St. James landmark jet restored

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This article was published 30/06/2019 (2470 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A Royal Canadian Air Force jet that has soared over Woodhaven Park in St. James since 1967 has been given a new lease on life.

About 40 people gathered in the park Sunday morning for the unveiling of the T-33, which was refurbished at a cost of $180,000, the bulk of which came from city taxpayers. The family of the late Bill Slaughter, a brigadier-general and St. James resident, donated $30,000 to the effort.

The aircraft was repainted and remounted on a concrete pedestal. A panel, which honours the Red Knight aerobatic program, its pilots and the aerobatic performances of Slaughter, who flew a similar jet as a flight officer in 1963-64, has been erected.

Slaughter’s oldest daughter, Cori Slaughter-Sahota, said seeing the plane painted as the Red Knight that her father used to fly reminded her of a day on a military base in Moose Jaw, Sask., that inspired her own career.

“One of the most incredible things that happened for me was the day that my dad invited me into the cockpit of the Red Knight, and I got to taxi down the runway with him,” she said. “That for me was an inspiration, something that I will never forget.”

Slaughter-Sahota spent seven years in the 402 Squadron of the Royal Canadian Air Force, following the path of her father and grandfather.

Now, she hopes people who see the plane as they’re driving on Portage Avenue will take a moment to remember the man who made the aircraft famous.

“It’s about his legacy, and honouring the legacy that he left as one of Canada’s best pilots,” she said.

The jet has been a St. James landmark for the last half-century, said Mayor Brian Bowman in a statement. “With this extensive refurbishment project now complete, the legacy will continue into the future to commemorate the history of this aircraft for Winnipeggers and all Canadians.”

The jet was gifted to the City of St James in 1967 to mark Canada’s centennial and commemorate the RCAF’s connection to the aviation industry and the City of St. James. The condition of the pedestal and aircraft had deteriorated during the past three decades and an extensive renovation was started in 2018.

The project took about a year to finish, partly because a lot of research went into making sure the restoration was historically accurate, said Gord Crossley, a heritage officer with 17 Wing. Now, everything on the jet — the shade of red paint, the old Canadian flag, the Red Knight logo used at the time — is as it was in 1964, Crossley said.

“There was a lot of corrosion, a lot of damage on it from the weather, being out here for 52 years,” he said. “It took about 800 pounds of paint and primer.”

The aircraft had entered service with the RCAF in 1955 and was deemed surplus in 1967. Until 1990, the aircraft had the pre-1967 RCAF silver finish. In 1990, it was repainted in the Golden Centennaires aerobatics team colours.

The refurbishment involved using a crane to remove the approximately 7,000-pound aircraft from the pedestal, removing the paint and corrosion on the aluminum skin with a soda-blasting process and repairing the aluminum skin and steel mounting arms. The concrete pedestal and mounting plates were repaired and repainted and the aircraft was remounted.

caitlyn.gowriluk@freepress.mb.ca