From cobwebs to Interwebs: Uncovering vintage photos of the museum’s aircraft

4 m

May 12, 2021

Categories

Aviation

Photography and Film

Media

Article

By: Erin Poulton

Canada Aviation and Space Museum

A mid-sized biplane with distinctive yellow wings, photographed outdoors from the back right.

Photo Credit

Joe Poulton

The Stearman Speedmail, with its distinctive yellow wings. Before it was donated in 1970, the Speedmail was restored as a Canadian Airways mail delivery aircraft.

Every once in a while, something will remind me that we live in a small world filled with coincidences.

I was reminded again a few weeks ago. Like many people during this pandemic, I’ve been taking on long-overlooked projects. I’m sure that I’ve cleaned our nearly every cupboard and junk drawer. I recently started to “rescue” photos from Mom’s sticky magnetic albums — scanning and sorting them for safer storage.

Picture (head and shoulders) of a man wearing a plaid shirt, and resting his head on his closed hand.

Photo Credit

Joe Poulton

My father, Joe Poulton, in a snapshot taken in the late 1970s — a few years after his airplane photographs.

As Mom pulled out family albums, Dad mentioned that he had a box of photos somewhere in the basement, too. We’re never quite sure what we’ll find in Dad’s storage bins as, to put it politely, he has a penchant for hanging on to things. What we did find came as a great surprise. Among the books and models were envelopes containing colour photos of the aircraft I now work with every day, taken about a decade before I was born.

Back in the 1960s and 70s, the National Aviation Museum was located at Rockcliffe air station, the current site of the Canada Aviation and Space Museum. This collection has an interesting and complicated origin story — something that curator Rénald Fortier explored in his 2020 article about the Canada Aviation and Space Museum’s anniversary.

Both of my parents are from Ottawa, and they raised our family in the area. Dad would have been twenty-something when he took these photos — likely in the early 1970s — at public events such as Canada Day, Aviation Day, or Air Force Day. At that time, some of the museum’s older showpieces were moved outside for special occasions — something we likely wouldn’t see today!

I know that these photos aren’t necessarily unique. Many of you may well have shoeboxes, albums, or slide reels just like this in your own basements, especially if you are from the Ottawa area. Still, I was surprised to see our airplanes in this context, and thought it would be fun to share a few highlights.

A special thank you to Rénald for helping me to sort through all the images (over Zoom!), and filling in many of the gaps.

A small biplane, photographed outdoors from the back right, with a light gray utilitarian building in the background.

Photo Credit

Joe Poulton

Let’s start with a few First World War-era biplanes.

Here is the museum’s Sopwith 7F.1 Snipe. Recently conserved, this fighter is currently on display in the First World War area.

A large biplane, photographed outdoors from the back left, with a gray utilitarian building in the background.

Photo Credit

Joe Poulton

This just might be my favourite “flugzeug” (that’s German for airplane). This G.IV, built by Allgemeine Elektrizitäts Gesellschaft in 1918, is the world’s only surviving German multi-engine aircraft from the First World War.

You can see the Rockcliffe air base buildings in the background; they are no longer standing. These photos predate the construction of the current museum on the Rockcliffe site. They also came before construction of the smaller buildings, closer to the river, that still serve as museum technical and conservation spaces.

A small biplane is moved into place by a small yellow vehicle.

Photo Credit

Joe Poulton

Here we see the Nieuport 17 being moved into position for public viewing. In the past, I have been told, this Nieuport 17 was flown at public events.

Three old airplanes are lined up, facing forward, along the edge of a paved runway for public viewing.

Photo Credit

Joe Poulton

Lined up for display, from left to right: the Sopwith Snipe, the Sopwith Triplane, and a SPAD VII (no longer in the museum’s collection).

Photo Credit

Joe Poulton

The Stearman Speedmail, with its distinctive yellow wings. Before it was donated in 1970, the Speedmail was restored as a Canadian Airways mail delivery aircraft.

A small and rounded airplane, with a large tubular rocket engine on the top, sits at the edge of a paved runway.

Photo Credit

Joe Poulton

Some aircraft look odd to me, like this small Heinkel He 162 Volksjäger with its comparatively massive top-mounted jet engine. The museum currently has a Volksjäger on display in the Second World War area.

Looking down from a grassy area towards a building and aircraft. The Gatineau Hills are in the distance.

Photo Credit

Joe Poulton

I believe that this image was taken from the top of the “cliff” at Rockcliffe, looking down towards the airbase and the Ottawa River. The Avro Lancaster is visible through the clearing in the trees.

Front view of an airplane’s nose. The airplane’s wings are folded upward. Two men talk in the foreground.

Photo Credit

Joe Poulton

The Hawker Sea Fury looks impressive with its folded wings and eye-catching propeller. Folded wings allowed this naval aircraft to be more easily tucked onto aircraft carriers.

A small, rounded silver airplane, photographed from the left side, sits on a runway. A couple walks towards the aircraft.

Photo Credit

Joe Poulton

The de Havilland D.H.100 Vampire was designed at the end of the Second World War, as you can tell by its streamlined shape.

Left-side view of a jet airplane, sitting on a runway. Peeling paint is evident.

Photo Credit

Joe Poulton

This image shows the museum’s McDonnell F2H Banshee, prior to its restoration (which began in 1975). This detail was helpful in trying to date my father’s photographs.

A bright orange, rounded jet airplane, photographed from the left side, sits on a runway.

Photo Credit

Joe Poulton

Silver Star seems like an odd name for this particular Canadair T-33AN — it’s Day-Glo orange paint is certainly striking. I think Dad thought so too…he took quite a few pictures of this one!

A streamlined, pointy-nosed silver jet airplane, photographed from the left side, sits on a runway.

Photo Credit

Joe Poulton

The Lockheed F-104 Starfighter. Note how this design differs from the previous jet fighters. More sleek than rounded, this supersonic aircraft was one of NATO’s most used fighter bombers during the Cold War.

An odd-looking vehicle is sitting outdoors, behind a chain-link fence. The vehicle has black semi-circular sides that protrude above its orange body. A two-pane windshield seems to peek out of its folded structure.

Photo Credit

Joe Poulton

This picture threw me. It’s not a vehicle in our collection. My initial guesses were wrong — it’s not an insect, or a giant taco (this is why I’m not a curator).

Rénald was curious and did some digging. It looks as though this is the Hover-Jak HJ-105, a circular hovercraft with outer sections that could be folded for transport. The HJ-105 was built by Hover-Jak near Toronto, and only existed as a prototype. We wonder if it had been at Rockcliffe for some type of testing or review.

Whispering Loudly: An Update about the “Quiet Updates”

Image of a video chat taken from a computer screen. A girl appears onscreen, smiling and holding up a grid covered with coloured markings.

Testers in a dangerous time: Rethinking experience testing during a global pandemic

Five men, suited in their flight gear, walk towards the camera with a bomber airplane, facing forward and to the right, in the background.

The British Commonwealth Air Training Plan: Canada’s most important homefront contribution

A wide-angle view of a large space inside a museum, with white walls and a black floor. Colourful panels are visible, as well as a computer screen and a spacesuit inside a glass case.

Six steps for planning clear communication

“Worth Defending” – A brief look at the 1954 advertising campaign of a major Canadian aircraft manufacturing firm, Canadair Limited of Montréal, Québec, part 4

The advertisement “La liberté d’expression,” in English “Freedom of Speech,” published by Canadair Limited of Montréal, Québec, as part of its 1954 Worth Defending advertising campaign. Anon, “Canadair Limited.” La Presse, 13 April 1954, 25.

“Worth Defending” – A brief look at the 1954 advertising campaign of a major Canadian aircraft manufacturing firm, Canadair Limited of Montréal, Québec, part 3

“Freedom of Worship,” one of the advertisements issued by Canadair Limited of Montréal, Québec, as part of its 1954 Worth Defending advertising campaign. Anon., “Canadair Limited.” The Vancouver Province, 5 January 1954, 5.

“Worth Defending” – A brief look at the 1954 advertising campaign of a major Canadian aircraft manufacturing firm, Canadair Limited of Montréal, Québec, part 2

One of the advertisements issued by Canadair Limited of Montréal, Québec, as part of its 1954 Worth Defending advertising campaign. Anon., “Canadair Limited.” Toronto Daily Star, 6 October 1954, 4.

“Worth Defending” – A brief look at the 1954 advertising campaign of a major Canadian aircraft manufacturing firm, Canadair Limited of Montréal, Québec, part 1

A block of photographs showing some of the people involved in the bombing of beluga whales in the estuary and gulf of the St. Lawrence River. Anon., “La chasse aux marsouins [sic]. » Le Devoir, 15 August 1929, 6.

“The bomb that will kill the porpoise” – A shocking use of air power in interwar Québec: The bombing of the beluga whales of the St. Lawrence River, part 4

A typical pod of beluga whales, Hudson Bay, near Churchill, Manitoba, July 1999. Ansgar Walk, via Wikipedia.

“The bomb that will kill the porpoise” – A shocking use of air power in interwar Québec: The bombing of the beluga whales of the St. Lawrence River, part 3

The Franco Canadian physician / pilot Louis Cuisinier and one of the 45 or so kilogram (100 or so pounds) handmade aerial bombs with which he hoped to kill beluga whales. Anon., “La bombe qui tuera le marsouin.” La Presse, 5 August 1929, 11.

“The bomb that will kill the porpoise” – A shocking use of air power in interwar Québec: The bombing of the beluga whales of the St. Lawrence River, part 1

Several exhibition display cases, panels, and screens in a large, brightly-lit air hangar-style room with a high ceiling and tall, exposed metal walls.

Diane Pitre and Steven P. Deschamps’ LGBT Purge Stories Told at the Canada Aviation and Space Museum

An Institute for Aerospace Research staff member conducting an inspection on a Shuttle Remote Manipulator System, or Canadarm, around 2000. National Research Council Canada.

“It is only with the DAIS that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye” – A respectful look at a great Canadian aerospace invention, the Diffracto DAIS non destructive testing equipment, and a bit more, part 2

$A technician conducting the first corrosion detection trial, on a Boeing Model 727 test airframe, using a Diffracto DAIS-500 non destructive testing equipment, 1992. National Research Council Canada.$