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Vintage war plane comes to Brandon

By: Staff Writer

Saturday, May. 26, 2012 at 5:35 PM | Comments: 1

Throughout the summer, volunteer pilots from Vintage Wings of Canada’s Yellow Wings Program will visit dozens of communities across Canada to pay tribute to a little-known moment in Canada’s history: the World War II British Commonwealth Air Training Plan. The Boeing Stearman will be at the Brandon airport on May 28th and 29th.

A rare and vintage aircraft will be at the Brandon Municipal Airport on May 28th and 29th.

The 1941 Boeing Stearman biplane tell the story of one of Canada’s proudest achievements: the massive homegrown effort to build airfields and train hundreds of thousands of allied World War II aviators. They Yellow Wings pilots will meet anxious onlookers and talk about the significance of the historical plane, operated by the Vintage Wings of Canada.

The biplane tour pays tribute to a moment in Canada’s military history and the World War II British Commonwealth Air Training Plan (BCATP). Yellow Wings pilots will tell the story of the (BCATP) and how ordinary Canadians from coast-to-coast came together in what became known as the "Aerodrome of Democracy" to train hundreds of thousands of aviators from Canada, the British Commonwealth, and the United States in an effort to win war.

The plane and Yellow Wing pilots will be at the Brandon airport from 12:30 p.m. untill 5 p.m. on May 28th; and 9:30 a.m. untill 5 p.m. on May 29.

» Brandon Sun

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Posted by:JOHN FEFCHAK

May 27, 2012 at 9:30 AM

TO: The Staff Writer: FOR YOUR INFORMATION.
The British Commonwealth Air Training plan was to acquire 282, Boeing-Stearman PT-27
aircraft from the U.S. But they arrived without the winter weather equipment, primarily a coupe-top canopy for winter flying. And eventually were returned as they were deemed inadequate for Canadian winters. The Stearmans were used only in Alberta and only to train RAF (Royal Air Force) student pilots.
They were replaced by the Fairchild M-62 Cornell aircraft.
I did not find any information to substantiate that they were used in the pilot training of (RCAF) Royal Canadian Air Force students.

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