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
'They needed people inside Air Canada:' Police announce arrests in Pearson gold heist
Police say one former and one current employee of Air Canada are among the nine suspects that are facing charges in connection with the gold heist at Pearson International Airport last year.
House admonishes ArriveCan contractor in rare parliamentary show of power
MPs enacted an extraordinary, rarely used parliamentary power on Wednesday, summonsing an ArriveCan contractor to appear before the House of Commons where he was admonished publicly and forced to provide answers to the questions MPs said he'd previously evaded.
Leafs star Auston Matthews finishes season with 69 goals
Auston Matthews won't be joining the NHL's 70-goal club this season.
Trump lawyers say Stormy Daniels refused subpoena outside a Brooklyn bar, papers left 'at her feet'
Donald Trump's legal team says it tried serving Stormy Daniels a subpoena as she arrived for an event at a bar in Brooklyn last month, but the porn actor, who is expected to be a witness at the former president's criminal trial, refused to take it and walked away.
Why drivers in Eastern Canada could see big gas price spikes, and other Canadians won't
Drivers in Eastern Canada face a big increase in gas prices because of various factors, especially the higher cost of the summer blend, industry analysts say.
Doug Ford calls on Ontario Speaker to reverse Queen's Park keffiyeh ban
Ontario Premier Doug Ford is calling on Speaker Ted Arnott to reverse a ban on keffiyehs at Queen's Park, describing the move as “needlessly” divisive.
'A living nightmare': Winnipeg woman sentenced following campaign of harassment against man after online date
A Winnipeg woman was sentenced to house arrest after a single date with a man she met online culminated in her harassing him for years, and spurred false allegations which resulted in the innocent man being arrested three times.
Woman who pressured boyfriend to kill his ex in 2000s granted absences from prison
A woman who pressured her boyfriend into killing his teenage ex more than a decade ago will be allowed to leave prison for weeks at a time.
Customers disappointed after email listing $60K Tim Hortons prize sent in error
Several Tim Horton’s customers are feeling great disappointment after being told by the company that an email stating they won a boat worth nearly $60,000 was sent in error.