March 2012 - Harvard Historical Aviation Society

H ARVARD H ISTORICAL A VIATION S OCIETY
W INTER 2012
V OLUME 5, I SSUE 2
Gear-up landing at Innisfail (Big Bend
Airport), 8NM SW of Penhold.
March 17, 1942
History Repeats ITSELF!
Penhold RCAF Station Has Illustrious Career
Wednesday, August 3rd 1955(Red Deer Advocate Exerpt)
“One very im portant installation that adds variety and action to the development of Red Deer and the surrounding district is the huge RCAF station at Penhold. Through the war years and in the past two years since it was re-activated,
the station has contributed much to the life of Red Deer and community. As the rumblings of war grew louder in
1939, the site of the Penhold Air station was a peaceful countryside where the sound of an airplane was practically unknown. There were two new department of transport houses and a weather station located on the farm just west of the
highway. Suddenly, in the summer of 1939, parties of surveyors moved in, laid out states and, in a very short time, the
peaceful fields were alive with huge earth-moving machines as long runways took shape in all directions. At a furious
24 hour-a-day pace with roaring asphalt plants turning out material for the hard-top runways, Station Penhold burst
into being. The station had been chosen as one of the many across Canada to be used for the British Commonwealth
Air Training Plan, a scheme that saw thousands of airmen trained and turned out in Canada to fight the war in the air
over Europe. On August 22, 1941, G/C W.B. Farrington, DSO, of the RAF assumed command S/L Sewell, commanding office of #2A Manning Depot, RCAF. With this change of command, #36 Service Flying Training School
was born. The first draft of RAF airmen under G/C Farrington totaled 600 officers and men. It was one of the first
large groups to reach Canada and they all received a wonderful reception all across the country and were given a great
welcome when they arrived at Penhold. Training at Penhold was done in the Oxford aircraft and this type of plane became a familiar sight in the skies around the city. The station remained operative under the RAF until October, 1944,
when it was handed back to the RCAF and became #2 STU. The last RAF member left the station on \December 16,
1944. #36 had three commanding officers: G/c Farrington handed over to G/C H.J. Pringle at the beginning of May,
1943, and G/C W.T. Wightman, DFC, took over command at the end of July, 1944. All together, forty-three courses
were graduated.``
Continued in the next newsletter …...
T HE H ARVARD F LYER
P AGE 2
STORAGE FOUND!
We would like to thank
HHAS member Bill Cocke
for storing our Link Trainer
in his hangar, airport resident Jack Cuthbertson for
storing our Tiger Moth replica, and HHAS member
Art Fox for Storing our Harvard mock-up. Their contributions will ensure that
our priceless accessions
are safe from the elements
until they can be properly
restored to display condi-
“More Stories About Wop May”
is now available from the HHAS
gift shop! The cost is $30.00.
A perfect gift for the aviator in
your family! Contact HHAS
memberships to order. Hurry,
only 5 copies left and I have my
eye on one of them!
1940’s
Penhold
A little friendly competition is a healthy
thing! HHAS member David Brown
(also with GroundEffect Aerodrome
Consulting in Red Deer, if you have
been reading the recent articles in the
newspaper) has completed his 20
year project entitled ``The Search For
Gold`` The book will be selling
through our gift shop at a price of
$40.00. Full color, soft cover.
Starting in March, the first Monday
night of every month will offer a restoration program for our members at
our ``Night at The Museum``. March
12th and April 2nd will be the restoration of our Tiger Moth replica, which
is scheduled to be displayed in one
of Red Deer`s public facilities later
this year. (Hint:: keep looking up!)
All members are encouraged to attend, there will be some sanding and
painting involved, so don`t wear your
best clothes. Meet at the Hillman Air
Hangar at the Red Deer Regional
Airport. Please contact HHAS VicePresident Gary Hillman for airport
V OLUME 5, I SSUE 2
P AGE 3
HHAS HOSTS REMEMBERANCE
DAY AT HARVARD 370
On November 11th, 2011 the HHAS hosted our second Rememberance Day Ceremony at the base of
the Harvard 370 monument. Attendance had grown as we expected, and we hope to see even more
next year . In attendance were many HHAS members, Springbrook residents, airport tenants, and representatives from the Red Deer Flying Club and Civil Air Search and Rescue. Many thanks to all those
who attended. Special thanks once again to airport resident and HHAS supporter Dick Deibert. Dick
and his family are always eager to help with the ceremony.
Board Member Wayne Hutmacher is requesting HHAS member support for establishing a Fundraising
Committee. Wayne would like to have a functional committee established by the fall for bi-weekly
meetings. The fundraising effort is VITAL to our long-term success and your support could make all
the difference. We have several major options available at this time for purchasing or building our
first museum display building but we need to gather the funds first! Individuals who are active in the
community and local businesses would be a great asset. Contact Wayne at [email protected] for
more information.
Check your email inbox for our upcoming Survey Monkey questionnaire. We are interested in
learning about how our members view our work,
as well as where you would like to see us focus
our attention in the near future, specifically with
regards to fundraising activities. Your Opinion
Matters!!!
Collections Corner:
P AGE 4
EFFECTIVE AS OF FEB
29th/2012, THE KAYPAD ACCESS AT THE AIRPORT WILL BE
DISCONNECTED. CONTACT
GARY HILLMAN @ 403-8864187 TO BE LET IN. FOUR-WAY
FLASHERS REQUIRED ON AIR
SIDE!
This time around HHAS Collections Director Bob Orr would like to present our
official Army Headquarters Nuclear Fallout Prediction templates, registered to the “H-6 Alberta Area” on the 22nd of
April, 1960.
NIGHT at THE MUSEUM
MEMBERS MEETING
7:30 at Hillman Air Hangar
7:00 at the Red Deer Flying Club
First and Second Monday of EVERY
Month
(located just north of Air Terminal)
Come out to help work on the museum,
talk history, aviation & other odds &
ends. Need directions??
[email protected] or 403.886.5711
Fourth Monday of the Month
Everyone welcome!
Come out to see what we are
doing & get involved if you would
like to. Everyone welcome.
Contact Information:
Looking for your stories………
We want to hear from YOU! Please send us
your stories of being at CFB Penhold, #4
FTS, # 36 SFTS, as a base brat, a cadet, or
anything else having to do with this area.
Please let us know if we can share your story
with others, through this publication or our
web site. If you have pictures, we would love
to see those as well.
[email protected]
7:00pm
Information: [email protected]
Membership: [email protected]
President: [email protected]
Vice-President: [email protected]
Phone: 403.886.5711
Mail: Box 10 3826 21A Street
Springbrook, Alberta
T4S 2E7
NEED A TAX RECEIPT?
PRESERVING THE HISTORY OF THE
PENHOLD MILITARY BASE
W E ’ R E ON T H E W E B !
W W W . P E N H O LD BAS E . C A
The Harvard Historical Aviation Society is able to give tax receipts for
any donation of $10 or more to our society. Donations can be mailed
to us at the address to the left or they can also be made online through
PayPal on our website. Follow the link below to make donations
online.