Strana 36
CANADA 2002
take care of some business, he left me at the
nearby ‘Heritage Park’, which houses aircraft
that once served in the Canadian Air Force.
I gradually took pictures of aircraft placed on
pedestals like the Texan, Saber and Voodoo.
I was alone in the park, bundled up in
a toque and a jacket, because it was at least
twenty below zero outside. I noticed a police
car driving slowly behind me, watching my
photographic ‘catches’. I told myself that I‘m
probably in a public area, so it‘s likely just
a case of due diligence. I was standing,
about to take a picture of the last beauty,
a CF-104 Starfighter in gray-green camouflage,
mounted on a pedestal directly opposite the
headquarters building. I was looking for an
angle so that the building didn’t interfere and
the blue sky in the background like with the
other exhibits, so I searched for a position,
but in the end I give up and just took the shot.
I put my camera in my backpack in time to see
a guy about the size of a mountain, all in black,
get out of the car about twenty meters behind
me and heading my way. It flashed through
my head that I must have provoked him long
enough and the photo of the headquarters
building must have seemed suspicious to
him. He came over to me and asks me what
I was doing there and demanded documents.
I noticed to my amazement he was wearing
a short sleeved t-shirt.
I handed him my passport and told him that
I am waiting for Captain Girard. I tried to crack
a joke about whether or not he was cold, but he
just glared at me and asked if I had any other
documents. Fortunately, another cop walked
towards him and together they entered a small
building where the reception and security were
located. After a long twenty minutes, they both
come out and I got off without being arrested
with GiGi in our car. There I learned about the
measures taken after September 11, 2001, when
police were required to be much more vigilant
and that he had to explain to the policemen at
length that I really was not a threat We went
to try and get our appetites back by visiting
the hangar, where we are welcomed by ‘Frog’ -
a display pilot of the CF-5B and a former Demo
pilot on the Hornet in the 2000 season. He
showed me the last two airworthy aircraft of
this type and shocked me with the sentence:
‘Tomorrow we will fly in it together!’ He showed
me the cockpit and HUD, explaining the
symbology and what is where in the cockpit.
And since we were in a civilian hangar, I could
take photos to hallelujah and back including
a bunch of detailed shots. The machines were
in Aggressor schemes, camouflaged from
below in three shades of gray and blue-gray.
A false canopy was also painted on the bottom
of the aircraft, where the cockpit was. A simple
but effective measure to confuse the position
in the heat and confusion of combate, when
the bandit can be confused whether you are
turning away from him or towards him. We can
still see this trick on Canadian Hornets, but also
in Europe, for example on Hungarian Gripens or
Slovak Albatroses. That night I couldn’t sleep
much and the new day brought a beautiful
frosty morning with a blue sky. We arrived at
the airport and the weather suddenly began to
rapidly change to the point where it started to
snow. Frog showed me the old Bell phone on
his desk. He picked it up and to my amazement,
the thing was fully functional. He called the
weather forecast tower. The final verdict was
cruel: ‘You can‘t fly like that, there‘s a queue
for the whole day.’ I cursed and Frog explained
the rules to me. Passengers can only fly under
VFR, meaning in more or less sunny weather.
In the evening, Frog inviteed me to other target
rich environments, first taking us to a nearby
HOOTERS to get something to eat, and then
on to BOOMERS - a strip bar for a drink and
to massage the tired eyes. He told me what
a great place he was in now. Two pilots, two
machines - no operational flying, just the
pure joy of flying. I quite envied him. The next
day I at least get a ride in a Hercules. It was
a training flight far north. The destination was
a windy provincial airport with the only plane
in sight at the threshold of the runway – the
wreck of a Curtiss C-46 Commando transport
plane. After a touch and go we flew a level
flight along Hudson Bay to a nearby large lake,
where they wanted to show me polar bears, but
unfortunately they all must have gone south
for a break from the cold. After landing I said
goodbye to GiGi and got a new guide, Fuji, who
would take me on to Cold Lake.
There was a promise that the next stop on
my journey would truly be its highlight.
And they were absolutely right. Cold Lake is
the largest air base in Canada, both in terms of
the number of aircraft and units active there
and the scope of training. We found a squadron
of CT-155 Hawks there, ready to provide
advanced training for future supersonic pilots.
The largest group of pilots in the NFTC program
INFO Eduard36
September 2026
Canadair CF-116 Freedom Fighter
The author in the cockpit of a CF-116 Freedom Fighter; Bear is standing in front of the aircraft.