Sky-high dreams for an old CF-100

[CD]

Sky-high dreams for an old CF-100

Paul Wilson, The Hamilton Spectator
Wednesday, October 28, 2009

One day last week, the silver CF-100 fighter jet at Hamilton airport was all set to make its first journey in a long time.

It had sat on a stone pedestal for more than 25 years, in the parking lot of the RCAF 447 Wing clubhouse. After all that time, it's possible some took it for granted, didn't know that this was Canada's pioneer jet, the Cold War plane that left the pokey propeller era behind.

The CF-100 Canuck wasn't perfect. It got called the Clunk. Other nicknames, the Lead Sled, the Zilch, the Beat. Some thought it didn't handle too well.

But for years the CF-100 -- at a top speed 888 km/h -- scoured the Great White North for Soviet intruders.

Starting in the early 1950s, the Avro Canada plant in Malton built 692 CF-100s. They were used mostly by the Royal Canadian Air Force and retired in 1981.

It was not then just a matter of selling off a used fleet to the highest bidder. Canada didn't want these fighters in the hands of some rogue state. Besides, they weren't easy to manoeuvre or maintain. Crashes could mean lawsuits.

So they scrapped them all, turned them into beer cans.

Well, not all of them. There are more than 20 CF-100s on display. Yes, Hamilton has one. And Edmonton, Calgary, Winnipeg, Halifax, Moncton, Toronto, Ottawa, Duxford in England, Brussels in Belgium, plus a few in the States.

Not one of these planes still flies. Canada castrated them. Cutting the wing bolts will do it.

Of course, anyone with the wallet and the will could work around that.

Markham's Al Rubin, 70, is such a man. He served with the RCAF, went on to run a successful advertising business. He owns about 20 planes.

He's a life member of Hamilton's Warplane Heritage Museum and knew all about the 447 Wing next door and its CF-100.

The fighter arrived in the early '80s, erected to remember those who passed through the Commonwealth air training program during the war.

The CF-100 stood out front for many of the 447's good years, when the club hosted balls, breakfasts, regular Battle of Britain nights.

But then the club struggled. Vets died off. And the clubhouse, while a charming throwback to the '40s, let the rain leak in, the heat leak out.

Besides, the 447 was just a tenant. The lease was up and Hamilton airport wanted the land.

So the club is about to move down the road into Mount Hope, into the old Lee's Chinese restaurant.

And Rubin said that in return for the CF-100, he would cover the 447's rent at the new place for the first year -- $27,000.

Rubin's mission is to make that plane the one CF-100 in the world that can fly.

The work would take place at the Warplane Heritage Museum and the plane could remain there on loan.

Rubin hopes to locate old CF-100 mechanics. And he thinks the plane could attract fresh recruits to the museum, more interested in the jet age.

But first, of course, he needs to get the plane over to the museum. He had a plan. Bring in a crane, strap a harness around the CF-100, cut that old jet loose from the pedestal, then tow it over.

The job began first thing last Wednesday morning. Everything was going right. When they lifted the plane into the air around noon, it did get tail-heavy. There was water in there, but it drained out.

The crane placed the plane gently on the road. It had been towed maybe half a kilometre, Rubin says, "when the light came on." Ahead, two telephone poles, about four metres too close together.

No way was the CF-100 going to squeeze between them. The jet retreated and is now back on that parking lot.

It may be that the wings have to come off, a big job. Rubin is still brainstorming, but one way or another, that jet's going next door.

Restoration could be slow and expensive. Rubin's view on that? "It doesn't matter."

* * *

On Sunday, Nov. 1, the 447 parades to its new home. There will be a blessing of the old quarters at 2 p.m., then a procession down Airport Road to Mount Hope, with pipes and drums, a team of Clydesdales, a vintage Packard and a Harvard flyby.

The ribbon cutting at the other end, 1 1/2 kilometres away, will have to be outside. A long delay in getting a building permit meant renovations are behind. The club hopes to get inside by mid-December.

[Crown_n_Coke]

Haliburton, Ontario also has one on display and has since the early 1970's.

[MUSKEG]

Wow that Hamilton airport is growing in leaps and bounds huh. With all the businesses and stuff that been removed to make way for expansion it must be a new destination for international flights. Either that or the operators are idiots.

[R1830]

A flyable Clunk would be amazing, Good luck to them!!

I saw it getting lowered down on to the road when I got home last week. I thought it was a shame to lose it, but now that it is going to Warplane Heritage for restoration and will be staying in Hamilton I think that is outstanding!!

[MZUNGO]

and there not one but TWO in the bustling metropolis of North Bay

[Bushav8er]

Excellent! Be great to see even one of those in the air again. Last one I saw flying was in Cold Lake in about '81 though they flew them longer into the '80s. It may not appear as slick or fast as some others of the period but it is a beautiful thing in the air...and its 100% Canadian.

[SeptRepair]

There is one also sitting at Comox in their airpark.

[beaverbob]

There is one also sitting at Comox in their airpark.

you beat me to it.
Bob

[l_reason]

I know of some CF-100 parts, all parts of prototype #2 that crashed on a local farm. There is now a 2200' grass strip now. You can still see the hole it made in the ground. The Owner of the farm used a metal detector to find bits and pieces that have come to the surface. There is supposed to be 2 engines still deep down in the muck.

http://www.avroland.ca/al-cf100.html
"The Second prototype 18102 (FB-K) was finished in July 1950 and introducted the wingtip fuel tanks. This aircraft was delivered to the Central Experimental and Proving Establishment in Rockliffe, Ontario in October of 1950; 18102 crashed around 10:30 am 5 April 1951 into some swampy land just east of Highway 402 in Caradoc Township killing pilot Flight-Lieutenant Bruce Warren, 28, of Toronto and Avro engineer Robert Ostrander of Brampton (the crash happened the same day the aircraft was officially 'delivered' to the RCAF).
The cause of the crash was attributed to the crew losing consciousness at a high altitude, possibly from a oxygen mask failure. The prototype aircraft was not equiped with ejection seats nor did it have controls in the rear seat position."

[yvanrac]

I believe there's also one in Val-d'Or, Quebec.

[Bushav8er]

Sorry. I don't get it. Why the interest in where you've seen them and who has one? Yes, there are several still around, mostly on pedestals.
The interesting part, if everyone missed it is this-

Rubin's mission is to make that plane the one CF-100 in the world that can fly.

[Rotten Apple #1]

I grew up the son of a former Air Division Sabre Pilot ("Ya can tell a Sabre pilot, but ya can't tell em much..."), so my DNA favours these (http://www.spaads.org/File0015.jpg):

#1 Air Division Sabre Flyby.jpg (67.71 KiB) Viewed 5970 times

,

but if this fellow can get a CF100 flyable, well, where do I donate?

Per Ardua Ad Astra

[Bushav8er]

I grew up the son of a former Air Division Sabre Pilot ("Ya can tell a Sabre pilot, but ya can't tell em much..."), so my DNA favours these

Agreed, and thankfully these guys have one they fly - http://www.vintagewings.ca - Hopefully we can add the CF100 to the list.

[Old Dog Flying]

JD: I was the radar controller that "ran" this gaggle down the runway at Zweibrucken...took one hell of a big hunk of airspace to turn them onto final then down the centreline before handing them off to Baden!

I too love the Sword but the thought of a "Clunk" back in the air is one great big expensive dream.

Controller 13, Zweibrucken

[RFlyer]

Way back when I was at Central Technical School in Toronto, the Airframes & Powerplant section (adjacent to Harbord St) had a CF-100 as well. Don't know if they still do, that was > 30 years ago.

[Rotten Apple #1]

ODF: Mein vater was/is Schooner69 (his 434 Callsign at Zweibrucken) on here (busy building an RV in his garage at present). He bailed out of tail 710 in about 62/63 after it tossed a turbine blade.

Saw an F-86 fly by in Cold Lake at the trooping of the colors for 434 in the mid to late 70's. Calgary lawyer owned it at the time, IIRC. Very beautiful formation aircraft. Missed the tour this summer.

I believe 434 flew the clunks as well, did they not?

[Old Dog Flying]

JD: Schooner 49 is just across from me at Langley...and he is the local RV Guru with 8 completed builds. We were talking one day and I convinced hin to put his callsign on the cowling..Gold lettering on Dark Red and White really stands out. He flew 104s then went airlines.

I have the Sqn history book in front of me...post WWII they flew F-86s, CF-5s and CF-104s but not the "Clunk".

"Snowflake One"...its a long story

[Invertago]

I love how Canada loves to chop up and bury our history. Arrow anyone? Wish we could just moth ball something someday.

[SeptRepair]

Sorry. I don't get it. Why the interest in where you've seen them and who has one? Yes, there are several still around, mostly on pedestals.
The interesting part, if everyone missed it is this-

Rubin's mission is to make that plane the one CF-100 in the world that can fly.

The reason I posted the information about the one in Comox is anytime a person is trying to put back a rare aircraft into flying condition it is good to know who has the same aircraft and thus establish contacts. Somebody might have that ellusive part your looking for that just might save the day.

[Bushav8er]

Sorry. I don't get it. Why the interest in where you've seen them and who has one? Yes, there are several still around, mostly on pedestals.
The interesting part, if everyone missed it is this-

Rubin's mission is to make that plane the one CF-100 in the world that can fly.

The reason I posted the information about the one in Comox is anytime a person is trying to put back a rare aircraft into flying condition it is good to know who has the same aircraft and thus establish contacts. Somebody might have that ellusive part your looking for that just might save the day.

That's fair. I wasn't trying to single out you, or anyone in particular, just making a comment. The list on the Avroland site (link posted above by 'l_reason') seems pretty complete and includes the locations mentioned.

[sidestick stirrer]

Aren't we overlooking a Clunk a little closer to home, ODF and Jonny Dangerous?

Snowflake Six...

[Old Dog Flying]

There is a Mk3 at the Museum of Flight at Langley Airport.

Hi Scott! aka Snowflake 6

[MichaelP]

As a 'foreigner' I too would want to see a CF 100 fly again.
This socialist idea of smashing things to make them unairworthy is a sin against all who respect aviation history and all those who had anything to do with such aircraft.
I've met many Clunk pilots, they're a good humoured bunch with a lot of stories.
Wouldn't we want to see something of ourselves in the air?
Like the Battle of Britain flight, and the CWH Lancaster, it would be great for those that worked on and flew in the cold war Canucks to have their efforts honoured by a flying example.

[sidestick stirrer]

One of the nicest restorations of a Clunk was done at RAF Duxford, I saw it torn down in their shop many years ago and now it is hung from the ceiling in their newest building, a place of prominence, and it looks pristine in its authentic camo paintjob.
When I was a PMQ brat over in 4 wing, there was lots of them in the sky in the early sixties, before the Zippers came and scared them all to the dump in Prestwick...
I remember seeing large piles of something on fire, my folks said they were the wingtip rocketpods for the Clunks being disposed of.
An intact Clunk simulator was for sale at a scrap dealer just off the approach end of 06L in Toronto decades ago, don't know where it went.

[BowWow]

Hi! New to the forum, Googled this thread while looking for CF-100's still flying.

I'm a 409th brat, conceived in Cold Lake and born in Comox in 1956. My dad, Vede Gilchrist, was a CF-100 pilot there. We transferred to Penhold in 1958, where dad became a flight instructor, flying the Harvard. He left the Air Force in 1961. He's still living, and I thought it would be cool to see the CF-100 in flight in person again. I was sad (but not surprised) that there are none currently flyable, so I'm very interested in the restoration project mentioned in the op.

There is a Canuck on a Stick in Nanton, Alberta, at the Lancaster museum there. I haven't visited the museum yet, but as was mentioned previously, it's always helpful to know where they are, just in case.

Here's a CF-100 story for you:

One day my dad was banking into his final approach in Comox during a thunderstorm when a lightening strike on the wingtip fired the missiles. They strafed the runway and hit the fire hall, destroying a brand new fire truck. In the investigation that immediately followed the accident it was determined that dad had never opened the firing switch cover, thereby exonerating him! (He tells it better!)

Anyway, if anyone has any contact information for the fellow doing the restoration, please post. I'd like to learn more!

Thanks!

Steve