2012 — It Was a Vintage Year

Aug. 16

From the bizarre appearance in the Egyptian desert in April of a Kittyhawk that looks an awful lot like ours, to Chris Hadfield's end-of-year rocket ride to the International Space Station (ISS), 2012 turned out to be the busiest and best year for Vintage Wings to date. We honoured more veterans, started more outreach programs and signed up more volunteers than ever before. It seemed as though every weekend brought us new friends, exciting firsts, proud dedications, and a stronger purpose.

You can't turn on the television in the last week of every year without being bombarded with the Top Ten Hockey Fights, the Top Ten Celebrity Meltdowns, the Top Ten Coach's Rants, the Top Ten Political Gaffes or the Top Ten Ice Road Trucker Rollovers. It gets to be a parody of itself – I am still waiting for the Top Ten Top Ten Lists of 2012, but haven't seen that yet.

Top-Ten-itis – it hits us every year over the holidays. I drank lots of fluids (mostly Single Malt), took a bottle full of ibuprofen, wore sweaters, stuck cloves and garlic up my nose, but I still came down with a bad case of this debilitating disease. Earlier this week, felled by delirium and wracked by nostalgia, I wrote our 2012 Top Ten list and, with the help of our Chairman of the Board Todd Lemieux and our President Rob Fleck, we want to tell you what it means to us and to Canada. These two men can offer a unique perspective on our accomplishments, not just because they have demonstrated astounding commitment to this enterprise, but because they have a rare combination of abilities – both are warbird pilots, warbird owners, high time aviators, successful businessmen and have military backgrounds. Oh, and both are exceedingly handsome.

You won't find wardrobe malfunctions, drunken burger-eating unravelling, moronic Bugatti Veyron crashes, Wiki-leaks, hockey goon sucker punches, babies that smoke cigarettes or recorded telephone racist rants – just proud moments and real accomplishments addressed by three of Canada's aviation leaders.

Here we go, counting down from ten.

In February, we heated up the vintage warbird world here in Ottawa by opening our first-ever off-campus Vintage Wings Gear-Up store. The amazingly supportive folks at the Ottawa International Airport Authority, headed up by chief executive Paul Benoit, then a member of the Vintage Wings board, worked with us to open a small boutique at the baggage claim area at Ottawa's award-winning terminal.

Ottawa business press and local news people were on hand to see what Mike Potter, a local business icon, was doing in his “retirement”. The result was wide coverage in the local press and ribbon cutting press conference.

We knew we would be using this small sales spot to get our feet wet and to test out the market while getting accustomed to sales technologies and schedules. Our ultimate goal was to learn and then move to the secure side of the terminal where departing passengers have more time to shop and buy gifts for their families. Later in the year, under the retail leadership of our new Supervisor of Retails Sales, Agata Archangielska, we opened a kiosk at one of the region's largest retail shopping centres.

We look forward to more stores and getting the message of our veterans out... one t-shirt at a time.

Todd Lemieux comments: Vintage Wings is so much more than just a hangar of airplanes. Our talented staff is always innovating and pushing the limits with new ideas. The opening of our Gear-Up store at the Ottawa airport is just another natural expansion of our unique ability to tell the stories behind these wonderful heritage aircraft and make them relevant to today’s culture.

Rob Fleck comments: Though we are by no means Abercrombie and Fitch, the revenue from the Gear-Up store will be leveraged to help us invest in Canada's youth today for a stronger Canada tomorrow.

Paul Benoit (right), President and CEO of the Ottawa International Airport Authority and Michael Potter, Founder of Vintage Wings of Canada were both on hand to cut the ribbon that signalled the opening of the Gear-Up Shop. Paul Benoit and his airpo… — Paul Benoit (right), President and CEO of the Ottawa International Airport Authority and Michael Potter, Founder of Vintage Wings of Canada were both on hand to cut the ribbon that signalled the opening of the Gear-Up Shop. Paul Benoit and his airport staff have been huge supporters of Vintage Wings of Canada since day one. The airport earned the distinction of placing 1st among airports in North America, and 2nd in the world (for airports that serve between 2 and 5 million passengers) in customer satisfaction. Photo: Peter Handley

The Gear-Up store brand is one we hope to migrate across the country, not only accompanying our touring aircraft, but by opening boutiques in other cities and their airports.

The Gear-Up Christmas-time kiosk at the massive Place d'Orleans shopping complex in Ottawa. Small, easily stocked and in the flow of shoppers, the Gear-Up kiosk proved to be a winning idea. Photo: Agata Archangielska — **The Gear-Up Christmas-time kiosk at the massive Place d'Orleans shopping complex in Ottawa. Small, easily stocked and in the flow of shoppers, the Gear-Up kiosk proved to be a winning idea.** Photo: Agata Archangielska

A seventy-year old mystery is solved when a time capsule–like P-40 Kittyhawk emerges from the sands of time in Egypt. It then becomes an internet sensation for Vintage Wings, which is the first to identify it as that of 260 Squadron and an aircraft once painted in the same markings as our own Wing Commander Stocky Edwards Kittyhawk.

An oil exploration crew, deep in the remotest and least inhabited region of the Egyptian Sahara Desert, came across an astonishing sight – a time capsule in the form of a crash-landed RAF P-40 Kittyhawk, undisturbed for the past 70 years. The story began to leak slowly to the most-connected of the warbird world. Richard Allnutt, Peter Handley and Dave O'Malley were among the first to pick up on the story as it emerged in the aviation forums.

Using his knowledge of Adobe Photoshop, Vintage Wings of Canada photographer Richard Mallory Allnutt was able to manipulate one of the oil exploration team's photos to reveal the aircraft's stunning identity. Of all the P-40s built during the Second World War, this nearly intact wreckage was marked with the same 260 Squadron markings and aircraft code letter as our own Wing Commander Stocky Edwards P-40 Kittyhawk – HS-B. This was an aircraft that went missing on a flight to a repair depot almost 70 years to the day. Flown by Flight Lieutenant Dennis Copping, it and Copping were never seen again until this year.

Though it was not our aircraft in the desert, nor our discovery, we led with the discovery of its identity on our Vintage News weekly story. That's how this story qualifies for the Top Ten list, for our website received over 200,000 visits over the next four weeks. Our site and the story were quoted on the Huffington Post, the British press, Yahoo news, several television networks and radio shows. We did interviews via phone from Israel to Vancouver. It was a perfect example of getting out ahead of a story, making it yours even if it isn't, and driving the world to our website. It follows as second to the 300,000 hits we got after running the Lower Than a Snake's Belly in a Wagon Rut low flying story.

Todd Lemieux comments: It’s no surprise that, with the discovery of the P-40 Kittyhawk in the sands of Egypt, it is Vintage Wings' collective knowledge that first identifies it as being from 260 Squadron and one which Stocky Edwards flew. Vintage Wings is quickly becoming one of the “go to” organizations in the world for warbird knowledge.

Rob Fleck comments: Through our own Kittyhawk HS-B, we have been telling the story of true leadership, civic duty and perseverance for years. Men like Stocky Edwards and Dennis Copping gave up bright futures to push back the black tide of Nazism so long ago. The values that they embodied are ones we will share with the youth of today. Thanks to our outreach programs this summer, some worthy air cadets will get the chance to fly in the very same aircraft that Copping and Edwards flew in training and even in combat. How terribly satisfying to have the world say, through the 200,000 visits to our site, “Thank You Vintage Wings for reminding us – once again.”

Photographer and history enthusiast Richard Allnutt torqued the colour on a photo of the fuselage to better see the aircraft's markings. We can just make out the “HS” to the left of the roundel (with the tops of the verticals of the “H” and the top curve of the “S” faint as well as the horizontal stroke of the “H”. To the right of the roundel, the aircraft letter “B” has left a ghosted image after being scoured away over the years. Photo: Jakub Perka

The pilot of the lost P-40 Kittyhawk was Flight Lieutenant Dennis Copping. Copping, hundreds of miles from assistance, without water or food and in 40+ degrees Celsius heat, had no chance whatsoever. He attempted to get the radio working and to shel… — The pilot of the lost P-40 Kittyhawk was Flight Lieutenant Dennis Copping. Copping, hundreds of miles from assistance, without water or food and in 40+ degrees Celsius heat, had no chance whatsoever. He attempted to get the radio working and to shelter from the searing sun, but in time found himself attempting a walk to safety. He made it only 8 kilometers before he died of thirst and exposure. An Italian recovery team was able to find his remains and have them repatriated... as well as the P-40, which at last look, was recovered and placed in a shipping container, ready for shipping to the RAF. Photo: RCAF

Vintage Wings of Canada has a program called “In His Name”, unique to the warbird world. Each of our 18 historic aircraft is dedicated to a great Canadian aviator with a strong operational or training connection to that particular aircraft. Our Kittyhawk was already dedicated to Stocky Edwards, but in honour of the sacrifice that Dennis Copping paid while flying another Kittyhawk HS-B, we have co-dedicated the aircraft to Stocky's squadron mate. Kittyhawk pilot and aircraft manager, Dave Hadfield, took two photos of Dennis Copping along with him on his journey this summer to southeastern Ontario's Camp Borden Air Show. Not only did he tell the story of Copping's service and mystery solved, he took photos of these people with Copping, keeping his memory alive. Photo: Dave Hadfield

Speaking of Stocky... we get the chance to honour him at our Annual Members' Gala in November.

At the start of November, Vintage Wings of Canada hosted the Third Annual Members Gala. It was the best yet, and Carolyn Leslie and her crew are to be commended for an exceptional soirée enjoyed by all 150 guests in attendance. As is our tradition, the climax of the evening's festivities and formalities is the raising of a commemorative banner to honour one of Canada's great aviators of the Second World War. The honour is always a surprise for the honoured guest attending.

This year, with Warbirds of the Med, a year-long focus on the major aerial battles of North Africa, Malta and the Mediterranean, we selected the much-loved and much-storied Wing Commander James Francis Edwards, known by the nickname “Eddie” during the war and as “Stocky” after the war. Stocky was planning to attend, but with one week to go, he had to cancel his trip for a small medical operation. Luckily, his daughter Dorothy and his granddaughter Jesse were still able to attend. RCAF Chief of the Air Staff Lt. General Yvan Blondin introduced Stocky's story and Dave O'Malley, Vintage Wings brand manager, had the honour of telling the audience of Stocky's career and meaning to Canadians.

Todd Lemieux comments: There is no higher honour at Vintage Wings than to have a banner in your honour raised in the hangar. To have this done places you in the company of Canadian heroes like Max Ward, Charley Fox and Bill McRae. It is truly a hall of fame for great Canadian aviators. It was a magical evening to be with Stocky Edwards' family and to see him honoured in this fashion. Stocky combines all the attributes that we need in a Canadian role model. His leadership, tenacity, compassion, Saskatchewan common sense, wisdom and inclusive personality are qualities that all Canadians could learn from. It’s men like Stocky that have woven our strong collective Canadian social fabric.

Rob Fleck comments: There is a saying that goes something like this: “At the time of greatest slaughter, the great avenger is being born.” In a crisis, natural leaders always have a habit of surfacing to save the world. Like Winston Churchill, Stocky was a leader the world needed at time of great global stress. His lesson is one we will teach to young Canadians this coming summer and for all the years to come.

The now famous photograph of then Squadron Leader James Francis “Eddie” Edwards in Italy in 1943 with the Vintage Wings of Canada Warbirds of the Med theme graphic for this year. Photo: RCAF — **The now famous photograph of then Squadron Leader James Francis “Eddie” Edwards in Italy in 1943 with the Vintage Wings of Canada *Warbirds of the Med* theme graphic for this year**. Photo: RCAF

Though Stocky could not make the cross-Canada trip from Comox, British Columbia, his daughter, Dorothy (dressed as Rosie the Riveter) and his granddaughter Jesse (dressed as a WAC) were in attendance, making the evening especially poignant. As the banner travels to the ceiling, Jesse and her mother Dorothy look on with pride and some emotion – it was a beautiful moment. Photo: Peter Handley

After the tribute to their father, Dorothy and Jesse pose with two of Canada's outstanding leaders of today – Vintage Wings of Canada's founder, Michael Potter and Chief of the Air Staff, Lieutenant General Yvan Blondin. Photo: Peter Handley

The 2012 Wings over Gatineau–Ottawa en vol Air Show was 2 days long and a huge success.

The single largest project taken on by Vintage Wings of Canada each year is our annual air show, known as Wings over Gatineau–Ottawa en vol. The second that the last bag of garbage was collected in 2011, and tossed into a dumpster, we washed our hands and got down to planning the 2012 version of the show. In 2011, we had nearly 20,000 spectators for the single day show. The only way we could get more people on site, would be to make the show a two-day event and try to spread the crowd out. This year, despite the fact that we doubled the price of admission in order to do better than break even, we attracted a record 30,000 people over two days.

The event took the collective effort of dozens of key volunteers over a year and the three-day transfusion of work from hundreds of other volunteers. The entire team was led by Carolyn Leslie who, year after year, delivers a superb combination of diligent work, promises kept, motherly kindness, inspiration, teamwork and organization.

Todd Lemieux comments: Air shows don’t just happen. A massive logistical and planning effort, Wings over Gatineau–Ottawa en vol, is the culmination of a year's worth of work by our staff and it is our largest volunteer effort of any single day of the year. From the pilots in the cockpit to the overworked people parking cars, it is the dedication of our staff and volunteers that makes this event come off flawlessly and without incident.

Rob Fleck comments: It takes huge organizational skills to put on an event for 30,000 people. From junior hockey teams to uniformed air cadets, hundreds of young Canadians in our region, both Francophone and Anglophone, were exposed to the grass roots concepts of how to be organized, of civic duty and, best of all, of leadership in the field.

One of the big thrills of the Wings over Gatineau–Ottawa en vol Air Show this year was the aggressive flight demonstration put on by Captain Patrick “Paco” Gobeil. Photo: Richard Mallory Allnutt — **One of the big thrills of the *Wings over Gatineau–Ottawa en vol Air Show* this year was the aggressive flight demonstration put on by Captain Patrick “Paco” Gobeil.** Photo: Richard Mallory Allnutt

The Wings over Gatineau–Ottawa en vol Air Show received a huge shot in the arm over the last two years when we were selected for an appearance by the RCAF's Snowbirds. The Snowbirds in your air show line-up is like having the Rolling Stones at your music festival – a guarantee of a good crowd and a good show. Unfortunately, because we have had them two years in a row, they won't be back in 2013. We have our fingers crossed that we could entice Jerry Yagen's new Mosquito to come North. Photo: Richard Mallory Allnutt — The *Wings over Gatineau–Ottawa en vol Air Show* received a huge shot in the arm over the last two years when we were selected for an appearance by the RCAF's Snowbirds. The Snowbirds in your air show line-up is like having the Rolling Stones at your music festival – a guarantee of a good crowd and a good show. Unfortunately, because we have had them two years in a row, they won't be back in 2013. We have our fingers crossed that we could entice Jerry Yagen's new Mosquito to come North. Photo: Richard Mallory Allnutt

Weather played a big role in the 2012 air show, with rain coming through on each day. The rain drenched ramp was a photographer's dream, with reflective pools to mesmerize camera buffs. Despite the rain, the crowds were large each day. Photo: Richard Mallory Allnutt

Canadian morning television icon Jeff Hutcheson spends a whole morning live from our ramp – and millions across Canada are treated to a rare opportunity to see us up close.

Our top assignment in 2012 for Vintage Wings Media Relations guru Carl Martin was to increase our penetration into the Ontario side of the Ottawa River and to drive more Ontarians to the gates of the Wings over Gatineau–Ottawa en vol Air Show. Traditionally, being based in Gatineau, our audience has been largely from the Québec side. In order to truly increase the attendance at the show, we needed to embrace the entire National Capital region and the massive catchment area on the Ottawa side. Being 25 kilometers out Autoroute 50, we are indeed geographically challenged. Carl's job was to reach deep into Ottawa, as well as the Outaouais (Gatineau) region, and inform a new audience about our family-friendly event... and to do so with very little budget.

Carl put together a remarkable plan, orchestrated the media like a maestro, leveraged a minimal advertising budget, smooth-talked politicians and businessmen and was largely responsible for the size of the turnout this year.

In the weeks leading up to the show, Carl organized some significant media events. He had Jim Watson, the Mayor of Ottawa and a man who hates to fly, sitting in the cockpit of the open cockpit Stearman with Mike Potter at the controls. He arranged for Mike Potter to make an emotional, impassioned benchmark presentation to the Ottawa Chamber of Commerce. He built a hugely successful television, radio, print, web and social media campaign on a budget that wouldn't buy you a five year-old Hyundai Accent.

There were many highlights of Carl's campaign, but perhaps the brightest light that shone upon us was on the Wednesday morning prior to the air show... and before the sun came up. We made a pitch to Canada's most favourite morning show, CTV's Canada AM, to broadcast live from our hangar with Canadian media icon, Jeff Hutcheson. The pitch included a list of the things Jeff could do while he presented the sports and weather to a coast-to-coast audience: Start up a P-40 Kittyhawk; Hand Prop a Tiger Moth Biplane; Go for a flight in a Stearman; Talk about our In His Name Program; Hand buck a rivet on a Spitfire Wing; Interview Mike Potter; Interview our youngest member Zeke Ruddy; and Meet “Hawker” our Hangar cat. The CTV production team decided to execute all of these and even worked in an additional segment with Jeff folding-down a Corsair wing while giving the weather. The next day, we did it all again with the local CTV morning show.

It was hard on our maintenance, administrative and grooming staff, with a lot of alarm clocks employed to get folks up early, but the result was national coverage that took our message to millions of Canadians at one time.

Todd Lemieux comments: Vintage Wings has truly evolved to a national status as witnessed by the featured coverage on Canada AM, the nation's most-watched morning news program. This proved to be an excellent prelude to our Wings Over Gatineau–Ottawa en vol Air Show.

Rob Fleck comments: Everyone always learns something when they come to see the Centre for Excellence that is Vintage Wings. From Jeff Hutcheson learning to rivet wings, to an entire nation listening to air cadet Zeke Ruddy telling Canadians about the Fairy Swordfish aircraft – everyone always learns on every visit.

CTV news camera crews, producers and Hutcheson arrived at 4 AM to get set for the morning's broadcast. Our staff was there when they arrived, with coffee on. Photo: Peter Handley — **CTV news camera crews, producers and Hutcheson arrived at 4 AM to get set for the morning's broadcast. Our staff was there when they arrived, with coffee on.** Photo: Peter Handley

Jeff Hutcheson bucks a rivet on a Spitfire spar under the tutelage of metals and structures guru Ken Wood. Hutcheson enjoyed it so much that he bucked another after the cameras stopped rolling. Photo: Peter Handley — **Jeff Hutcheson bucks a rivet on a Spitfire spar under the tutelage of metals and structures guru Ken Wood. Hutcheson enjoyed it so much that he bucked another after the cameras stopped rolling.** Photo: Peter Handley

In addition to the national exposure we received by being on Canada AM, the CTV national morning news broadcast, we did it all over again the following morning, with many key individuals appearing on the local CTV Morning show, being interviewed by the lovely-gammed Sarah Freemark. There were several segments presented on the morning show. To view them on YouTube, click the following links: Heather and Rob Fleck talk about the air show. Click here to see our Hangar Dogs on CTV. Click here to see Ken Wood show Sarah how to buck herself a rivet. Click here to see Dan Dempsey explain the history of the Golden Hawks and Hawk One. Photo: Peter Handley — In addition to the national exposure we received by being on Canada AM, the CTV national morning news broadcast, we did it all over again the following morning, with many key individuals appearing on the local CTV Morning show, being interviewed by the lovely-gammed Sarah Freemark. There were several segments presented on the morning show. To view them on YouTube, click the following links: **Heather and Rob Fleck talk about the air show. Click here to see our** **Hangar Dogs on CTV. Click here to see** **Ken Wood show Sarah how to buck herself** **a rivet. Click here to see** **Dan Dempsey explain the history of the Golden Hawks and Hawk One**. Photo: Peter Handley

The Yellow Wings flying circus headed down east this summer, dropping in on small communities and were received with typical Maritime warmth and enthusiasm.

Lead by the charismatic dynamo, Heather Fleck, the 2012 Yellow Wings Down Home, Down East Tour set out in early June to complete the second half of a coast-to-coast educational campaign that began in the Spring of 2011. We combined experienced pilots from last year's Yellow Wings Western Swing with fresh Maritime pilots, and even some of our key central Canada pilots, to forge a team of incredible skills and passion.

They travelled to communities that have not seen warbirds since the end of the Second World War. They met veteran pilots who had not been near yellow training airplanes since the day they earned their wings. They met young Air Cadets who drank in the astonishing and inspiring stories of the heroes of that great period in Canadian aviation history. They took folks from both groups flying.

As the summer wound down, the Yellow Wings pilots, under the leadership of Heather Fleck and the tutelage of old hands like Ulrich Bollinger and Rob Fleck, had bonded into a true squadron, a cohesive cadre bent on the mission. But as the days grew shorter, and the sun weaker, a brave new purpose was emerging. These simple wire and wood aircraft from another age had a powerful ability to teach, to inspire and to sow dreams in the hearts and minds of young Canadians. We also put the youthful flame back in the eyes and hearts of some old warriors that had long ago resigned themselves to the fact they would never fly again.

Todd Lemieux comments: Having been lucky enough to fly the Flight Lieutenant Bill McRae Tiger Moth during this tour, I can tell you that it was an absolute ball to be so warmly welcomed and hosted and to have the honour and privilege of raising awareness of the British Commonwealth Air Training Program in the Maritimes. Being on the road, with intense schedules, unfamiliar airstrips, and constantly changing weather in 70 year-old airplanes is, to say the least, challenging. You build a strong bond with your “squadron mates” when you are on the road under those conditions and I admit that, when I left the tour, I felt a little empty inside and suffered “Yellow Wings withdrawal."

Rob Fleck comments: With overt passion, our volunteer pilots and ground crews take our proud Canadian aviation history to the people of Canada, wherever they may live.

Some of the pilots of the Yellow Wings Down Home, Down East tour pose together in front of the Pilot Officer John Gillespie Magee Harvard IV at Woodstock, New Brunswick. Left to right: Rob Fleck, George King, Todd Lemieux, Mike Ruddick and Team Leader Heather Fleck. Photo: Yellow Wings — Some of the pilots of the Yellow Wings Down Home, Down East tour pose together in front of the *Pilot Officer John Gillespie Magee* Harvard IV at Woodstock, New Brunswick. Left to right: Rob Fleck, George King, Todd Lemieux, Mike Ruddick and Team Leader Heather Fleck. Photo: Yellow Wings

Being able to tell ordinary Canadians about the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan was a privilege for Chairman of the Vintage Wings Board, Todd Lemieux. Todd joined the tour for a month this summer, flying the Flight Lieutenant Bill McRae Tiger Moth. Photo: Yellow Wings — Being able to tell ordinary Canadians about the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan was a privilege for Chairman of the Vintage Wings Board, Todd Lemieux. Todd joined the tour for a month this summer, flying the *Flight Lieutenant Bill McRae* Tiger Moth. Photo: Yellow Wings

A beautiful summer's day in the Maritimes and a beautiful old gal to fly... Yellow Wings pilot John Sterchi enjoys a magical moment. Photo: Yellow Wings — **A beautiful summer's day in the Maritimes and a beautiful old gal to fly... Yellow Wings pilot John Sterchi enjoys a magical moment**. Photo: Yellow Wings

High above the Maritimes, Chris Cormier in the Squadron Leader Hart Finley Fleet Finch, holds station on Todd Lemieux in the Flight Lieutenant Bill McRae Tiger Moth. Photo: Yellow Wing — **High above the Maritimes, Chris Cormier in the *Squadron Leader Hart Finley* Fleet Finch, holds station on Todd Lemieux in the *Flight Lieutenant Bill McRae* Tiger Moth.** Photo: Yellow Wing

Chris Hadfield delivers early Christmas gift to his fellow Vintage Wingers – a passionate message from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on the eve of his Soyuz launch to the ISS.

A couple of years back, members and volunteers at Vintage Wings of Canada were convening for a volunteer training day. Young people, old people, skilled people, greenhorns and veteran volunteers were smiling in admiration as superstar Chris Hadfield, one of our F-86 pilots and the reigning monarch of the Canadian Space program, donned a Spitfire Grill apron and served up burgers and chicken to a snaking line of hungry orange-shirted Vintage Wingers. He could have held court with his flying buddies at a separate table, but that wasn't the Hadfield Way, which is: Roll up your sleeves and get the job done.

We all would have understood how Chris' busy schedule, preparing for his last space flight, would have been an impediment to his full participation in Vintage Wings. What we did not understand at all, is how he never ever let that impede full and happy participation. Chris, like his entire family, is all about participation, experience, learning, sharing and welcoming. We've learned much from people like Chris, and we hope to share his lessons and those of other Canadian heroes that populate our rich aviation history. Chris is the perfect example to young Canadians of how hard work, discipline and keeping your eye on the prize results in achievement and success. As a young air cadet, Chris set his gunsight on going to space and he calculated and thoroughly enjoyed every step he would need to take along the way – air cadet, air force officer, RMC, fighter pilot, test pilot, astronaut. Along the route, he sang and rocked the house with music, play, hobbies and above all demonstrated love for his bride and family. What a lesson for us all.

So, just before his pre-Christmas launch into space, with the clock ticking down to the end of the year, Chris gave us all another gift. From the cold and windswept Kazakhstan steppe, Chris sent us a video-taped message that cemented our place in the pioneering and nurturing world and inspired us all to reach for the figurative stars if not for the actual ones he was going to. Chris, this was the best Christmas gift of all... see you down here among the mortals later this year.

To view the message from Chris and see him unveil our logo on Kazakhstan, click here and open the Vintage Wings of Canada.wmv link or download the mp4 file here.

Todd Lemieux comments: What could make us prouder this year than our own Chris Hadfield – Vintage Wings Board member, pilot, and veteran Canadian astronaut – riding a Soyuz rocket to the International Space Station? Not only is Chris aboard the ISS for 5 months, but he will be the first-ever Canadian commander of the entire station – a spectacular honour and a testament to Chris’ dedication and professionalism... and, oh ya, he plays a mean six-string guitar too!

Rob Fleck comments: Chris, when you tire of commanding the International Space Station, your cockpit in our Hawk One F-86 Sabre will be waiting for your return, for what better way to reach out and inspire those who couldn't meet up with you on the space station?

Vintage Wings' Chris Hadfield (top) and his fellow Soyuz Mission 34 crew members, American Tom Marshburn (bottom) and Russian Roman Romanenko wave goodbye, as they prepare to ride the elevator to the Soyuz spacecraft. CSA Photo

A few seconds after the “candle is lit”, the Soyuz rocket lifts off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, carrying our beloved Vintage Wings volunteer. CSA Photo via Chris Hadfield — **A few seconds after the “candle is lit”, the Soyuz rocket lifts off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, carrying our beloved Vintage Wings volunteer.** CSA Photo via Chris Hadfield

Down on the ground, Hadfield is a hard working volunteer, but on the ISS, it seems he has become a floater. CSA Photo via Chris Hadfield — **Down on the ground, Hadfield is a hard working volunteer, but on the ISS, it seems he has become a floate**r. CSA Photo via Chris Hadfield

Christmastime is a family time. This Christmas, we are happy to share one of our family with the world. Photo via Chris Hadfield — **Christmastime is a family time. This Christmas, we are happy to share one of our family with the world.** Photo via Chris Hadfield

The In His Name Program pays tribute to Warrant Officer Harry Hannah, a warrior of great humility, warmth and style who paid a huge price during the Second World War.

In May of 2012, the beautiful Yellow Wings Boeing PT-27 Stearman was dedicated to this elegant, quiet, and understated gentleman, in a moving ceremony at our Gatineau, Québec hangar. Following the ceremony, Stearman pilots Harry Hannah and Todd Lemieux strapped in together and lifted off into a beautiful Ottawa Valley sky to spend an hour getting to know each other. Todd's mission that afternoon was to fly Harry on a flight of remembrance. Instead, the young pilot handed over control to the nonagenarian, allowing himself to be taken on his own journey back in time. By the time they had landed, there was a strong bond between the two aviators.

Our theme for next year's flying season is “On the Wings of History go the Leaders of Tomorrow.” The idea is to reach young people through contact with veterans, our aircraft and our pilots, and to instill in them a deeper and more emotional understanding of the powerful concepts of duty, honour and sacrifice. This central theme was conceived after flying the Stearman out West and our other Yellow Wings aircraft down East during the summer following Harry and Todd's flight. While we work to reach our youth and children with this message, we ourselves must understand, and be committed to, the power of the lessons of Harry and his generation.

Todd Lemieux comments: Of all the things we do at Vintage Wings, it is the chance to fly our beloved veterans and let them have the controls that matters the most to me and Vintage Wings. We never miss a chance to do this... never.

Rob Fleck Comments: Just saying that we owe so much doesn't quite cut it. You have to take the time to reach out and say thank you in person. What better way than to dedicate our aircraft to our heroes and, when possible, take them back into the skies they once owned so long ag