Crowds at the Canadian Museum of Flight witnessed a piece of history on Friday morning as a retired Conair Firecat Air Tanker made its final flight through 91原创 skies.
Two fly-overs and a ceremonial water drop over 91原创 Regional Airport marked its last journey before the red plane was parked at the Canadian Museum of Flight.
The Firecat, which was donated to the flight museum by Abbotsford-based Conair Aviation, is the greatest acquisition the centre has ever made, according to Bruce Friesen, vice president of the Canadian Museum of Flight.
鈥淥ur job as a museum is to bring British Columbia鈥檚 aviation history into the future, to make sure it doesn鈥檛 disappear,鈥� said Friesen.
鈥淭his plane is B.C. aviation history. For all of us at the museum, this is perhaps the most useful exhibit we could possibly have. We are just so excited.鈥�
Originally built as a CS2F Tracker aircraft in the 1950s, the plane was used to hunt submarines off the deck of the Royal Canadian Navy鈥檚 HMCS Bonaventure during the Cold War. When the military retired the fleet in the 1970s, Conair bought the planes and converted them to Firecats to battle fires. They were retired from service in Canada this year, although some are still operating in France.
Obtaining one of the planes for the museum has been a 10-year process for the plane鈥檚 final pilots, Bill Findlay, a long-time volunteer with the museum, and Ray Horton, a pilot with Conair for more than 30 years.
The pilots, who are also next-door neighbours, made it their ultimate goal to have a Firecat in 91原创 as soon as the planes were retired.
They wanted to bring the 鈥渁irplane home to our original home,鈥� since Conair Aviation originated from 91原创鈥檚 Skyway Air Services, which operated out of 91原创 Airport in the 1960s.
鈥淚t means so much to the museum to have the aircraft here,鈥� Findlay said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 just the thrill of a lifetime. I鈥檝e been involved in flying for 45 or 50 years and this is right up there with one of those big, big days.鈥�
It鈥檚 a big moment for Conair, too, Horton added.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a real pleasure for us because this was an incredibly successful airplane in our fleet. It鈥檚 an icon from our fleet, it鈥檚 been in our service for over 30 years,鈥� he said. 鈥�
To see them retire is a bit of a tear-shedder, but at the same time we know we are going to have it here on display for people for many, many years to come.鈥�
This was also Findlay鈥檚 and Horton鈥檚 first flight together, making that moment even more memorable for the two of them.
鈥淟iving next to Bill for so long, we鈥檝e never actually flown together,鈥� Horton said. 鈥淭his was our first flight. It鈥檚 a real pleasure to finally get in the sky and do a flight like this in this airplane.
鈥淲e鈥檒l be looking back on this for years from now.鈥�
