Silver Star lands at Calgary's Air Force Museum of Alberta
It's a sleek looking jet with a matte-grey finish but it’s far from the technological wonders military pilots fly today.
The Silver Star, or Canadair CT-133, played an important role in Canadian aviation history and is the fifth Cold War-era fighter plane on display at the Air Force Museum Society of Alberta.
As of March 31, 2005, the Silver Star had flown in the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) for 54 years and logged nearly 2.4 million flight hours – making it the longest serving aircraft in Canadian military history.
"(We’re) really happy to get this airplane that was being held at a museum in Cold Lake, Alta.," said Bob Wade, former RCAF pilot. "We wanted to include it in our Cold War exhibit because it represented a major portion of air operations during that period of our history. That's where all pilots trained on that airplane during that period."
The Silver Star was a transitional aircraft for pilots moving from propellers to jet engines. Wade flew many fighters in his career but has a special place in his heart for the one known as the “T-Bird.”
"You know I love that T-Bird," he said. "When I was a young fellow just graduating out of pilot training and I could travel around North America in the jet, I'd never been in an airplane before joining the air force, you know and it was quite something for a young fella in those days to get on an airplane like that."
Wade joined the RCAF in 1968 and graduated pilot training a year later. He remembers the aircraft was maneuverable, but not fast compared to today's fighters.
"As far as altitude capability, it was good to 46,000 feet," he said. "Although it took you a long time to get up there and it would cruise at about eight tenths the speed of sound."
Dave Lowery, one of the museum’s directors, says the T-Bird was on display in Cold Lake for about a decade. It's still in the inventory of the Department of National Defence, that've loaned it to the Calgary museum.
Lowery says it’s an important representation for the Cold War exhibit.
"It's great to be able to educate the public about the Cold War era," Lowery said. "I speak to school groups that come in here and you wouldn't believe even the teachers whose jaws dropped when they see what we have.
“They had no idea about Cold War they had no idea about the people involved, nor the equipment."
The museum is working on a larger facility that will hold three new aircraft, including the T-Bird.
"So the CT-133 is outside and we're hoping to expand and more than double our square footage," he said.
"We hope to add a Voodoo, otherwise known as a CF-101, a Clunk (Canuck), otherwise known as a CF-100 and we have the CT-133. We want to enclose all those and make this a very comprehensive exhibit of the aircraft flown during the Cold War era."
The plan is also to restore the T-Bird because it's been stored outdoors for much of its life time.
More information about the museum and the Cold War exhibit can be found online.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
B.C. seeks ban on public drug use, dialing back decriminalization
The B.C. NDP has asked the federal government to recriminalize public drug use, marking a major shift in the province's approach to addressing the deadly overdose crisis.
Orca calf that was trapped in B.C. lagoon for weeks swims free
An orca whale calf that has been stranded in a B.C. lagoon for weeks after her pregnant mother died swam out on her own early Friday morning.
Trump's lawyers try to discredit testimony of prosecution's first witness in hush money trial
Donald Trump's defence team attacked the credibility Friday of the prosecution's first witness in his hush money case, seeking to discredit testimony detailing a scheme between Trump and a tabloid to bury negative stories to protect the Republican's 2016 presidential campaign.
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau on navigating post-political life, co-parenting and freedom
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau says there is 'still so much love' between her and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, as they navigate their post-separation relationship co-parenting their three children.
More than 115 cases of eye damage reported in Ontario after solar eclipse
More than 115 people who viewed the solar eclipse in Ontario earlier this month experienced eye damage after the event, according to eye doctors in the province.
'I was scared': Ontario man's car repossessed after missing two repair loan payments
An Ontario man who took out a loan to pay for auto repairs said his car was repossessed after he missed two payments.
Last letters of pioneering climber who died on Everest reveal dark side of mountaineering
George Mallory is renowned for being one of the first British mountaineers to attempt to scale the dizzying heights of Mount Everest during the 1920s. Nearly a century later, newly digitized letters shed light on Mallory’s hopes and fears about ascending Everest.
Air traveller complaints to Canadian Transportation Agency hit new high
The Canadian Transportation Agency has hit a record high of more than 71,000 complaints in a backlog. The quasi-judicial regulator and tribunal tasked with settling disputes between customers and the airlines says the backlog is growing because the number of incoming complaints keeps increasing.
U.S. flight attendant indicted in attempt to record teen girl in airplane bathroom
An American Airlines flight attendant was indicted Thursday after authorities said he tried to secretly record video of a 14-year-old girl using an airplane bathroom last September.