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Aviation

Delve into real-life accounts of aviation in the Second World War, learn about asteroids, and find tips on how to observe upcoming celestial events.

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A Westland Dragonfly of the Royal Navy’s Fleet Air Arm carrying a man dressed up as a witch for a special event, September 1962. CASM, Molson collection negative.

Is it an H-5? Is it a Dragonfly? No, it’s an S-51, Part 4

Rénald Fortier

Ingenium – Canada's Museums of Science and Innovation

Welcome back, gentle reader, and take a seat while yours truly gathers his thoughts. Do you remember the Dragonfly? In January 1947, a well known British aircraft maker bought a license to produce the Sikorsky S-51 and sell it around the globe, with the exception of North America, thus initiating decades of cooperation with the Sikorsky Aircraft Division of United Aircraft Corporation. This approach allowed Westland Aircraft Limited to bypass the expensive and time consuming design and

The museum’s S-51, Rockcliffe, Ontario, 2 June 1967. CASM, Molson collection positive.

Is it an H-5? Is it a Dragonfly? No, it’s an S-51, Part 3

Rénald Fortier

Ingenium – Canada's Museums of Science and Innovation

If this writer may be so bold, he has the feeling that the Sikorsky S-51 owned by the Canada Aviation and Space Museum, the very first helicopter flown by the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF), is a plain and simple S-51, bought pretty much off the shelf. In other words, one might not want to call it an H-5 – or a Dragonfly for that matter. And here lies a tale. The RCAF acquired three S-51s in 1947 to gain experience in helicopter operations in various terrains and under winter conditions. It

A Sikorsky HO3S of the U.S. Navy conducting a rescue exercise with a dummy aviator. CASM, negative number 32049.

Is it an H-5? Is it a Dragonfly? No, it’s an S-51, Part 2

Rénald Fortier

Ingenium – Canada's Museums of Science and Innovation

Welcome back, my reading friend, and relax. This won’t hurt a bit. The story of the Sikorsky S-51 began in December 1942 when the Vought-Sikorsky Aircraft Division of United Aircraft Corporation, a giant in the American aircraft industry, set out to design an observation helicopter for the U.S. Army Air Forces (USAAF) and the United Kingdom’s Royal Air Force. The new machine, the VS-327, was to be superior in performance to the Sikorsky R-4, the very first helicopter put in series production

The first helicopter accepted by the Canadian armed forces, the Sikorsky S-51 of the Canada Aviation and Space Museum, Spring 1947. Anon., “Advertising – Canadian Pratt & Whitney Aircraft Company Limited.” Canadian Aviation, August 1947, 2nd cover.

Is it an H-5? Is it a Dragonfly? No, it’s an S-51, Part 1

Rénald Fortier

Ingenium – Canada's Museums of Science and Innovation

While most of the prototypes found in the aircraft collection of the Canada Aviation and Space Museum, in Ottawa, Ontario, attract the attention of the specialised press when they first come out, the same cannot be said of the run of the mill aircraft on display or in storage. Given this state of affair, the writer of these lines was tickled pink when he came across this full page ad, published in the August 1947 issue of the monthly magazine Canadian Aviation.

One of the Bell Model 47s ordered by Lindberg-Ryan Air Exploration Company, Incorporated during a pre-delivery test flight at the Bell Aircraft Corporation factory in Niagara Falls, New York. Lundberg is in the right hand seat. The similarities between the helicopter in this photo and the one in the ad you saw at the start of this article are quite striking. Anon., “The aviation news.” Aviation, March 1947, 61.

Hans Lundberg, Canada’s greatest mineral detective, Part 5

Rénald Fortier

Ingenium – Canada's Museums of Science and Innovation

Greetings, patient reader, as we embark on the final chapter of this examination of the life of a truly original Canadian. Quite satisfied with the results of his 1946 expedition, Lundberg may have taken delivery of one, if not two specially equipped Bell Model 47s in 1947. He wanted to use these helicopters to conduct surveys in Canada, Mexico, the United States and Venezuela before too long. His son Sten was to accompany him on these expeditions. The information available does not allow us to

A Bell Model 47 used by Lundberg to test his equipment. This machine is the second commercially registered helicopter in the world. Anon. “Prospecting with helicopter and magnetics.” Science Illustrated, December 1946, 64.

Hans Lundberg, Canada’s greatest mineral detective, Part 4

Rénald Fortier

Ingenium – Canada's Museums of Science and Innovation

As interesting as his ground-based geophysical work was, Hans Lundberg is better known as a pioneer of airborne geophysical exploration. His work in this field had seemingly begun in Sweden, in 1920-21, with captive balloons, then large kites and, perhaps, airplanes. Even before the end of the Second World War, Lundberg was predicting that aviation would play a significance role in geophysical exploration, once peace came back. At first, he thought that airplanes would be the main tool

Hans Lundberg examining a geophysical map. Norman Carlisle, “World’s greatest prospector … he finds treasures by the billion.” Popular Science, May 1964, 60.

Hans Lundberg, Canada’s greatest mineral detective, Part 3

Rénald Fortier

Ingenium – Canada's Museums of Science and Innovation

Lundberg contributed the Allied defence effort during the Second World War. In 1942, working in secret with two Americans, he outlined new deposits of cryolite in Greenland. At the time, this mineral, a vital element in the production of aluminum, a highly strategic material produced in large quantity in Canada and elsewhere, could be mined in no other place on Earth. One of Lundberg’s most unusual contracts seemingly took place in the United States in the early 1930s, toward the end of

Hans Lundberg examining the magnetometer towed by a Beech Model 18 operated by the U.S. Geological Survey, Rockcliffe, Ontario, 12 September 1946. CASM, Spartan Air Services coll., negative no 35818.

Hans Lundberg, Canada’s greatest mineral detective, Part 2

Rénald Fortier

Ingenium – Canada's Museums of Science and Innovation

Welcome back, my reading and slightly impatient friend. Let us pick up where we left off with a brief bio of the main character of this article, Hans Torkel Fredrik Lundberg, a gentleman born in Malmö, Sweden, on 22 July 1893. While in his teens, this adventurous lad flight tested a gilder made of bamboo and wrapping paper by jumping off a cliff overlooking the Baltic Sea. Some trees broke Lundberg’s fall, possibly saving his life. He got off with a broken collarbone. Around 1918, having

Anon. “Advertising – Bell Aircraft Corporation.” Aero Digest, July 1947, 82.

Hans Lundberg, Canada’s greatest mineral detective, Part 1

Rénald Fortier

Ingenium – Canada's Museums of Science and Innovation

While it is true that working at an institution like the Canada Aviation and Space Museum can be challenging at times, it is equally true that the resources and treasures it preserves are unequalled in Canada. Its library, for example, is the best publicly accessible library of its type in the country. The information contained in the hundreds of thousands of magazine pages on its mobile stacks is truly awe inspiring. Once in a while, if one is lucky, it is possible to bring together several

Churchill Rocket Range

The Black Brant Rocket

Churchill Northern Studies Centre

Today the Churchill Rocket Range looks out of date and abandoned. Although it may seem that way, this was not always the case. In the 1950’s, the International Geophysical Year (IGY) and the Cold War created a fascination for space exploration. The idea of setting up the IGY was accepted after Stalin’s death in 1953 because the Soviet Union had interrupted scientific communication between the East and West. These events led to great scientific collaborations. The interest and intrigue of the

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