Warbird Information Exchange

The irony of that statement is that when the Geneseo guys started to think about setting up a warbird group back in the 70s, they attempted to found a wing of the Friends of the Canadian Warplane Heritage at Geneseo. FCWH was the U.S. CWH entity and had one wing in Buffalo which did restoration work on the Lysander and had a flying Fleet Fawn. I guess the Geneseo guys couldn't make the FCWH idea fly and started the NWM...

After the Lysander returned to Canada the FCWH in Buffalo either folded or evolved into another group. I know the Fawn was repainted in U.S. marking and is still flying I believe.

Jim

Huh, ya learn somthing new everyday! It would be nice to see the CWH make a permanent residence within Geneso. Maybe it could still happen? Who knows!

But it seems like CWH nowadays flies mainly the big props, while VWoC flies the fighters. Now the CWH has to base the majority of the trainers at Geneso and the circle is complete!

I seem to recall hearing something about a Western Wing of CWH back in the early days of the museum. There are pictures on airliners.net of aircraft belonging to this western wing, but no one I know, even people who have been around since Day 1 don't remember anything about this. Apparently after Flyfest this weekend the Corsair, Spitfire, and Hurricaine are supposed to hang around the museum for several days, so for a while, we'll have some airworthy fighters in our hangar again! There is so much potential for the museum and I think it is finally being realized. At our Annual General Meeting the CEO of the museum said that they research many opportunities for adding to the collection, however with the available funds, space etc nothing realistic has come up yet.

There was indeed a CWH Western Wing which had at least two aircraft associated with it. One was Jerry Janes B-25 C-GCWJ which flew in post war RCAF markings. I'm not sure if the plane was every owned by the CWH or not, but it was certainly associated with the museum. The BC guys also restored Anson V CF-HQZ. It was then sold to the Reynolds Museum. I've heard stories that the Western Wing also had a Beech 18, but I'm not sure.

What pics are on airliners that refer to the wing?

Jim

After spending another 30 minutes of my life quickly scrolling through pages and pages on airliner.net...

http://www.airliners.net/open.file/0965813/M/

http://www.airliners.net/open.file/0976510/M/

http://www.airliners.net/open.file/0972410/M/

While browsing through every picture under "Hamilton" in there, I am amazed and sad at the same time. There used to be some great airshows at Hamilton (I was dead at the time, not being born until 1987) we had such an amazing show back in the day, and now we have nothing. I hope that changes. But I wonder, will we ever be able to have something of the same caliber as the good old days? Anyone who had the opportunity to go to the Hamilton shows of the 70s and 80s, what was it like? My only hope is that the new management at the museum can help with the attempted revival of the Hamilton airshow next year, and that warbirds will be a major player.

I grew up at the Hamilton shows and attended everyone since 1975. It was such an awesome event and the only chance to see personalities like Howard Pardue, Pete McManus and Jerry Billing to name a few doing aerobatics in Corsairs, Wildcats, Bearcats, P-51s and Spitfires. It was also the only event around where I could catch a glimpse of some Confederate Air Force aircraft. There were so many aircraft I saw for the first time at Hamilton like the EAA XP-51A, FiFi and Aluminium Overcast. Who could forget the great Mustang round up or the Battle of Britain Flight with the CWH Hurricane and Lancaster in flight with Howard Pardue in the Spitfire and Kermit Weeks in the Mosquito.

I don’t have to many of the images scanned but here are a few from the golden days.





















All of the above were taken at the Hamilton shows that were run by the CWH. Once the museum stopped sponsoring the shows it soon changed to just another generic airshow that slowly veered away from warbirds being the primary focus. Around that time the NWM picked up the ball at Geneseo and hosted the 1941 Airshows and later Wing of Eagles. Once the NWM moved to Elmira the Wings of Eagles shows soon changed and then stopped right around the time a young guy by the name of Mike Luther came up with the idea of a Mustang round up at the Yankee Air Museum. The first event was small but it soon grew into the Thunder Over Michigan we all enjoy now.

The past year or so I have seen a big change in the CWH and they are willing to tour the aircraft around Ontario on the weekends like in the old days, maybe in the next few years they can bring back a good warbird show to Southern Ontario like the old days.

Eric

_________________
The air resounds from the Rolls-Royce roar!
To an enemy the warning is dire: here only eagles soar,
and the last thing he'll see is a mirrored Spitfire!

Hey, thanks for the info! I wish I could have been born 20 years earlier, that would have been perfect. Ah well, at least we have a new vibrant warbird community in Ontario again!

Hey Peter...I spoke to Mr Romain at last year's Thunder show and can tell you that at that time he was still living in England. I don't see that as a privacy issue seeing how "living in England" is a pretty broad statement. If you get the chance, take a minute or two to talk to him...perfect gentleman!

_________________
Earn my respect and never lose it.
Demand my respect and never gain it. -Me

...just another plane dreamer.

I remember when he first got into aviation by paint stripping paint from the propellors on the original blenheim when he was in his teens!

_________________
Cheers,
Peter

________

Maybe seeing as Mr. Romain is a TV star now.......I got to record and watch all 4 episodes of 'Bomber Crew' when it was on Hist Int'l. I've decided to use his style when I critique my students, "That was absolute rubish..."

BTW was that Alan Walker who was flying the Russel Hurri at Reading PA 2 weeks ago? There was a small crowd around him after the show by the Hurri, and it was pretty entertaining to hear his stories. This gentleman was a pilot for Virgin, and he struck up a conversation with an AA pilot about comparing their respective companies Flight Attendents. (I won't repeat that here!)

At one point when he was chatting, in one of the nearby encampments rapid gunfire errupted drowning him out. Thats when he said "You see this is America, that's actually people getting shot right now!"

Andrew (back a ways...have been at work till a short while ago)--

The engines of Hurricane C-GCWH and Spitfire NX9BL were off for overhaul at the time of the fire, and both may well still be powering Warbirds. Interestingly, I have heard--though I can't confirm it--that the engine, complete with rare triple exhaust stack sets, from C-GCWH, may have gone into what at the time would have been David Price's Hurricane and is now, of course, Ed Russell's...so the chance exists that C-GCWH's powertrain, as it were, is "baaaaack"! (Another neat detail I heard reliably very recently is that the spinner on the CWH Hurricane replica is the one from C-GCWH, too. Makes sense, since the prop, and thus the spinner, would have been off, and maybe stored elsewhere, because the engine was out for overhaul...)

Also, have been informed that Jerry Yagen's P-51 "Double Trouble Two" is expected to appear at CWH's event this weekend. Could be quite the lineup for something that isn't quite an airshow. BTW, there is a chap here in the Hamilton area who is looking into restarting the Hamilton airshow proper; the way things have been trending in Ontario and the surrounding provinces/states lately, I, though an avowed pessimist, am saying "never say never"!

S.

Wow! When I heard 44-63507/ 44-72483 “Double Trouble” went to Europe I never thought I would see it back again on Hamilton turf. This is a photo from the Hamilton 1982 Airshow when Don Davidson owned the aircraft.



See some of you guys tomorrow.

Eric

_________________
The air resounds from the Rolls-Royce roar!
To an enemy the warning is dire: here only eagles soar,
and the last thing he'll see is a mirrored Spitfire!

CH2Tdriver I believe the pilot of the Hurri at Reading was Dave Ratcliffe from the UK. He is X - RAF and a pilot for Virgin Atlantic and also a ARC pilot. I was told also he is going to help out with the flying duties for the Russell Aviation Group.

Would be good if they could turn the small Brantford show into a Hamilton type show. Their was news that the Brantford air port was going to close, so its is not like it is as busy as Hamilton and is bib enough to support a bigger type show for vintage aircraft.

Dave

Hi all--

Back from the Hope, and from a vintage perspective that nickname seems to be apt now! Most of the hoped-for visiting aircraft flew in around lunchtime today: the Russell Spit (replacing the 109), Jerry Yagen's P-51D, and the VWoC F4U-4. (Before the Corsair arrived, Bruce MacRitchie turned up in his dark blue T-28, prompting a shortlived round of false Corsair sightings!). The three fighters were later moved inside the museum for display through the weekend. Corsair, Mustang and Spitfire inside the CWH hangar: sight for sore eyes...

In recent years one didn't tend to see that much flying at CWH; in fact some types never seemed to take to the air at all. The Harvard and Stearman, flying "Legends" rides, were the primary exceptions. Today, though, joining those two were several other of the trainers, including the Tiger Moth, which reportedly had not flown in five years prior to being readied for this event. The DC-3, also down for work for quite a while, was back in the air too, as were the Canso, Mitchell (which is flown by Dave Rohrer, the new CEO) and Lancaster.

The presence of representatives of three other significant collections at this weekend's event--along with their aircraft--tells me there's cooperation in the wind bigtime locally now. People kept talking about what could result. Everybody seems to want to see a big Warbird airshow like the old days...Now you couldn't do that at the Hope itself, the field is too commercially-oriented now; but there are other options locally. I've not seen this level of optimism hereabouts in a long, long time.

FlyFest is, on one level, a membership drive. Well...it worked, on me anyway. I, CWH member 9567 from 1996-99 (always thought it was cool that my "serial" matched that of the old BAU Mustang), rejoined after an absence of eight years. Went flying on the Beech 18 this afternoon to cap my day in grand fashion...it's good to be back!

See you all at the huge Warbird show around here somewhere in a year or two...

Steve T

Steve, I agree with you. There seemed to be a spirit in the air today I have not felt at Hamilton in a long time. It was a great day of flying, photography and conversations. Photos to be posted soon.

Eric

_________________
The air resounds from the Rolls-Royce roar!
To an enemy the warning is dire: here only eagles soar,
and the last thing he'll see is a mirrored Spitfire!