The Aerospace Heritage Foundation of Canada is a federally chartered and non-profit organization based in

Etobicoke Etobicoke (, ) is an administrative district of, and one of six municipalities amalgamated into, the city of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Comprising the city's west-end, Etobicoke was first settled by Europeans in the 1790s, and the municipalit ...

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

, that is dedicated to preserving and promoting the achievements of the Canadian

aerospace Aerospace is a term used to collectively refer to the atmosphere and outer space. Aerospace activity is very diverse, with a multitude of commercial, industrial and military applications. Aerospace engineering consists of aeronautics and astrona ...

industry.

History

In March 1988 a group of ex-

Avro Canada Avro Canada was a Canadian aircraft manufacturing company. It was founded in 1945 as an aircraft plant and within 13 years became the third-largest company in Canada, one of the largest 100 companies in the world, and directly employing over 5 ...

employees and other aviation enthusiasts held a 30th Anniversary Dinner and Reunion to celebrate the First Flight of the

Avro Arrow The Avro Canada CF-105 Arrow was a delta-winged interceptor aircraft designed and built by Avro Canada. The CF-105 held the promise of Mach 2 speeds at altitudes exceeding and was intended to serve as the Royal Canadian Air Force's (RCAF) ...

. The then Science Specialist with

Citytv Citytv is a Canadian television network owned by the Rogers Sports & Media subsidiary of Rogers Communications. The licence of the original Citytv station, granted the callsign of CITY-TV by the CRTC on November 25, 1971 to Cable Television Ass ...

Toronto David C. Onley, the current Honourable Lieutenant-Governor of Ontario, proposed that a full-scale replica model of the Avro Arrow be constructed. This would provide Canadians with a physical legacy for future generations to see and appreciate and to understand the technological base that became Canada's Aerospace Industry today. As a result of this suggestion a committee was formed with Mr. David Onley as President along with

James C. Floyd James Charles Floyd (born 20 October 1914) is a British-Canadian retired aeronautical engineer. He became the Avro Aircraft Ltd. (Canada) chief design engineer and his involvement, ultimately as vice-president (engineering), in the design and d ...

, former Vice President Engineering Avro Canada, Mario Pesando, Syd Britton, Nicholas Doran, Jim Mitchell, Eddy Metz, Bill Turner and Ray Gibson. Their discussions led to the formation in the summer of 1988 of the Canadian Aerospace Heritage Foundation. In the spring of 1989 the name was changed to the Aerospace Heritage Foundation of Canada and the first Annual Report was presented in December 1989.

Administration

The A.H.F.C. is made up of a Board of Directors (consisting of a President and various Directors), General Membership, and various other volunteers. The Board of Directors meets approximately 9 times per year along with an Annual General Membership Meeting. The A.H.F.C. also has had various Patrons over the years. In March 1990, James (Jim) C. Floyd was named Patron of the A.H.F.C. He resigned at the end of May 1997 and was succeeded by Colonel (hon) William (Bill) Coyle, O StJ, O.Ont. Bill Coyle was employed by Avro Aircraft Ltd. Malton Ontario in the Experimental Flight Test Engineering Group and is Honorary Colonel

Canadian Forces School of Aerospace Technology and Engineering The Canadian Forces School of Aerospace Technology and Engineering (CFSATE) is a Canadian Armed Forces training establishment for Aerospace Engineering Officers and Aircraft Technicians who serve with units of the Royal Canadian Air Force. CFSATE i ...

Social contributions

A major focus of the A.H.F.C over the years has been the organizing of Dinners and Reunions to commemorate Avro and Orenda's achievements including such things as the founding of

Orenda Orenda is the Iroquois name for a certain spiritual energy inherent in people and their natural environment, environment. It is an "extraordinary invisible power believed by the Iroquois Native Americans to pervade in varying degrees in all ani ...

, the first flight of the

Avro Jetliner The Avro Canada C102 Jetliner was a Canadian prototype medium-range turbojet-powered jet airliner built by Avro Canada in 1949. It was beaten to the air by only 13 days by the de Havilland Comet, thereby becoming the second jet airliner in t ...

Avro CF-100 The Avro Canada CF-100 Canuck (affectionately known as the "Clunk") is a Canadian twinjet interceptor/ fighter designed and produced by aircraft manufacturer Avro Canada. It has the distinction of being the only Canadian-designed fighter to e ...

and the Avro Arrow. Another area of contributions has been in awards and bursaries. March 1990 saw the establishment of the "James C. Floyd Award for Outstanding Contribution to Canadian Aerospace" with Test Pilot Janusz Zurakowski as the first recipient. The issuing of the award was passed on to the Aerospace Industries Association of Canada in 2010 with it being awarded for the first time through them in October 2010. The A.H.F.C. supports the 845 Avro Arrow Squadron of the

Royal Canadian Air Cadets The Royal Canadian Air Cadets (french: Cadets de l'Aviation royale du Canada) is a Canadian national youth program for young individuals aged 12 to 18. Under the authority of the National Defence Act, the program is administered by the Canadian F ...

by sponsoring two annual awards, "The James C. Floyd Trophy" for Outstanding Engineering Excellence and the "Janusz Zurakowski Trophy" for Gliding Excellence. A bursary is also presented to the recipients for each of these awards . The A.H.F.C. also conducts various educational efforts including displays at various venues and lectures to interested groups. They loan out selected artifacts from their collection to museums. Some of these items can be seen at places like the

Ontario Science Centre The Ontario Science Centre, formally the Centennial Museum of Science and Technology, is a science museum in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is located near the Don Valley Parkway about northeast of downtown on Don Mills Road just south of Eglint ...

and the

Canadian Air and Space Museum The Canadian Air and Space Conservancy (formerly the Toronto Aerospace Museum and the Canadian Air and Space Museum) was an aviation museum that was located in Toronto, Ontario, featuring artifacts, exhibits and stories illustrating a century of ...

Projects

In 1995 for the 50th Anniversary of the Avro Canada CF100 the A.H.F.C. raised monies for the refurbishment of a CF100 mounted on a pedestal at Derry Road next to the Orenda Plant in Malton Ontario. CF-100 Prototype 18102

Over the years since its formation the A.H.F.C. has also conducted an underwater search in Lake Ontario in an attempt to recover one or more of the Avro Arrow Aerodynamic Test Models fired aboard a

Nike (rocket) Project Nike (Greek: Νίκη, "Victory") was a U.S. Army project, proposed in May 1945 by Bell Laboratories, to develop a line-of-sight anti-aircraft missile system. The project delivered the United States' first operational anti-aircraft mi ...

over the lake. Much interest in this project has been expressed with programs such as the

History Channel History (formerly The History Channel from January 1, 1995 to February 15, 2008, stylized as HISTORY) is an American pay television network and flagship channel owned by A&E Networks, a joint venture between Hearst Communications and the Disney ...

Discovery Channel Discovery Channel (known as The Discovery Channel from 1985 to 1995, and often referred to as simply Discovery) is an American cable channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery, a publicly traded company run by CEO David Zaslav. , Discovery Channe ...

, and the

National Geographic Channel National Geographic (formerly National Geographic Channel; abbreviated and trademarked as Nat Geo or Nat Geo TV) is an American pay television television network, network and flagship (broadcasting), flagship channel owned by the National Geograp ...

. The Sea Hunters have also produced a program on the A.H.F.C. involvement in the ongoing search for the models. In 2004 the

Canadian Navy The Royal Canadian Navy (RCN; french: Marine royale canadienne, ''MRC'') is the naval force of Canada. The RCN is one of three environmental commands within the Canadian Armed Forces. As of 2021, the RCN operates 12 frigates, four attack submar ...

along with A.H.F.C. members, using two Navy vessels as a training exercise, conducted searches of areas previously identified in 2003. Search efforts have continued in a limited capacity in the years since through other organizations. A memorial is currently in progress in tribute of the memory of Flight-Lieutenant Bruce Warren of

and Avro Engineer Bob Ostrander of

Brampton Brampton ( or ) is a city in the Canadian Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Ontario. Brampton is a city in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) and is a List of municipalities in Ontario#Lower-tier municipalities, lower-tier municipalit ...

both of whom died in the crash of the second prototype Avro CF-100 #18102. It crashed on Thursday April 5, 1951, at 10:50am near

Komoka Middlesex Centre is a township in Middlesex County, in southwestern Ontario, Canada, north and west of London. The Corporation of the Township of Middlesex Centre formed on January 1, 1998, with the amalgamation of the former Townships of Delawa ...

Ontario.

Images

References

* Aerospace Heritage Foundation of Canad
CRA Filings
* 845 Avro Arrow Squadro
Peel Community Records
* Navy Underwater Searc
Marlant
* Sea Hunters Searc

* James C. Floyd Awar

*

External links

* AHF

* CAS

* JA

* Arrow Recover

* AIA

{{DEFAULTSORT:Aerospace Heritage Foundation Of Canada Aviation history of Canada Foundations based in Canada Heritage organizations Organizations based in Toronto Etobicoke