for the Canadian government and military agencies.

Several C130E aircraft operated out of CFB Winnipeg with the Air Navigation School back in the 1980s, prior to the delivery of Dash-8 Air Navigation aircraft in the late 1980s. In the 1980s the Canadian Armed Forces took delivery of even larger C130H models to feed growth in the air arm and replace aircraft lost in accidents. One of the most tragic Canadian Forces C130 accidents occurred when two aircraft collided with each other while setting up for final approach to the airfield.

Today the Canadian Armed Forces operate an updated fleet of C130J models which will remain in service for decades to come, resulting in the C130 achieving the distinction of serving the country possibly upwards of 100 years! Time will tell, but the C130 had proven to be a successful and efficient cargo transport for the past 60 years.

We hope you enjoy the Canadian Forces C130 Hercules images taken by Dr. John Blatherwick which span from the 1960s to the late 1990s. Thank you very much for visiting this page, and enjoy!

I am looking to purchase 35mm Kodachrome aircraft slide collections. Please contact me: henrytenby at gmail dot com

Between the 1950s and the early 2000s all branches of the Canadian Armed Forces including the RCAF and Royal Canadian Navy operated Canadian licensed built versions of the Lockheed T-33 in the fighter trainer role. The aircraft were designated as CT-33s and were built by Cartierville based Canadair in the 1950s.

Over the period of half a century there reliable all weather jet trainers were based from coast to coast, with major bases including CFB Cold Lake, Namao, CFB Comox, CFB Bagotiville and and CFB Shearwater, in addition to overseas assignments supporting Canadian troops in our NATO commitments at bases with Europe, primarily in the UK, France and Germany.

Canadian Armed Forces Snowbirds CT-33 133275 Abbotsford August 1973.

During the 1970s many of the Canadian Armed Forces CT-33s underwent system upgrades performed Northwest Industries at Edmonton’s Industrial / Municipal airport, which was also responsible for decommissioning work on surplus CT-33s as they were retired from the active military duty and sold to private owners and overseas military air arms, which included the Bolivian Air Force.

Most of these lovely images were taken by Dr. John Blatherwick during his Canadian travels and airshow visits between the late 1960s and early 2000s..

I am looking to purchase 35mm Kodachrome aircraft slide collections. Please contact me: henrytenby at gmail dot com

Thank you very much for visiting this page, and enjoy!

On Thursday, January 26, 2015, I had the very special pleasure of visiting a Canadian airline historic relic, in the protected confines of a hangar at Abbotsford Airport, an hour’s drive east of Vancouver.

Between 1941 and 1949 Trans Canada Air Lines operated a fleet of 15 Lockheed 18 Lodestars, primarily on the then new airline’s domestic routes. The entire fleet of Lodestars served the airline well and were sold off to corporate flight departments of the day. Except one machine, CF-TCY, which was sold to the Canadian Department of Transport. In the 65 years that have passed since the types retirement from TCA, the aircraft have more or less vanished in the annals of aviation history, except one resilient example, CF-TCY.

Today, the aircraft is under snail’s pace restoration at the University of the Fraser Valley Aerospace Centre vocational institute at Abbotsford airport. They have been working on the plane since 2007, and it this rate, will take many years for the restoration to display only condition. The students at the vocational school’s Aircraft Structures programme work on the plane as time and instruction allows. The good news is the aircraft is in a dry sheltered environment. The aircratf is owned by the Canadian Museum of Flight at Langley Airport.

CF-TCY was discovered about 20 years ago when Langley resident (and former TCA Lodestar pilot) Bill Marr discovered the aircraft at an aviation museum on the Eastern US. The plane was then acquired by the Canadian Museum of Flight and shipped in pieces back to BC and was re-assembled for static display at the Delta Air Park in 1996. Sitting outside exposed to the elements for 11 years was less than ideal for preservation, and thankfully the plane was taken indoors in 2007, otherwise the plane would have rotted away.

Since its arrival, many Structures students have “worked” on the aircraft as they learned their trade, but the machine will never fly again. It is everyone’s dream for the plane to be restored to static display condition … one day. As completion of the restoration could take another decade or more, it serves the school well as a long term learning project. Many pieces still need to be located, including interior seating and fixtures, and the cockpit instruments.

After TCA retired the aircraft, CF-TCY performed VIP government duties with the Department of Transport and is known to have carried Canada’s then Prime Minister Louis St. Laurent across the country. It was also the personal transport for Canada’s first Minister of Transport C.D. Howe during the 1950s.

I would like to thank Terry Brunner, Manager of the Canadian Museum of Flight for arranging my visit.

In the summer of 1987, I was attending UC-Irvice earning my MBA and just completed my first year in the programme.

As a 23 year old enthusiast aviation fan with a solid interest in the Lockheed Electra, I established contact VARIG’s North American Vice President Mr. Werner Leghein at his office in downtown Los Angeles. I asked if he would assist me in sending my request to the airline’s head office in Rio asking if they would support my efforts to visit them with the purpose of preparing an in-depth article on VARG’s Ponte Aerea Electra operation.

VARIG responded positively, and it was the start of many trips and numerous friendships made with the airline. On my first trip down to Rio in early July, 1987, VARIG provided first class tickets from LAX. As a student I couldn’t believe my luck!

Those were the days when airlines would graciously help aviation journalists, a great rarity in this day and age! VARIG is no more, and times have changed, but the article below takes us back to a time when it seemed anything was possible for budding aviation fan and journalist.

Back in late 1990, I got a call from my good friend and fellow aviation journalist Ken Swartz with a story scoop. NWT Air of Yellowknife was about to retire the last of their Lockheed Electra’s and would I be interested in doing the article?

Ken put me in contact with the company’s General Manager Grey Cooper, and arrangements were put in place for me to travel up to Yellowknife to document the very last day of NWT Air Electra operations on February 1, 1991.

Not only did I have a fabulous visit riding the aircraft’s sked up to Coppermine and Cambridge Bay on that last day, the visit also provided me with the opportunity to meet a number of the airline’s key staff. I was also able to shoot video of my visit which is available as a top selling aviation DVD.

Later that year when my aircraft leasing job came to an end with Corsair in Bellevue, WA, I was able to leverage my contacts at NWT Air into what would become a six year employment stretch with NWT Air, based and living in Yellowknife! Anyhow, here’s the article from Airliners magazine that started it all.

Whilst working for NWT Air in Yellowknife back in the Spring of 1996, I was able to tag along on the some of our 737-200 charters to Anchorage in support of the Arctic Winter Games that year.

Our ground handling in Anchorage was provided by Reeve Aleutian Airways, and this connection afforded me the amazing opportunity to personally meet Reeve Aleutian Airways owners Dick Reeve, and his sister Janice. It was their father Bob Reeve who founded the company many decades prior.

Dick and Janice welcomed two visits I made to their airline during 1996, in the capacity of a super keen enthusiast and journalist. I was also able to shoot video of my visits documenting the Lockheed Electra flight experience, which is available as a top selling aviation DVD.

I am forever grateful for their amazing Alaskan hospitality all those years ago. Sadly the airline closed down, and even today Reeve Aleutian is fondly remembered by many as an Alaskan institution. The article that follows takes us back to when the Reeve’s Electras were the last sked passenger examples on the planet.