Picture of the day

Buy the batch with the best tires.

I recall a friend buying Harvards after the war. He bought the ones with the best tires.

For Sale. Pre owned. Needs some minor repairs.
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Looks like picture may be from Israel. Strange to think that airplanes that may have been made in Canada and wound up in Israel.



When I was a kid, there was a string of Mustangs parked at the Calgary airport. Supposedly they went to Israel. I think the Mac Knight the road in Calgary is named after, died while ferrying one to Israel. Then there was the newspaper gag picture of a Hutterite with a bunch of CF-100s. The Cubans were buying. Bit of a political kerfuffle over that one. :rolleyes:

Grizz
 
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I think the Mac Knight the road in Calgary is named after, died while ferrying one to Israel... Grizz

McKnight Boulevard is named after F/O Willie McKnight DFC and Bar, who flew with Bader in 242 Squadron:

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McKnight was lost on ops January 12, 1941. He has never been found. He was a Calgarian before the war. From a letter he wrote home to a friend:

“August 26, 1940
Dear Mike. This game is damn good fun when you are fighting bombers as they’re just like picking apples off a tree but fighters are a hell of a different proposition and keep you moving like greased lightning. It’s a funny thing this fighting in the air. Before you actually start or see any of the Hun you’re as nervous and scared as hell but as soon as everything starts you’re too busy to be afraid or worried.

We’ve been up against raids of 300 to 60 or 150–200 to 12 but either we’ve killed all their real good pilots and they’re using new young ones or else they are losing their nerve. They ain’t got the same guts they used to have and except in a few cases try to avoid a real scrap. We’ve only got five of the original twenty-two pilots in the squadron left now and those of us who are left ain’t quite the same blokes as before. It’s peculiar but war seems to make you older and quieter and changes your views a lot in life.

I got over the 700 hour mark just a few days ago and I am still being offered a chance to return home as an instructor but the old reasons still keep me here and I suppose I shall remain here until the end or until the other end. I’ve got so used to the thrill and the, I don’t know how to express it, final feeling of victory that I’d feel lost and bored by a quiet life again.

Well, I really must go before I get sentimental or homesick. Write me soon and until then. Your friend, Bill”

More info here if you're interested: http://www.vintagewings.ca/VintageN.../articleId/541/The-Crossroads-of-Courage.aspx

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George Beurling died May 20, 1948 in Italy while ferrying a Norseman to Israel. He's buried at the foot of Mount Carmel. Perhaps this is who you're thinking of.

As an aside, Bader visited Calgary after the war. There was a move afoot to name a road after him. He declined, but mentioned one of his ground crew, Noel Barlow, was from Carseland and recommended they name the road after him. Something to consider the next time you drive down Barlow Trail.
 
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For Sale. Pre owned. Needs some minor repairs.
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You get a bunch of old wrecked ones & with a few people & few years a pretty good restoration can be done:

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My Dad was involved with the restoration of the one above at the BC Aviation Museum in Sidney. B.C.

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NAA.
 

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Australian Commandos Tim Aplin, Mervin McDonald & Cameron Baird VC, MG with their LRPV in Afghanistan. All three of these men would later be killed in separate incidents.

Corporal Cameron Baird VC, MG would be killed on June 22 2013 on his 4th tour of duty in Afghanistan whilst assaulting a heavily fortified enemy building, an action that he was posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross for Australia becoming the 100th Australian to be awarded the commonwealths highest honour for gallantry.

Lance Corporal Mervin McDonald would be killed in a night time helicopter crash along with another commando and American helicopter crew on August 30 2012 on his 6th tour of Duty in Afghanistan.

Private Timothy Aplin would be killed along with 2 other Commandos in a helicopter crash on June 21 2010 on his 2nd tour of duty in Afghanistan.

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Well if it is an Israeli aircraft boneyard, is that a captured mig I see in the back

Likely Dassault Mystère IV
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or Dassault Ouragan. But it's rudder sticks out past the tailpipe.
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At first I also thought Hunter, but it's rudder is more rounded on top and tail pipe too long.
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U.S. Army Pfc. Fred Linden of Detroit, Michigan, 38th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Infantry Division, holds a young French boy called Gérard Poincheval following the liberation of the village of Trévières during the Battle of Normandy. Trévières, Lower Normandy, June 10, 1944.

©Nara
®Coloured by Johnny Sirlande for Historic photo restored in color

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