CANADA AVIATION AND SPACE MUSEUM AIRCRAFT

CANADAIR CL-2 / C-54GM NORTH STAR RCAF SERIAL 17515

Introduction

In June 1946, Canadair Limited, located at the Cartierville Airport facilities near Montreal, rolled out its first production aircraft, a large, gleaming contemporary four-engined transport destined for the domestic and foreign commercial as well as Canadian military markets. With recommendations by Trans-Canada Air Lines (TCA), Canadair had taken the time-proven Douglas DC-4/C-54 Skymaster design, and combined it with legendary Rolls-Royce Merlin engines to become their first of a series of stalwart aircraft configurations to emerge from the Canadair production lines. The amalgamated aircraft project was christened North Star by the first president of Canadair Limited, Benjamin W. Franklin, after considering other suggested names including Polaris. The small Canadian production run had large domestic and international customers including principally Canada’s national airline, TCA, along with Canadian Pacific Airlines (CPA), British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC), and the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF).

As a youngster in the mid to late 1960s, I would relish the time off from school during the summers as my family would take the seemingly too long a drive from our home, in St. Martin, Quebec, for our annual visit to the “airplane museum” in Ottawa, Ontario. Once there, we would wander around the aircraft displayed outside and tour through the three Second World War-era wooden hangars that formerly housed the aircraft and personnel of RCAF Station Rockcliffe. At this time, these old buildings at Rockcliffe Airport had been designated as the principal home of the famed National Aeronautical Collection of Canada.

My father, Ross, had been employed at Canadair from 1943 to 1962, and his favorite aircraft to have worked on was the North Star series of transports, where he was classified as a Fitter and Riveter on the shop floor. One of his tasks was the final assembly of each of the dual nose gear doors for the early series of these aircraft. Later, he worked similarly on the flaps. Each time we paid a visit to Rockcliffe on our vacations, and he saw old North Star number “15” between the hangars, he would go up to it and Ross Upton poses next to North Star “15” and ‘his’ nose gear doors in June 1969. (Bill Upton Photo) gently pat one of the nose gear doors and proudly exclaim, “I made that!” Once, he hoisted me up above his shoulders, to what seemed a dizzying height for a small lad, so that I, too, could give a couple of raps to the forward part of one of the unpainted aluminum doors. My mom and my younger sister would just look at us, and then at each other, shrug, and with a collective sigh, shuffle on to the next airplane on display.

Oftentimes both loved and loathed, the rugged North Star propliners and their dauntless crews proved themselves time and again capable of getting passengers and important cargo safely to their destinations in spite of weather, troublesome engines or distance. Of the 71 Canadair North Stars that were built, only 24 unpressurized examples were allocated for use with the RCAF from the late 1940s to the mid-1960s. Now, only one remains.

Cover Photo Caption: Bearing the new Canadian flag on the tail, Canadair C-54GM North Star RCAF 17515 taxis in at Dusseldorf Airport in Germany on 20 July 1965 during one of the last overseas visit by a RCAF North Star. (Photo Courtesy Peter Seamann) Canadair Aircraft Conversion Programmes

Towards the end of the Second World War, Canada’s peacetime needs for its national airline, Trans- Canada Air Lines, and the post-war requirements of the Royal Canadian Air Force for more modern and efficient replacement air transportation equipment were being closely examined by these two organizations for perceived future long-term needs.

From 1943 to 1945, eight Canadian-built Lancaster XPP (Passenger Plane) transport aircraft were fabricated by Victory Aircraft Limited in Malton, Ontario with a new interior arrangement capable of accommodating up to ten passengers. These long-range passenger transports were pressed into service from 1943 on the high-priority domestic and North Atlantic routes for the Canadian Government Trans- Atlantic Air Service (CGTAS) operated by TCA. As a passenger carrier, the Lancaster XPP and its British- made counterpart, the Lancastrian, were uneconomical and uncomfortable.

In the early 1940s, the aircraft division of Canadian Vickers Limited in Montreal was busy with the licensed manufacturing of 139 Consolidated Aircraft Corporation Canso amphibious flying boats per a Canadian Department of Munitions and Supply contract for the RCAF. Later, another production order for 173 examples, destined for the United States Army Air Force (USAAF), via the US Navy, was given to Canadian Vickers. These particular versions were assigned the USAAF designation OA-10A. When Vickers wanted to concentrate on its shipbuilding capabilities, it eventually divested itself from aircraft manufacturing at the riverside plant as well as at a satellite plant at nearby St. Hubert Airport, and re- established it at a new facility constructed farther inland at Cartierville Airport in St. Laurent by mid-1944. The remaining 57 examples of the OA-10A were produced from the newly established Canadair Limited manufacturing facilities in Cartierville by November 1945 under the first of an eventual long series of Canadair Model number designations, the CL-1.

With the end of the flying boat contracts, Canadair took on some necessary new tasks to keep the workers employed and earning a respectable reputation in the business of aircraft conversions. Lockheed Lodestars and Beech Model 18 Expeditor types were acquired, many from ex-military stocks, during the late 1940s to be converted at the ex-Noorduyn Aircraft Plant, also located at Cartierville, into executive variants for numerous corporations. This early executive/business aircraft work experience would bode well for the organization decades later. But it was not enough work on which to continue long-term business, especially with the end of military production contracts following the cessation of the war. Other work had to be found.

By a measure of good fortune and timing, as well as insightful instincts by Canadair’s president Ben Franklin and plant manager Ralph Stopps, Canadair acquired all of the surplus Douglas Aircraft Company C-47/DC-3 transport aircraft series tooling and spare parts. Numerous DC-4 and C-54 aircraft fuselage barrels, nose shells, and empennage assemblies were also picked up in the bargain. These were being disposed of by Douglas and the US government in August 1945 to make room for the manufacturing and support of the newer DC-6 model transports soon to be rolling off the Douglas production lines.

In the lean post-war years, Canadair Limited seized upon the opportunity to convert then surplus war- weary military C-47 type transports and their derivatives into new DC-3 passenger aircraft for domestic and international airlines looking at inexpensive replacements or additions to their fleets. To support these sales, Canadair was also pegged as the prime source for all spare parts requirements. This ambitious project received the retroactive Canadair Model number designation CL-0. Along with the acquired Douglas equipment stocks, Canadair also purchased a large number of former USAAF C-47 Skytrains, as well as ex-Royal Air Force (RAF) Dakota transports, these latter aircraft being ferried over directly from Britain. Canadair then initially leased the famed Noorduyn Plant, eventually acquiring it and establishing it as the Canadair Conversion Plant (later to be known as Canadair’s Plant 2 facility). There, from 1945 to 1947, Canadair converted, modified, overhauled, and re-built several The first large aircraft to arrive for conversion at Canadair was this ex-USAAF C-49K, serial 43-2001 in March 1945. In hundreds of C-47/DC-3 conversions for numerous the background are some of the final OA-10As produced. domestic and international air carriers.

Converted by Canadair in 1945, CF-TDJ was the first DC-3 for Trans-Canada Air Lines, seen here next to Canadair’s Plant 1 facility. By late 1948, the aircraft was sold to the Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company of Canada who then contracted Canadair to re-convert “TDJ” to an executive transport. In 1983, it was donated to the National Aviation Museum in Ottawa.

Development of the Canadair DC-4M and C-54GM In the early 1940s, a study team that included TCA, the RCAF and Canadian Government had looked at numerous American and British aircraft designs, existing or on the drawing boards, that might meet the their needs, and specifically TCA’s, for a new long-range passenger transport to replace the Lancaster XPP. Some of the aircraft types examined included the Avro Tudor, Avro York, Boeing Stratocruiser, Handley Page Hermes IV, Lockheed’s Constellation, and the Douglas DC-4. Each had a reason to be on the want list, however, in the end they were either too slow, lacked range, were too big, too small, would not be ready soon enough, or too expensive. One of the most promising types was the Douglas DC-4, but the government was also looking at a newer Douglas design making its way through the early design stages – the DC-6. When the United States entered the war, most civilian aircraft production was redirected to the USAAF, and the DC-4 was modified to military requirements as the C-54 Skymaster.

C.D. Howe, the Minister of Transport, Munitions and Supply as well as Construction and Supply, and other titles (oftentimes simply referred to as the “Minister of Everything”) decided before the end of the war that Canada would have a viable commercial and military aircraft industry. With this in mind, the aircraft design choice that best met the requirements of TCA and the RCAF was narrowed down (by C.D. Howe) to the DC-4 / C-54 with some features of the newer, pressurized DC-6 incorporated. In early 1944, the Canadian Government, following negotiations with Douglas, was granted a licence agreement by the Douglas Aircraft Company to incorporate in one aircraft the best design features of the older DC-4 / C-54 and the newer DC-6. After another exhaustive study session, TCA had determined that the best choice for a suitable engine type to power the new aircraft rested with the proven commercial version of the Rolls-Royce Merlin, these having been demonstrated adequately with the Lancaster XPP on the long haul passenger routes. Other engine designs in the running had included those from Pratt & Whitney (R-2000 and R-2800) and the Bristol Hercules. It was then decided (again, by C.D. Howe) that newly established Canadair Limited at Cartierville would be tasked with the final design, production, and flight tests of the re-designated DC-4M / C-54GM aircraft under the auspices of TCA and the RCAF. Production at the large Canadair facilities quickly got under way in 1945 utilizing many of the surplus fuselage components scavenged earlier from Douglas by Canadair’s Ralph Stopps.

The physical layout of instruments and controls for the TCA airliner cockpit was first done in a physical mockup that was built of wood at the established TCA DC-4 Engineering Project Office in Winnipeg during 1944. Fit and form confirmation drawings of cockpit fixtures were relayed back to Canadair, where the components were fabricated and later installed in the aircraft destined for TCA. Canadair quickly followed suit on the idea of fabricating wooden and metal mockups, beginning a long run of full-scale mockups with its North Star main passenger cabin marketing The Canadair Limited marketing department’s DC-4M-2 North Star passenger cabin mockup and traveling exhibit. Later, Canadair would continue this trend for display is seen here in May 1948. many of its new aircraft products and proposals by constructing full-scale, complete aircraft form and fit mockups. Some of these models included the CL-28 Argus, CL-41 Tutor, CL-44D4 & Yukon (the largest aircraft mockups produced in Canada), the CL-84 V/STOL, CL-215, CL-89 drone, continuing on up to the CL-600 Challenger wide-bodied business jet.

This gleaming new, unmarked and roomy North Star, parked on the tarmac at Dorval, would be one of many destined to replace the small fleet of older Victory Aircraft-built Lancaster XPPs, with their narrow, cramped passenger confines, seen represented by CF-CMX of the CGTAS in the background. TCA soon added the sleek Canadair passenger transport aircraft to its varied fleet of self-named “Skyliners”. The North Star Family

This new four-engined transport aircraft combined Douglas civilian DC-4 and military C-54 troop carrier fuselage sections with the newer DC-6 wings, flaps and some undercarriage designed components. Four Rolls-Royce 620-series of the Merlin engines replaced the four Pratt & Whitney R-2000 Twin Wasp radial engines that powered the venerable Douglas aircraft. The engine change would permit faster speeds in all regimes to the proposed aircraft than its American contemporaries. Officially, the aircraft were deemed, “Manufactured by Canadair Limited Under License From Douglas Aircraft Company Inc.” on the nameplate in each aircraft built. This first Canadair Limited long-ranged transport production design series was designated with the principal Canadair Model numbers CL-2 and CL-4.

CL-2 Series (XC-54GM, C-54GM, DC-4M-1, DC-4M-2) Forty-four aircraft of the CL-2 production model, called the North Star (and never known as Northstar) were produced in three separate versions: the C-54GM, an unpressurized transport for the RCAF; the DC-4M-1, an unpressurized passenger transport for TCA; and the DC-4M-2, a pressurized transport, again for TCA. Later, the DC-4M-1s were turned over to the RCAF as C-54GMs. The “M” in these designations stood for the Merlin engine employed on all of the Canadair produced examples, except the later C-5. The unpressurized XC-54GM and new-build CL-2 models had oval passenger cabin windows, while the pressurized DC-4M-2 incorporated square cabin windows and thicker exterior skins to accommodate the modified pressurization system of the DC-6.

XC-54GM. The first example of the later-named North Star-series aircraft built was from a mix of Douglas Aircraft Company produced and Canadair Limited assembled components. All of the first fuselage sections that came from Douglas were initially designated and marked on the exterior in black ink as the “XC-54GM”. This assembled one-off aircraft was assigned the serial number (s/n) 101.

Douglas Aircraft supplied the first nose section, fuselage and empennage components to be assembled by Canadair, each of them multi-stenciled with the “XC-54GM” designation. Canadair was left to manufacture the complete wing assembly. Douglas cockpit shells and the nose assembly line can be seen in the left background. The second cockpit/fuselage/ wing assembly begins to take shape behind. This partial assembly photo of the first aircraft is dated 28 May 1946.

In preparation for its imminent rollout, the first assembled XC-54GM, s/n 101, is seen undergoing some final assembly and finishing work in the high bay area of Building 102 at Canadair’s Plant 1, on 27 June 1946.

The unpainted “XC-54GM 101” (seen stenciled on the By now in its first paint and markings scheme, Canadair tail) is not so much seen here as its “rollout” as it more North Star, registered as CF-TEN-X, is seen performing a closely resembles a mass “pushout” by personnel from series of taxi tests on 14 July 1946, the day before its the Main Plant on 29 June 1946. ‘unofficial’ first flight.

Following the rollout, the new aircraft underwent a series of fuel systems checks and performed necessary engine runs prior to attempting taxi and flight tests. It quickly received its premiere paint and markings scheme with “North Star” emblazoned on each side of the fuselage above the window line. In a low-placed tail stripe was the single word “Canadair”. The Canadian civil registration CF-TEN-X (‘X’ for experimental) was on each side of the rear fuselage. By the time of the official public presentation the tail markings had been changed to “Manufactured By Canadair Ltd. Montreal”, and the registration also ran across the span of the upper and lower wing surfaces.

In the first two weeks of July, low-speed and high-speed taxiing trials of the aircraft and control functions took place on the long Cartierville runway. CF-TEN-X was soon ready to fly. On 15 July, as a finale to the long series of taxi tests, Douglas pilot Bob Brush and Canadair chief test pilot A.J. (Al) Lilly decided, along with crew, flight test engineer W.L. “Smokey” Harris and TCA’s Clayton Glenn, to take the big aircraft aloft for the first time. ‘TEN-X landed back at Cartierville after a successful, and somewhat routine test flight of 25 minutes. Five days later, a special flight and taxi-in was performed before a huge audience for the public unveiling and christening ceremony held at a special reviewing stand next to Canadair’s Bldg. 106.

On 20 July 1946, CF-TEN-X, with a “Star” at the tip of its nose, slowly taxis back on the Cartierville runway that is lined with hundreds of Canadair employees following a spirited demo flight for the crowds prior to the public unveiling ceremony.

Regally draped, North Star CF-TEN-X is presented before a crowd of dignitaries, press, employees and families literally lined up to the rooftops, for the official christening ceremony of the aircraft at Canadair’s Plant 1.

TCA President H.J. Symington and Minister C.D. Howe Mrs. C.D. Howe christens CF-TEN-X “North Star”, with pose in front of the very first North Star, CF-TEN-X. Canadair President B.W. Franklin looking on. (CASM)

Production of the DC-4M-1, C-54GM, and DC-4M-2 aircraft began on a large scale to meet the orders contracted by TCA for 20 commercial variants and the RCAF for 24 military transport aircraft. As the second post-war civil transport aircraft produced after the Lockheed Constellation, the North Star series of airliners and transports kept the Canadair manufacturing capabilities humming along from 1946 until 1950, when the final example came off the production line.

On July 23rd, CF-TEN-X flew once again with a photographic chase plane tagging along for the first in a series of public relations air-to-air photo shoots. The gleaming aircraft was truly in its element and displays its polished clean lines in these rarely seen colour portraits.

Following all of the historic public accolades and public relations photo shoots, CF-TEN-X was then tasked to begin an intensive test and certification programme. A coast-to-coast publicity tour flight of VIPs first revealed the Merlin noise problem that would continually plague the programme. In August 1950, it was taken-on-strength by the RCAF with No. 426 Squadron and assigned the serial number 17525. On 21 June 1959, its career ended in Athens, Greece, during a landing accident when it landed short of the runway and hit a sea wall. The first North Star caught fire, burned, and was destroyed with no loss of life.

In November 1954, a group of Canadair-based RCAF air cadets prepare for a familiarization flight from Dorval to Ottawa aboard the first North Star aircraft, seen registered as RCAF 17525 of 426 Squadron. C-54GM. Before the first North Star transports destined for the RCAF rolled off the assembly line, six of them (s/n 102 to 107), were loaned and pressed into service with the Canadian national airline, TCA. These unpressurized aircraft were designated as DC-4M1. After approximately two years of public airliner service, they were returned to the RCAF and assigned the military serial numbers 17518 to 17523, most going directly to serve with 426 Squadron at Dorval. RCAF aircraft 17518 and 17520 were assigned to the prestigious 412 Squadron in Ottawa for VIP services.

The first dedicated RCAF C-54GM North Star to come out of the Cartierville manufacturing plant was serial 17501 in July 1947. After Al Lilly took it up on its first flight hop on 14 July, and following a standard series of proving flights, it was taken-on-strength by the RCAF on 12 September being assigned to 426 Squadron. By September of 1949, it was allocated to the Experimental & Proving Establishment (EPE) at Rockcliffe, Ontario as an evaluation and test aircraft. The interior was extensively instrumented, and had water ballast tanks and a manned test control station in the rear cabin. Exterior modifications included a short nose instrumentation boom and a trailing static probe that was installed under the rear fuselage.

In August 1947, RCAF 17501 is seen parked on the At Rockcliffe in September 1949, 17501 bears the EPE Canadair Plant 1 tarmac bearing the early post-war badge and title on the nose. Note the non-standard fuselage, wing, and tail markings. fuselage lightning flash layout.

To get the 1949-1950 decade transition off to a flying start with the RCAF North Star, on 14-15 January 1949, C-54GM serial number 17512, took off from Vancouver, BC, bound for Halifax, NS, to successfully complete the first-ever non-stop trans-Canada flight, doing so in 8.32 hours. This record wouldn’t be broken for another ten years. Then, from 2 January to 8 February 1950, the RCAF completed its first round-the-world flight, utilizing North Star serial number 17518 from 412 VIP Squadron, Ottawa. Minister of External Affairs Lester B. Pearson was flown from Rockcliffe to a conference of Commonwealth foreign ministers at Colombo, Ceylon during this flight that spanned a total of 125.20 hours.

In early 1949, North Star 17512 was the first aircraft to RCAF VIP North Star 17518 pauses at Gibraltar during perform a non-stop, trans-Canada flight. its ‘round-the-world flight in 1950.

In addition to these recognized notable accomplishments, the RCAF North Star aircraft steadily served as the principal supply and transport aircraft for Canadian military operations in North America and Europe. As the mainstay of the Canadian effort in the Korean Airlift, named Operation Hawk, North Stars transported enormous amounts of freight and over 13,000 passengers from Dorval, or McChord AFB,

C-54GM North Star serial 17511 of 426 Squadron has unloaded its Washington, to Japan, under the operational much-needed cargo to awaiting MATS vehicles on the ramp as it control of the US Military Air Transport transits through Haneda Air Force Base, Japan sometime in 1951 during Operation Hawk. Service (MATS). All of the arduous flights were conducted without loss of life or material. The grueling typical Korean Airlift route for the 426 Squadron aircraft during Operation Hawk was a physically and mentally demanding fifty-hour round trip flight from McChord to Japan and back with stops at Elmendorf (Alaska), Shemya (in the Aleutian Islands), Haneda and Misawa (Japan).

The RCAF also flew their aircraft on search and rescue and other mercy missions to various parts of the world, as well as on support missions for the United Nations, proudly displaying the United Nations rectangular insignia on the tail. The aircraft interiors were basically arranged for military cargo and personnel who were not usually accustomed to lavish luxuries and all the amenities that other North Star passengers took for granted – like comfy seats. Basic troop net seats and/or litters lined the sides of the aircraft with only a thin sheet of aluminum between them and the cacophony of the thunderous Merlin engines on their long flights. One aircraft was configured temporarily for carrying military passengers in some relative comfort with full padded seats, window curtains, washrooms, and a mid-fuselage galley. Two others (serial numbers 17518 and 17520) from 412 Squadron had their own special VIP passenger seat and cabin layouts for their distinguished guests.

RCAF standard litter carrying interior, looking forward in RCAF passenger configured interior, looking forward in C-54GM 17501, April 1947. C-54GM 17502, September 1953.

When numbers of small RCAF fighters were assigned to squadrons operating in the United Kingdom and Europe, a 426 Squadron North Star transport would fly along as official escort in case of problems due to weather, navigation or mechanical arose. Some escort exercises included; Operation Leapfrog (Sabres), Operation Random (Sabres & T-33s), Operation Nimble Bat (CF-100s), Operation Jump Moat (CF-100s for Belgium), Operation Silver Dozen (T-33s), and Operation Beech Flight (Beech 18s).

RCAF North Star Interior Configurations

Two RCAF C-54GM’s were extensively modified for special Canadian research duties. The first was serial 17513, configured in 1950 with a large dorsal airfoil-shaped fin mounted atop the center fuselage, and clear, domed observation cupolas on each side forward of the fin, becoming the second icing and de-icing research aircraft. It soon acquired the nickname used previously in 1945-1946 on a similarly configured Consolidated RY-3 Privateer of the EPE, known as the “Rockcliffe Ice Wagon”. Test flights and research missions on practical systems of electro-thermal de-icing for wing leading edges and propellers were performed under the auspices of the later re-designated Central Experimental & Proving Establishment (CEPE) at Rockcliffe on behalf of the National Research Council (NRC). Meteorological conditions associated with icing were investigated with a series of cloud physics experiments conducted in 1954.

The “Rockcliffe Ice Wagon” continued to operate until 1955 under agreement with the RCAF. Here it is seen on the tarmac during a visit to the Avro Canada plant in Malton, Ontario with new faceted and framed observation cupolas and black- colored test fixtures on the leading edge of the dorsal fin. The test pieces state in white: “FLIGHT 49 DATE 2/5/53”. In the hangars, the production line of CF-100 air defence aircraft is in full swing. (Avro Canada Photo via CASM Collection)

The second significantly re-configured North Star aircraft was RCAF serial 17514. Initially having served with 426 Squadron, it was acquired by the NRC in 1962. It was assigned the Canadian civil registration CF-SVP-X when it was tasked to serve as the Aeromagnetic Research Aircraft with the Flight Research Section of the National Aeronautical Establishment (NAE) located at Uplands, Ontario.

Rare colour photo of the NAE’s CF-SVP-X in flight with its unique tail boom housing a magnetic anomaly detector at its tip, similar to that employed on Canadair Argus aircraft. An instrumented towed ‘bird’ could also be launched and recovered to a pylon under the starboard wing. Contrary to the RCAF aircraft, the fuselage titles and lightning flash are in blue. This aircraft was the last of the famed North Stars to remain flying, doing so until the late 1970s. (NRC via Bill Upton Collection)

Internal layout and equipment configuration of the NRC modified C-54GM North Star airborne laboratory, civil registered as CF-SVP-X, of the National Aeronautical Establishment. First flown in 1947, it was formerly with the RCAF as 17514 and was still recorded as being on charge with the RCAF until 1965. After being formally transferred to the NAE, it served faithfully until its last NAE/NRC working flight was conducted on 8 May 1976. (NRC via Bill Upton Collection)

With the NAE “Goose” emblem on the upper part of the The National Aeronautical Establishment’s North Star, fin, and as yet to receive its signature magnetic anomaly still with the RCAF titles and registration, but also detector boom, North Star 17514 is configured with a sporting the additional NAE Flight Research “Goose” silver iodide dispenser under each wing for a emblem on the tail, has released the towed bird #2 (at precipitation physics project over Northern Ontario in lower left) from it’s launcher pylon under the starboard 1953. (NRC via Bill Upton Collection) wing. (NRC via Bill Upton Collection)

NAE Flight Research “Goose” Emblem DC-4M-1 & DC-4M-2. From 1947 to 1961, the luxurious passenger configured TCA North Stars were operated intensively on the Canadian transcontinental, trans-Atlantic and Caribbean routes. The TCA trans-Atlantic service between Montreal, Prestwick and London was inaugurated on 15 April 1947 with a DC-4M-1 on loan from the RCAF, North Star CF-TEM. From 17 May to 10 June 1947, CF-TEL, with the logo “Canadair Four” written in script along the top of the fuselage, performed a six-country European tour with a principal demonstration made before observers and the powers-that-be from the British Overseas Airways Corporation. The considerable value of such showy public enticements helped to seal the deal towards BOAC purchasing their own fleet of the popular Canadair transport.

Unfortunately, these Merlin-powered aircraft, along with their RCAF sister ships, were found to be substantially noisier than their Douglas counterparts. This was due mainly in large part to the engine exhaust stacks on the inboard side being vented straight against the sides of the thin aluminum fuselage, earning the aircraft the not so endearing nickname of “Noisy Star”.1 In a co-operative effort to try and rectify this troublesome annoyance, TCA and Canadair would spend a lot of time and expense towards developing a workable crossover engine exhaust system and providing interior soundproofing materials in an effort to reduce engine noise transmission into the cabin. Some of the crossover concepts worked - for a short time. TCA managed to get a relatively reliable workable solution developed much to the relief One of the promising experimental exhaust of repeat passengers on the longhaul flights overseas. system schemes is shown here on CF-TEN-X Nevertheless, these less-“Noisy Stars” were still considered by at Canadair in October 1949. TCA to be among the finest passenger carrying transport aircraft flying at the time.

By early 1950, rapid advances were being seen on the Canadian aircraft design scene. The Avro Canada C-102 Jetliner, the first jet- powered transport to fly in North America, and only second in the world after the de Havilland Comet, had made its first flight on 10 August 1949. Previously, in 1946, a 30-seat transport version of the C-102, powered by two Rolls-Royce AJ65 Avon turbojet engines, had been proposed to TCA. When it was seen that the powerful Avons were not available, four of the less powerful Rolls-Royce Derwent C-102 model with two Rolls-Royce engines were substituted. Since the time of its first flight, it had been AJ65 engines. (Bill Upton Collection) making dramatic inroads in the test and evaluation programme. Demonstrated flying times between city centers (Malton to Rockcliffe and Toronto to New York City) are dramatically reduced to half the time taken by TCA North Star airliners on the same routes. But, such success, with a heavy public relations related slant, had a price, and the Jetliner ultimately paid it when TCA and the government (aka, C.D. Howe) refused to purchase the revolutionary jet aircraft. The stalwart North Star soldiered on. Much later, TCA ordered Vickers Viscounts and the RCAF chose the Comet.

1 The author, a dedicated research volunteer at the Museum since the mid-1990s, could tell which other fellow volunteers had flown frequently aboard North Star aircraft, and their preferred seating choice during their service careers, by the hearing aid(s) they wore! Trans-Canada Air Lines began regular weekly flights between Montreal and Paris, France in April 1951. With stops in Reykjavik, Iceland for fuel and on to London, total flight time was around 14 hours. Passenger traffic from Europe to North America had increased substantially after the war with immigrants yearning to begin a new life for their families on less troubled, far-off shores. By November 1952, TCA European service had been further extended to Dusseldorf, West Germany.

The premiere DC-4M1 for TCA, registered CF-TEK (s/n The first DC-4M2 for TCA, CF-TFA (s/n 125) “Cartier”, 102) was rolled out in October 1946. It had been first leads the Canadair North Star final line with CF-TFB assigned to the RCAF as 17518, but was one of six “Cornwallis” and CF-TFC “Champlain” following close North Stars loaned to the national airline to get its behind in August 1947. At far right are the four Merlins’ passenger operations started early. assigned to “Cornwallis”.

Trans-Canada Air Lines North Star CF-TFC (s/n 127) was the third-built DC-4M-2 model. In an earlier TCA paint and markings scheme, it had briefly worn the name “Champlain”. North Stars with the Merlin 722 engines had 4-bladed propellers for use on trans-oceanic routes, while those that had Merlin 724 engines had three-bladed propellers for the domestic routes. (Bill Upton Collection)

For a short period of time, a few of the TCA North Stars carried the names of early iconic Canadians. On the final line, when the TCA assigned aircraft first bore markings, the TCA winged maple leaf tail logo initially contained the assigned name. Later, the name was also located on the forward sides of the nose, below the triple cheat line stripes. CF-TFA was Cartier - CF-TFB was Cornwallis - CF-TFC was Champlain - CF-TFD-X was Selkirk and CF-TFE was Frobisher. The practice of individual aircraft naming was seen to be short-lived and was soon discontinued. Some of the fleet’s passenger aircraft also sported TCA’s Skyliner brand below the North Star title on the fin. On the few all-cargo-converted versions, the Skyliner brand was replaced by Freighter. CL-4 Series (C-4 and C-4-1) In the summer of 1947, Canadair announced a new version of its transport aircraft design as the Model number CL-4, based more on elements of the DC-6, offering it up for sale to other airlines of the world. However, a clause in the initial licence agreement with Douglas limited sales of the aircraft strictly to Canada and the United Kingdom. Beginning in 1948, twenty-six examples of the pressurized CL-4 passenger transport model were produced in the C-4 (often called the “Canadair Four”) and C-4-1 variants. These models were powered by the more powerful Merlin 624 and 626 engines giving the aircraft better fuel economy and range with a higher take-off weight capability than the earlier North Stars. Being pressurized, they incorporated square cabin windows along the sides of the fuselage. Two proposed versions, the C4-F1 and C4-F2, were investigated as fully pressurized freighters with modified floors for large cargo loads, but were not proceeded with.

C-4. The C-4 version, of which twenty-two examples were built and delivered eight months in advance of the contract date in 1949, was supplied to BOAC. These aircraft were ordered due, in part, to economics, as well as unreliability issues and crashes suffered by the Merlin-powered Avro Tudor airliners, which had been employed on the short stage Empire Air Routes, the Tudors in turn being replaced by the Handley Page Hermes IV. Bearing the civil registrations G-ALHC to G-ALHP, and G-ALHR to G-ALHY, the new BOAC aircraft were christened with the name Argonaut and individual aircraft sported a name on the side of the nose beginning with the letter “A” once they entered service. The “BOAC SPEEDBIRD" logo was also seen emblazoned on the highly polished forward fuselage of each unpainted aircraft early on in their careers prior to the new BOAC white-topped with blue cheat line branding scheme being adopted.

The first C-4 Argonaut, G-ALHC, performed its premiere flight from the Cartierville facilities on 6 March 1949 in the capable hands of Canadair test pilots Al Lilly and William (Bill) Longhurst. For more than eleven years the large C-4 Argonaut propliners were operated successfully on the Empire Air Routes including Europe, Africa, India, the Far East, and later, extended services to the Middle East and South America. It was an Argonaut, registered as G-ALHK, and named Atalanta, that carried HRH Princess Elizabeth and the Duke of Edinburgh to East Africa in early 1952. It then returned her as Queen Elizabeth on 7 February when they had learned of the death of her father, King George VI, the previous day.

The premiere BOAC Argonaut, registered as G-ALHC, In full company colours and markings, BOAC Argonaut rolls off the Canadair assembly line to perform its initial G-ALHK named “Atalanta” was fitted out with a lavish series of engine runs on 24 February 1949. Once in interior for some royal flights, the most recognized such airline service it would claim the name “Ariadne”. flight being in the first week of February 1952.

Initially, the passengers plying the long air routes flying onboard the BOAC Argonaut aircraft also had to endure the maddening din of the Merlin engines. As was eventually done to the Canadian operated aircraft, a similar engine muffler system was adopted, but was never one hundred percent effective either.

Highly polished BOAC Argonaut, G-ALHD, later to be named “Ajax”, turns around on the Cartierville airport runway prior to delivery. The second Argonaut delivered to BOAC, it had been the aircraft used for the arduous BOAC route proving flights during June and July 1949. “Ajax” was one of six Argonauts that could also be configured for VIP and royal flight duties. Note the iconic “BOAC SPEEDBIRD” logo on the side of the forward fuselage.

The Argonaut became the salvation workhorse for BOAC once the similar looking Hermes IV proved too expensive to operate and the world’s first jet-powered airliner, the de Havilland DH 106 Comet 1, was withdrawn from service in 1954 due to crashes caused by metal fatigue problems. During the peak of its service in the early to mid-1950s, the BOAC Argonaut fleet continued passenger operations at full pressure of some seventy to eighty thousand hours a year until the larger Bristol Britannia started to relieve the workload later in the decade. The stately Argonauts were finally withdrawn from BOAC service, with the last official flight being performed by G-ALHG Aurora in April 1960. Many aircraft of the surviving fleet passed into other hands and continued serving their new owners until the mid-1960s.

Bearing the early BOAC livery, Argonaut G-ALHG is seen on a pre-delivery flight near Montreal in June 1949. Acquiring the name “Aurora” after entering service, it eventually went on to perform the last scheduled BOAC Argonaut service flight. C-4-1. The four aircraft of the C-4-1 version, retaining the name North Star, were supplied to Canadian Pacific Airlines in 1949, their first large airliner, operating them from Vancouver, British Columbia across the Pacific to Japan, Hong Kong, New Zealand and Australia. For these long voyages, the aircraft were furnished either with sleeperette-type seats instead of the standard 40 day-plane seating arrangement or a combination thereof. The C-4-1 model aircraft did not incorporate the TCA-designed crossover exhaust system on the engines until well into their service lives. Each CPA C-4-1 aircraft had been allocated a sort of imperial title emblazoned in script along the sides of the nose: CP-CPI was Empress of Sydney, CF- CPR Empress of Vancouver, CF-CPJ Empress of Auckland and CF-CPP Empress of Hong Kong. Following the Tokyo runway crash of Empress of Vancouver in February 1950, and determination that the Pacific routes were too expensive to operate with the C-4-1, the three remaining CPA airliners were sold off to TCA in 1951. Canadian Pacific Airlines ended up buying cheaper, and less reliable, older Douglas DC-4s to supplement the short-term restructuring of its passenger transport fleet. Later, it employed the newer, long-range DC-6B to greater success, operating on a polar route from Vancouver to Amsterdam.

C-4-1 CF-CPP “Empress of Hong Kong” of Canadian Pacific Airlines runs up her four Merlins on the button of Cartierville’s Runway 28 on 16 June 1949 for a preliminary test flight, then, in her element, on a proving flight later in the month prior to delivery. CF-CPP was more infamously known after it had been sold off to TCA as CF-TFW. This was the aircraft that suffered a fatal mid-air collision with a RCAF Harvard training aircraft over Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan in April 1954.

Some Canadair DC-4M and CL-4 Series Passenger Transport Interior Arrangements CL-5 (C-5) VIP Transport C-5. The seventy-first and last of the famed Canadair North Stars to be built, was a special one-off VIP transport conversion built for the RCAF. It was a replacement aircraft for one North Star that had been loaned by the RCAF (17519) to TCA (as CF-TEL) and that had been lost in a crash in August 1948. Built in 1950, this specially modified version of a C-4, always designated simply as the C-5, incorporated a luxurious interior outfitted with all the amenities of home and office – divans/beds, thick carpeting, fully equipped galley, washrooms, desks, swivel chairs, table lamps and of course ashtrays.

At left, looking through the mid-fuselage main compartment of the VIP configured C-5, we see by the interior arrangements that there was ample room for up to 24 passengers. If necessary, the two divans could be folded down into beds. The RCAF emblem can be seen on the aft bulkhead. At right, the more private, horseshoe-shaped aft executive compartment also had plush lounge seating for 7 persons, work desk and telephone/interphone system. (Canadair and CF Photos)

The C-5 was also insulated and pressurized for the eminent passenger’s comfort. While it retained the graceful lines of the North Star it had one noticeable change in sight and sound. This was the replacement of the four tremendously noisy Rolls-Royce Merlins with quieter, and more powerful, Pratt & Whitney R-2800, Double Wasp, radial engines. Bearing RCAF serial number 17524 (renumbered as 10000 in 1951), it had its first flight on 15 May 1950 crewed by Canadair’s test pilots Al Lilly and Bill Longhurst. The RCAF formally took it on strength on 20 July 1950 and it served until June 1966, as one of the premier VIP transports with No. 412 Transport (T) Squadron at Uplands, Ontario.

The one and only Canadair C-5 transport, bearing RCAF serial 10000 runs up its four Pratt & Whitney radial engines on the Canadair ramp in this September 1951 photo. The number “10” on the nose would later be removed and replaced with “C5”, to avoid confusion with RCAF North Star 17510, also with the identifier number “10” on the nose.

The highly polished VIP North Star C-5, bearing the new nose marking “C5”, the Red Ensign on the tail, and the upper cabin painted white is seen parked at the ready on the swept tarmac adjacent to the RCAF’s 412 Transport Squadron hangar at Uplands. To the members of 412 Squadron the aircraft was known as “Charlie Five”. The square cabin windows are another distinctive feature identifying this as the only pressurized North Star in the RCAF fleet. (CF Photo 138629)

During much of its fifteen-year career with 412 Squadron, the C-5 shared VIP duties with two new RCAF acquisitions, de Havilland Comet 1As serials 5301 and 5302 that arrived in 1953. With these aircraft, the RCAF became the first military air service in the world to fly long-range jet transports. When the RCAF Comets were grounded from 1954 to 1957 due to several British Comet accidents, and then finally retired from the RCAF in 1963, this reliable queen of the executive aircraft fleet continued to soldier on with VIP services and as a navigational trainer. Most of the political and titular leaders of the western world were carried by the prestigious C-5. Some of the names recorded on the C-5 manifest included Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth and H.R.H. the Duke of Edinburgh in 1951, Sir Winston Churchill, Sir Anthony Eden, Emperor Haile Selassie, the Netherlands Royal Family, Minister C. D. Howe and the Prime Ministers of Canada from 1950. Following its official retirement from RCAF service on 28 April 1966, this once stately VIP-class airliner was later sold and unceremoniously scrapped in the United States.

CL-7 (C-7) Transport C-7. The C-7 design, proposed to TCA in 1951 as a replacement for their existing North Stars, was to be a similar aircraft as the C-5 (basically, the longer fuselage). Four Canadair CL-7 variants were actually projected, one as a commercial carrier for TCA and three as military transports. The commercial example was to be powered by four Pratt & Whitney R-2800 CA15 Double Wasp engines while the military transports were to have a choice of the Curtiss-Wright Cyclone R-3350 CA1, the Bristol Hercules 763 or the Bristol Centurus 661 powerplants. With the advent of the new jet transport designs (de Havilland Comet and Avro Canada Jetliner), and emergence of reliable turbo-prop and turbojet engines, it seemed that the time of these large piston-powered transports was almost up. TCA decided to not pursue the upgrade due to the additional costs involved and extra spares support logistics for two similar aircraft. Later, the airline chose the Lockheed L1049 Super Constellation and the Vickers Viscount for their long and short range routes. There were also no military takers for the other three transport variants studied.

The Museum’s Aircraft

August 2012 marked the 65th anniversary of the rollout of the Canadair Limited C-54GM North Star serial number 122, bearing the RCAF registration 17515, from the Main Plant (later to be commonly known as Plant 1) facilities at Cartierville Airport near Montreal. Alas, the rollout of this particular transport aircraft, and a number of other sister ships, was anything but stately, commemorative or distinguished.

The first known photographs of RCAF 17515 were taken by photographers at and above Canadair on the 1, 2 and 4 August 1947, during a routine plant aerial photographic session and typical ground-based photo shoots for standard record keeping and historical purposes2. Five natural metal finished RCAF C- 54GM North Star aircraft can be seen parked on the ramp against the Main Plant (Plant 1), with six others lined along the outer tarmac at the grassy infield. The only makings that can be discerned on each aircraft are their RCAF registrations on the rear fuselage, the early blue/red post-war Type 1 fuselage and wing roundels, and the standard RCAF fin-flash. Most notably, all of these RCAF-destined North Star aircraft are seen without their signature Rolls-Royce Merlin 622 engines installed due to a severe backlog in deliveries of the famed engines from the United Kingdom, thereby prompting the mass informal rollout.

In this aerial view of the Canadair facilities on 1 August 1947, numerous C-54GM North Stars destined for the RCAF can be seen behind Plant 1. Tarpaulins on the nacelles cover the engine mounting bulkheads on all of the aircraft. North Star 17515 can be seen as the third aircraft from the left on the tarmac, with a tarpaulin wrapped around its rear fuselage. Parked against the building, the second aircraft from the left is sister ship, serial 17514. This aircraft, later to become Canadian civil registered as CF-SVP-X, served for many years with the National Aeronautical Establishment in Ottawa, and was recorded as being the last flying North Star aircraft. 17515 was fated to be the last surviving North Star aircraft.

2 Such Canadair, and later Bombardier, aerial photo shoots of the aerodrome and buildings repeated annually until the late 1990s. In order not to impede the unrelenting aircraft production line, the engineless North Star aircraft had been unceremoniously rolled out behind the Main Plant until such time as engines were made available, whereupon the individual aircraft were brought back in to the final line to have the Merlin powerplants installed. A subsequent series of typical ground and flight-tests would be made towards the final acceptance and delivery of each of these completed aircraft to the RCAF and their squadron allocations. Most went to serve immediately with the RCAF’s heavy lift transport operations unit known as 426 Squadron. The first of the North Star transport aircraft to arrive were assigned towards practical crew training before the bread-and-butter work of hauling cargo and passengers around the world could begin.

With a protective tarpaulin draped over the astrodome and another one wrapped around part of the rear cargo door area, the shiny C-54GM RCAF 17515 is seen on the tarmac, closest to the camera, in this photograph taken on 4 August 1947. This view was looking north behind the Canadair Main Plant facilities. The RCAF North Star aircraft parked immediately next to ‘515 is 17511 with a tarp covering the complete cargo door section.

Per the official RCAF aircraft record cards, Canadair Limited finally completed C-54GM North Star 17515 on 15 March 1948. It remained unpainted, in the standard overall natural metal finish and devoid of markings except for the early post-war fin flash, roundels, and the RCAF serial number. At that time it had been taken-on-strength and delivered to No. 9 (T) Group, RCAF 426 “Thunderbird” Squadron, located at RCAF Station Lachine at Dorval, Quebec, with a remark that it was to replace North Star serial 17502. On 1 April 1948, it was first recorded as being transferred to RCAF Air Transport Command (ATC). 17515 was soon transferred back to No. 11 Technical Services Unit (TSU) at Canadair, from July 1948 to September 1949 for aircraft updates per Canadair Service Bulletins. Departing Canadair, it was then transferred to the E&PE at Rockcliffe from 29 September 1949 to 2 August 1950 for standard RCAF proving tests on this aircraft. Upon completion, ‘515 was returned back to 426 Squadron as finally and officially fit for duty, serving principally with this unit until 1962, when the squadron stood down.

By the early 1950’s, the fleet of transports had adopted a white painted upper cabin paint scheme with red search markings on the wings, and, by the end of the decade, they wore the Red Ensign on the fin. In 1956, RCAF North Stars were being configured with new black nose radomes housing the AN/APS-42 weather radar. Some North Stars, including this aircraft, were also seen with the white-and-blue United Nations insignia emblem on the tail or placed on each side of the rear fuselage.

In this photo taken at snowy Dorval Airport in February 1950, the principal subject is RCAF C-54GM 17513 in its just new configuration as the National Aeronautical Establishment’s “Rockcliffe Ice Wagon” icing research aircraft. However, parked just off to the left can be seen the tail of North Star RCAF serial 17515, in the standard overall natural metal scheme, as yet without the white top surfaces, and sporting the RCAF post-war fin-flash below the serial number block.

With the Korean Airlift in full swing, North Star 17515 performed its transport duties to the United Nations campaign effort, participating by flying troops, cargo, and supplies to and from the conflict from August 1950 to April 1954. This aircraft successfully carried out at least 41 scheduled airlift missions as follows: Seven missions from 19 August to 3 October 1950, Fourteen missions from 15 March to 10 December 1951, Thirteen missions from 2 January to 28 December 1952, Seven missions from 20 January to 8 July 1953, Four missions from 14 February to 11 April 1954.

RCAF North Star 17515, and her C-54GM sister ships’ typical Korean Airlift route during Operation Hawk consisted of flying in multiple stages beginning principally from McChord AFB in Washington (or oftentimes originating from Montreal to Winnipeg and on to McChord) to Elmendorf AFB, Alaska. Then it was on to a stop at the US Air Force Base at Shemya in the Aleutian Islands chain. Despite all types of weather that the grueling trans-Pacific route could unleash upon them along the oftentimes- North Star 17515, wearing the square United Nations emblem hazardous journey, the North Star transports above the serial number block on the tail takes on another load of supplies from the MATS ramp at McChord AFB bound for would finally arrive at Haneda AFB (Tokyo), or Korea. (CF Photo PL-54839 via Terry Leversedge) at Misawa, Japan to offload the much needed supplies and troops destined for the Korean peninsula. Oftentimes, military and civilian personnel, cargo, and medical evacuees would fill the aircraft for the return journey to McChord and/or Montreal. Obviously not all missions to and from Korea went without incident. Many common delays and aborts were caused due to weather, mechanical or to aircraft engine problems and North Star 17515 was not immune to operational troubles. Following a recent succession of powerplant changes, after leaving McChord AFB for the leg to Elmendorf AFB on 9 September 1950, overloaded with cargo and passengers, aircraft ‘515 lost both engines on one side due to coolant leaks. Due to this declared emergency, the pilot, after dumping much of the fuel, diverted and performed a successful landing at Sandspit on Moresby Island. Once ground personnel made some emergency repairs, North Star 17515 performed a three-engine takeoff and return flight enroute McChord the next day.

In between some of the long distance missions performed in 1952, numerous domestic runs were conducted out west to Manitoba and to some northern remote regions like Iqaluit, Fort Simpson, and Resolute Bay in the North West Territories. In the latter half of the year, flights to cities in Great Britain and Western Europe were conducted.

One important part of 426 Squadron’s mission was escorting Canadian fighter aircraft across the Atlantic Ocean in various other named “Operations”. North Star 17515 was first assigned to Operation Leapfrog in October 1952, then again in Operation Leapfrog IV in late August 1953, both times pacing squadrons of RCAF F-86 Sabres on their way to operational bases in Europe.

All of the RCAF North Star fleet duty wasn’t restricted to military missions. Special goodwill flights for the military in far off locales and the Royal Canadian Legion at home were often carried out. On 24 March 1953, aircraft 17515 was directed to fly an emergency round trip from Dorval to Resolute Bay, remaining available for local transfers over a four-day period, to transport a sick Inuit child to Churchill for treatment.

From 17 May to 7 November 1956, North Star 17515 was redirected back to its Canadair birthplace and 11 TSU to be inspected and overhauled for further continued use with the RCAF. The Canadair Limited data plate for that particular task is still affixed at the top of the rear cockpit bulkhead.

On 9 June 1959, aircraft 17515 was transferred to No. 4 Operational Training Unit (OTU) at RCAF Station Trenton, to help in the training of new RCAF North Star crewmembers. It remained with that unit until 13 May 1960 when it was transferred back to performing operational tasks with its 426 Squadron stablemates, now also based at Trenton. From late May to early June 1961, the “Thunderbirds” were relocated from its base of operations at Trenton, Ontario to new surroundings at RCAF Station St. Hubert in Quebec. North Star ‘515 followed the transfer staying with 426 Squadron until it was disbanded at St. Hubert in July 1962.

During its ultimate years of service, 17515 became the last RCAF North Star to fly domestic and overseas missions. Through the period of 27 September to 23 October 1965, and assigned to 4 (T) OTU, the final overseas mission saw ‘515 visiting all four Fighter Wings in Europe, then on to Pisa, Italy, and Athens, Greece, as well as Decimomannu, Sardinia. A run to visit the United Nations emergency forces at El Arish, in the Middle East, was accomplished on 14 November. The last domestic flight performed was to pay a farewell visit out west to RCAF Station Namao at Edmonton, Alberta on 18-19 November.

On one of the last of the RCAF North Star overseas missions, 17515, with only the inboard Merlins running, taxis by an observation area at Dusseldorf Airport, Germany on 20 July 1965. Note the insignia of the United Nations positioned aft of the RCAF roundel on the rear of the fuselage. (Photo Courtesy Peter Seamann)

Active at the end with 4 OTU, North Star 17515 performed her final duties until being retired to No. 6 Repair Depot (6RD) at Mountain View, Ontario, on 7 December 1965 to await her unknown fate.

In September 1963, a memorandum from Air Commodore G.G. Diamond, A/C Chief of Personnel Services, to Wing Commander (W/C) R.V. Manning, Air Historian RCAF Headquarters, bluntly stated that:

“It has been our policy to preserve for museum purposes one example of each major type of aircraft that has been used by the RCAF. Sheer size with its associated storage problem is now forcing a modification of this policy and in case of the North Star, it has been decided that preservation of a complete aircraft is not warranted and that only the part of the main fuselage which contains the crew compartment should be held for future display. …It is requested that part of a North Star’s fuselage which takes in the crew compartment and all associated radio, navigational, and piloting equipment be set aside and stored for future museum purposes.“

Just a month later, the Minister of Northern Affairs and National Resources, the Honourable Arthur Laing, had expressed interest towards the preservation of a North Star aircraft due to its outstanding contribution to air transportation in Canada. In a letter to Kenneth M. Molson, Curator of the National Aviation Museum, he proposed that an aircraft be set aside for the Museum and to be temporarily stored at some RCAF Station until display space could be made available. Citing to W/C Manning that it would be a considerable problem to preserve an aircraft of this size in the limited storage facilities available, Mr. Molson stated that for reasons of economics, it would be preferable to reserve the last such aircraft in service. This would reduce preservation costs until the retirement of the fleet. Minister Laing suggested to the Minister of National Defence that the aircraft should be placed at the Vancouver Airport, as there was no adequate display space at the Rockcliffe site. Such a fate did not bode well for the Museum. On 8 December 1965, C-54GM serial 17506 made the last official RCAF North Star flight in a flyby salute for a most solemn occasion. This marked the end of the North Star era in the RCAF. Previously, the venerable North Star 17515, flying from nearby Mountain View, had landed at RCAF Station Trenton after a short flight, for ceremonial display where it joined highly polished aircraft 17508, which was on official static duty in No. 10 Hangar. These two aircraft were honourably front and center as the fleet stand-ins for the formal RCAF North Star stand-down and retirement ceremony at the base. Air Vice-Marshal W.A. Curtis, who had been the Chief of the Air Staff during the period of the North Star’s acquisition by the RCAF, spoke on the proud history and achievements of these aircraft. He then received the ceremonial aircraft log book from former North Star captain F/L J.A. McNair and flight engineer Sgt. V.P. Pawliuk. Following the retirement ceremony, 17515 was flown back to Mountain View on 9 December, having finally been slated to be preserved, not at Vancouver Airport, nor in pieces, but sensibly as a complete aircraft with the National Aeronautical Collection at Rockcliffe Airport, Ottawa.

Officially retired, but now offered a new lease on life, North Star C-54GM, RCAF serial number 17515 was cleaned and spruced up. Being delivered from 6RD at Mountain View on 20 December 1965, it performed the final flight and landing of the type at RCAF Station Rockcliffe, for acceptance towards display in the National Aeronautical Collection. Happily, a good fate.

In its nearly seventeen years of yeoman’s transport service all over the conflicted and peaceful parts of the world, this tired old aircraft had accumulated a somewhat respectable 20,092 hours of flight time on the airframe when it finally rolled to a stop at the Museum.

Pristine North Star 17515 is statically displayed on the sunny tarmac at Rockcliffe Airport, home of the National Aeronautical Collection, circa the early spring of 1966. This aircraft was one of a very few North Stars to bear the new Canadian Flag that had been adopted in 1965, seen applied here with its untrimmed aluminum border and the small serial number block beneath. Note that the United Nations emblems had been removed from the aircraft by this time, but were later found stored in the cabin of the aircraft. (CASM Photo Collection)

Parked on the ramp near the National Aviation Museum Stored next to Hangar 67 in June 1978, she is starting to sometime in early 1968, North Star 17515 still looks really show her age. The bright sun has added to the almost as good as the day it arrived. (CASM Photo) deterioration of the finish over the years. (CASM Photo)

In the mid-1970s attempts were made to refresh and preserve the looks of RCAF “15” starting with the painting of the port spinners. A great sun angle for this public relations picture of the big transport didn’t hurt either. (CASM Photo)

RCAF North Star 17515 is seen here in August 1981 posed on the National Aviation Museum tarmac. It had just been recently spruced-up with a re-painting of the four red spinners, a coat of grey paint on the rudder, and partial application of new fuselage flash and replacement Canadian Flag decals (sans aluminum border) on the tail. Some evidence of more than fifteen years of weathering is still very apparent along the sides of the fuselage and atop the nose. Under the wings, the red search markings and the “RCAF” and last-three of the serial number are still quite evident. (Bill Upton Photos) The Project North Star Association of Canada (PNSAC)

Since this North Star’s transfer from No. 6 Repair Depot located at Mountain View, and its allocation to the “Stn. Rockcliffe Museum” on 20 December 1965, it has remained on outside static public display. It was parked alongside other displayed aircraft of the collection, as there were no adequate facilities, nor space, available to store these larger aircraft inside. The three, old, wooden hangars at Ottawa’s historic Rockcliffe Airport, in which the majority of the National Aeronautical Collection was initially housed and displayed, were also beginning to show their age. Similarly constructed hangars utilized by the RCAF elsewhere in Canada were rotting away and collapsing, and others, due to the wood becoming very dry over the very long period of time since their construction, were easily catching on fire with disastrous results. It soon became worrisome that a similar fate might befall these three old hangars and their precious, irreplaceable contents at the Rockcliffe museum site.

North Star 17515 reposes alongside a RCAF Dakota Mk IV between NAM Hangars 67 & 68 seen in April 1987. (CASM Photo)

In 1982 the collection was officially renamed the National Aviation Museum (NAM), yet the condition of the aircraft stored outside was seen to continue deteriorating. On the outdoors exhibit tarmac, superficial paint touch-ups to sections and parts of the aircrafts’ exteriors proved a temporary fix to the exhibits that were visibly fading away, both materially and cosmetically before the public’s eyes. The need for a new, larger exhibit building to replace the original artifact hangars was finally heeded, and, with adequate funding in hand, the official sod-turning ceremony for an expanded display facility took place in May 1983.

In 1988, preparations for the opening of the new museum building was heralded with the movement of the aircraft and other artifacts from inside the old hangars, and some of the outside displayed aircraft, into the new delta-shaped exhibit building. The move across the field into the new quarters went well. Unfortunately, a much anticipated and hoped for respite from outside static display was not to be in the cards at this time for the only remaining example of the Canadair North Star. However, she was not to be alone on the weather-washed tarmac. Parked alongside in relatively good condition were a Vickers Viscount of TCA, the last-built Canadair Argus, a Lockheed Jetstar, the final Avro Canada CF-100 Canuck flown by the military, and the prototype de Havilland Canada Dash-7. In a somewhat, worse-for-wear condition was a Bristol Beaufighter and a former RCAF Douglas Dakota IV.

After nearly forty years of being exposed to all of the weather elements that Eastern Ontario could unleash upon it, RCAF North Star 17515 had become an extremely weatherworn display exhibit, enduring internal vermin infestations and suffering some serious external damages. Along with the rubber anti-icing boots drying out, hardening and falling apart at a touch, the most noticeable was the loss of the complete exterior covering of the rudder. By the mid-1990s, only the basic framework structure of that rudder remained. Such a toll required somewhat urgent measures to be taken in an effort to prevent additional, potentially irreparable, damages from destroying the rest of this last surviving example of its type. What was left of the white upper cabin paint on the aircraft had helped to protect the aluminum skin surfaces from further corrosion damage and kept the interior temperature down during the hot, cloudless summer days.

A thorough refurbishing was deemed necessary to attempt to return this now one-of-a-kind aircraft back its original glory for Seen in July 1995, the rudder was all but gone. continued public display by the Museum. Over the years, (Andy Graham Photo via CASM) numerous Museum visitors, including former and then existing Canadair Limited employees, civilian and military personnel that had once been closely associated during their service careers and operations with the aircraft, along with some politicians, Museum staff and volunteers all clamored for something to be done. However, the required basic facilities, logistics planning, necessary materials, available manpower (staff and volunteers), and all- important funding and approvals were sorely lacking in which to attempt any type of major restoration effort on the aircraft at the time.

A willing and determined group of skilled tradesmen, dedicated volunteers, and very much needed governmental, private and public donor support, was required for a potentially really long, and an extremely demanding task – basically, restore the North Star.

Project North Star Establishment

Project North Star (PNS), a pilot volunteer restoration project, grew out of the efforts of Colonel Austin “Tim” Timmins, CD (ret.), a former RCAF North Star radio officer and navigator, and General Dave Adamson (ret.) to create the means to bring back to its former glory, the Museum’s North Star. In November 2001, National Aviation Museum volunteer Robert Holmgren (Project Coordinator and later PNS President) expanded the scope of the project to later include the other aircraft parked outside of the Museum with standards to be set by the progress of the North Star efforts. Holmgren’s proposal was that this restoration would be a collaborative effort between a wholly new volunteer organization, separate from that of the Museum’s long-time existing group of volunteers, and the Museum’s restoration staff. The Museum prepared a restoration plan and initiated fundraising by establishing the North Star Trust Fund. On the volunteer side, a steering committee evolved into the Project North Star Association of Canada, incorporated as a charity. The North Star Association assumed the responsibility for recruiting the necessary experienced volunteers and raising the funds needed to purchase tools, supplies, and equipment to be used by these volunteers. Mike Irvin, an experienced restoration expert employed by the Museum, was brought on board as the Project Manager to oversee the specialized newly recruited volunteers and their huge and daunting tasks at hand.

Project North Star Restoration

Dark clouds seemed to hang over the fate of the North Star during a first glance and evaluation of the restoration project in 2001. It was later decided that the almost derelict-looking aircraft was to be brought back to the same condition, configuration, and markings scheme it had been in upon its delivery to the Museum in 1965. (PNS Photo)

In May 2001, in order to preserve all of the weather-prone aircraft still being stored outside, the Federal Government finally allocated funds to design and construct a second building of 10,000 square metres (107,643 square feet) to house the recently re-named Canada Aviation Museum (CAvM) collection. The proposed new open-storage hangar, big enough to house the largest aircraft in the collection, the Canadair Argus and the North Star, would also provide protection to all of the other aircraft stored outside with additional display area for future exhibit acquisitions and other CAvM aircraft returning from display elsewhere. By December 2003, as part of the celebrations commemorating the historic 100th anniversary of the Wright Brothers’ first flight, the new artistically futuristic, airfoil-shaped Storage Hangar was finally unveiled in an official ceremony. Unfortunately, a proposed large-sized and fully equipped restoration and paint shop, originally planned for and intended to be built alongside the Storage Hangar, capable of handling the larger aircraft, could not be realized at this particular time due to lack of funds.

After a long period of careful organization and planning, all of the Museum’s aircraft that had been stored outside for so many years, along with many other aircraft and related artifacts from the main exhibit building finally had a new home. One by one, they were all methodically moved into their new quarters across the tarmac to dwell in the tungsten vapour-lit shelter of the new Storage Hangar.

In November 2005, North Star 17515 became the final aeroplane to be carefully manoeuvered through the large hangar doors of the newly named Storage Wing building. As seen in the Museum photos below during the push back into the cavernous hangar, ‘515 was assigned a spot in front of the Canadair Argus. To permit easy access to roll the plane out during the summer months for Project North Star work and public display activities, the aircraft was designated to be parked adjacent to the north-side hangar doors.

Each subsequent summer, restoration activities included, and for the time being, still do, working on the interior and exterior of the aircraft with solvents and preservation solutions. Such liquids as well as the preparatory sanding and corrosion removal are not permitted to be used or performed in any local enclosed environment, thereby necessitating the performance of these tasks on the tarmac outside of the Storage Wing. The much wanted and needed proposed restoration and paint shop may still be in the cards for future projects, but that’s best left to be determined by the powers-that-be who have, so far, been dedicated and so supportive of this sizable project.

Assigned restorative work tasks in the main cabin were best performed during the time of year when the aircraft is stored outside due to the fresh air and ample natural light available through the side windows and longer daylight hours in the work day. Otherwise, once inside the closed Storage Wing again for the dreary winter months, small flashlights and many portable neon lights are the only means of interior illumination, not providing nearly the amount of light as from a bright, sunny day in Ottawa.

On 5 October 2010, Canadair North Star 17515 once more saw the light of day. Restoration work was continuing on the engines, seen protected by the blue tarpaulins. Some interior forward fuselage tasks required the air ventilation hoses seen dangling from the side. Parked behind old “15” is a Storage Wing stablemate, the Canadair Argus, CAF serial 10742. (Bill Upton Photo) To the casual outside observer it may appear that progress on the restoration of the North Star aircraft is painfully slow. The hundreds of workers that originally built this aircraft are no longer available. The small, dedicated, volunteer restoration team must be appropriately lauded for all that they have managed to accomplish given the size and complexity of this particularly noble task. Unbridled support from the Museum community and gratis efforts by private and public sector contractors have been extraordinary.

As of the time of setting to work on this chronicle in August 2012, in this, the 65th year since the informal rollout of 17515, the interior wall accoutrements, soundproofing, insulation and padding of the North Star cockpit have been completely refurbished with some new-as-original trappings. All of the instrument panels, consoles and electronic equipment were delicately repaired or replaced, cleaned and restored back into their original locations, looking as fully functional as the day the aircraft was rolled out. Many missing instrument gauges, dials, and switches were scavenged from the museum’s North Star cockpit simulator, which had formerly been part of the cockpit of crashed RCAF C-54GM aircraft 17503. The formerly dilapidated co-pilot’s cockpit seat, freshly cleaned, immaculately reconditioned, and newly reupholstered by Kessels Upholstery Ltd. of Ottawa, had been re-installed to the rails at its former position. The pilot’s seat as well as the navigator’s and a central jump seat shall follow suit in due course making this a very crammed area, albeit, this was typical for the time. Once in place, they will look ready to accept a full flight crew. Even now, one might say that it almost has that new-plane smell about it!

Pesky Starlings had firmly established a condominium arrangement within the upper reaches of the cockpit and main cabin where generations of these small birds lived and died. In the lower regions of the aircraft, small four legged vermin reigned. In lieu of condo leases, the fouling fowls marked their territory with their signature “calling card”, as seen at left in a 2001 photo of the stain-damaged cockpit. At right, this photo from 2012 does the talking. (PNS and Bill Upton Photos)

The spotted pilot’s-side instrument panel coaming bears In the spotless, refurbished cockpit, seen here in August the biohazard remnants of the Starlings occupation 2012, note the new avian mascot some jokester perched when the cockpit was first viewed in 2001. (PNS Photo) atop the pilot’s coffee cup holder. (Bill Upton Photo)

With the pilot’s seat still removed to permit some work access and viewing of the uncluttered cockpit by distinguished guests and former North Star crews, the pristine cockpit area is cleaner than when it was newly built. (Bill Upton Photo)

Proceeding aft of the nearly fully restored and equipped cockpit, work was well underway on the forward portside crew rest / lounge area and adjacent lavatory, as well as in the space that housed the starboard galley. Astonishingly, the galley, with its exposed dual hotplates, had been located below and inboard of some of the aircraft’s wall-mounted oxygen fixtures, lines, and flow regulators! Certainly, different times!

The main cabin interior retains most of the worn fittings and solid fixtures along the sides of the fuselage for the installation of typical troop web seats of the era as well as the capability of carrying four tiers of litter patients. It has been proposed that the interior of this aircraft be finished in a combination of the troop seat and litter configurations. Down the length of the well-trodden wood floor are numerous metal tie-down points for many sizes of portable cargo. All such interior personnel and cargo configurations had been employed during this aircraft’s pivotal role in Korea’s Operation Hawk and in some domestic operations.

Looking forward in the empty cargo/passenger cabin in 2001, the United Nations emblems, Meanwhile, the forward and rear cargo bays, in the belly of formerly seen on the aft fuselage, are stored at the forward bulkhead. Small creature “stuff” had the fuselage, ahead of and aft of the wing, had been re- accumulated on the floor along the starboard side finished and equipped, appearing ready to accept the of the cabin. (PNS Photo) personal belongings of boarding passengers, aircraft spare parts, military paraphernalia and bulky packages destined for other far-flung locales. This is also where new oxygen tanks (empty), once used for crew and passengers, have been secured in their places. In sequence, portside Merlin 622 engines No. 1 and No. 2 have been removed from the aircraft, stripped down, cleaned, restored, rebuilt and remounted onto their respective bulkheads. The same procedure was in progress for starboard engine No. 3, with a planned re-installation onto the wing sometime in early 2013. Last, but not least, adjacent engine No. 4 will be brought up to the same relative “as new” condition as its wing mates. All four Hamilton Standard propeller assemblies have been refurbished by Hope Aero Ltd., in Mississauga, Ontario, at no cost, and were found to be good for static display only on the aircraft (meaning not to be run). At one time, very early in pre-restoration evaluations, it was thought that an engine and its propeller could be brought up to a condition where it could be run for demonstration purposes to those who wanted to reminisce or those who had never the opportunity to hear such a commotion. Unfortunately, due to corrosion found around the blade hubs, the unmuffled ear-splitting sound and fury of a Laid bare, Merlin engine No. 1 is seen on its maintenance stand following removal from the North Star inline V-12 Merlin 622 and its 3-bladed propeller aircraft by PNS crew in 2006. (Bill Upton Photo) will never more be heard and felt.

What most vehicle owners do weekly has become a somewhat thankless and largely unnoticeable task on the North Star that does not get the glory and attention that the interior restoration does. Dedicated volunteers take turns manually polishing nearly a half-century of oxidation and grime off the aircraft skin in a seemingly endless and exhausting effort. But, in the end, the near-mirror shine will be well worth it.

RCAF North Star C-54GM 17515 Specifications: (Some information from the Airframe Limitations placard in the cockpit of 17515)

Overall Length: 28.9 m (94 ft 9.5 in) Overall Wing Span: 35.8 m (117 ft 6 in) Overall Height: 8.4 m (27 ft 6.25 in) Fuselage Diameter: 3.2 m (10 ft 6 in) Main Cabin Floor Length: 14.2 m (46 ft 6 in) Main Cabin Floor Width: 2.64 m (8 ft 8 in) Main Cabin Height: 2.13 m (7 ft) Weight, Empty: 19,958 kg (44,000 lb) Maximum Take Off Weight: 33,113 kg (73,000 lb) Maximum Landing Weight: 28,804 kg (63,500 lb) Minimum Take Off Speed: 103 knots (191 km/h / 118 mph) Maximum Level Speed: 223 knots (413 km/h / 256 mph)

The polished nose of “15” reflects the Maximum Glide Speed: 254 knots (470 km/h / 292 mph) environment around her in a somewhat Service Ceiling: 10,973 m (36,000 ft) warped way during the restoration efforts at the CASM in 2010. (Bill Upton Photo)

Now for all to see at the “airplane museum” in Ottawa, the legacy of the many workers who initially toiled on North Star 17515, and all like her, shall be kept firmly alive due to the stalwart efforts of the volunteers and staff of Project North Star. In 2013, it will be ten years down and ten to go (or less) to the final goal. North Star 17515 Gallery of Art

Noted aviation artists Geoff Bennett, Don Connolly, and John Matthews graciously donated these paintings to the Project North Star group of volunteers at the Museum, depicting RCAF North Star 17515 in action during its long and distinguished service career.

(Original painting in the CASM Collection, courtesy (Original painting titled, “200 and ¼, on Sched” in CASM Geoff Bennett) Collection, courtesy Don Connolly)

(Original painting in the CASM Collection, courtesy Geoff Bennett)

Works Consulted

Campbell, Patrick J. At the End of the Final Line A Brief History of Aircraft Manufacturing at Canadian Vickers and Canadair from 1923 to 1984, Shoreline 2006.

Gould, D.G. and Daw, D.F. A Historical Account of the Research Activities of the Flight Research Laboratory of the National Research Council (1943- 1984), National Research Council Canada 1985.

Martin, Patrick with Griffin, John Royal Canadian Air Force Aircraft Finish and Markings 1947- 1968, Patrick Martin 2003.

Milberry, Larry Canada’s Air Force Volume 3, CANAV Books 2001.

Milberry, Larry Air Transport in Canada, CANAV Books 1997.

Milberry, Larry Sixty Years: The RCAF and CF Air Command 1924-1984, CANAV Books 1984.

Milberry, Larry The Canadair North Star, CANAV Books 1982.

Molson, Kenneth M. Canada’s National Aviation Museum, National Aviation Museum, and NMSTC Ottawa 1988.

Motiuk, Laurence Thunderbirds For Peace – Diary of a Transport Squadron, Larmot Associates 2004.

Pickler, Ron and Milberry, Larry Canadair The First 50 Years, CANAV Books 1995.

Valiquette, Marc-André Destruction of a Dream: The Tragedy of Avro Canada and the CF-105 Arrow, Volume 1, Imaviation June 2009.

CASI Log Special Edition December 1999, Volume 7, No. 5

Canadair publicity brochures and documents on the North Star and “Canadair Four” (author’s Collection)

Air Transport Command C-5 Standard Operating Procedures Manual (author’s Collection)

Log entries of Captain A.L. (Syd) Quickfall, and Colonel A.J. Timmins, regarding Korean Airlift operations on North Star 17515

Canadair North Star 17515 Operations Logs, Public Archives of Canada, compiled by D.C. Knight, 1993

Archived correspondence on North Star preservation by K.M. Molson, W/C R.V. Manning, G.G. Diamond and Arthur Laing, September / October 1963 and December 1965

Project North Star newsletters available at www.projectnorthstar.ca

Photos provided courtesy of Canadair Limited, via the author’s collection, unless otherwise indicated.

2012