Hawk One
In 2007, a team of aviation enthusiasts largely from an Air Force background came together with the inspirational idea of offering to Canadians a tangible platform to help commemorate 100 years of Canadian aviation history.
The Hawk One project involves the resurrection of a Canadair F-86 Sabre 5 jet fighter in the colours of the legendary Royal Canadian Air Force Golden Hawks. It will be fl own across the country in 2009 to celebrate the 100th anniversary of powered flight in Canada.
The F-86 was the RCAF’s principal fighter during the first decade of the Cold War. Hundreds of Canadian fighter pilots stood alert with the Sabre for almost a decade on 12 RCAF squadrons based in Europe with No. 1 Air Division. A total of 22 RCAF pilots also flew the F-86 in combat during the Korean War while on exchange duties with the USAF.
The Canadian Centennial of Flight heritage project is designed to celebrate the 100th anniversary of powered flight in Canada, just as the Golden Hawks were created on March 1, 1959 to celebrate the 50th anniversary. Resplendent in their gold and red paint scheme, the Golden Hawks came to epitomize everything that was glorious about the RCAF. The team’s namesake, Hawk One, will now serve as the cornerstone for the Canadian Centennial of Flight events in 2009, appearing at approximately 20 airshows scheduled across Canada. The jet will also be featured in many flypasts with Canada’s famous nine-plane jet aerobatic team, the Snowbirds, as they traverse the country.
To learn more about Hawk One, visit the website at: www.HawkOne.ca
Heritage Flight
After more than two years of planning and thousands of hours of hard work, Vintage Wings of Canada, the Canadian Armed Forces and Discovery Air are set to bring to centre stage, the flying tribute to the first 100 years of aviation and space exploration. Hawk One will thunder and sparkle across Canadian skies at dozens of air shows and celebration events from coast to coast in Canada this summer and fall. For most of those events Hawk One will be escorted on stage by the nine aircraft of the Snowbirds, sweeping in from stage right.
After a sweeping turn back across the field, The Snowbirds will “drop” the Hawk One Sabre at show centre and thus begins a five minute dance with a golden angel. The Snowbirds will leave the stage to set up for their own show after Hawk One’s.
