Gimli's second most famous aircraft, after the Gimli Glider, is the "airplane on a stick" found downtown on 1st Avenue near the New Iceland Heritage Museum.
During World War II, the Royal Canadian Air Force established the "No. 18 Service Flying Training School" 2 and 1/2 miles west of Gimli. Deactivated at the end of the war, the facility was reactivated during the Cold War and served as a training facility for jet aircraft. Deactivated for the final time in 1971, the RCAF presented this CT-133 to the citizens of Gimli.
The CT-133 Silver Star is a version of the Lockheed T-133 Shooting Star built by Canadair; it utilized a Rolls-Royce engine in place of the U.S. version's Allison.
There was another CT-133 located briefly in Gimli during 1970 after crashing behind the lumber yard near the local Shell station. Newspaper story from the nearby town of Brandon:
with photo here.
This post is one of a series of "airplane on a stick" posts written as we encounter airplanes along the highways. Click here to see more.
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment