Tue, May 04, 2004
And We Certainly Mean No Disrespect!
It was a labor of love, and it is
finally completed. Under the auspices of the Base Borden
Military Museum and with technical support from 16 Wing Borden, a
small group of dedicated volunteers have contributed more than
4,000 hours to the restoration of one of the most significant
aircraft in the history of Canadian military aviation: the Avro
CF-100 Canuck.
The aircraft that was restored in Borden is a Mk4A, serial
number 18194. It entered service with the Royal Canadian Air
Force on 17 February 1954 and flew mostly with 428
“Ghost” Squadron in Uplands, Ontario. It was
struck off strength on 14 February 1964, after which it was
reassigned the training aid number 646B. For more than three
decades, it was used to teach aircraft decontamination procedures
at the School of Nuclear Biological and Chemical Defence in
Borden. Finally, on 18 August 2000 it was transferred to the
Base Museum and converted to museum artefact status.
Thanks to the efforts of our group of dedicated volunteers, the
aircraft was restored to static display conditions and unveiled on
the occasion of the RCAF 80th Anniversary celebrations in Borden,
on April 2, 2004. For that reason, it was chosen as this
year's theme aircraft for the RCAF anniversary celebrations.
Canuck number 18194 is possibly the only restored Mk.4A in Canada,
as most of its type were either scrapped or converted to Mk.4B
during the mid-Fifties.
The Avro CF-100 Canuck was the first all-Canadian jet
fighter. During the 1950’s, the Royal Canadian Air
Force bought 639 Canucks from Avro Ltd, in Malton, for the defence
of Canada's air space. Powered by Orenda engines, the CF-100
was the first straight wing aircraft to break the sound barrier.
Its armament included eight .50 calibre machine-guns and
fifty-eight 2.75 inch rockets.
First introduced in 1953, this all-weather fighter excelled in
its primary role of air defence of Canada for ten years. Some
also served as all-weather complement to the Canadian Sabres in
Europe. Many of the remaining CF-100's were eventually
converted to an electronic countermeasures role and flew with 414
Squadron until the Canuck was finally phased out in 1981.
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