While I kept searching for more and more information on VF-5 and on these mostly unsung heroes seen on the above picture shared by Tom Harmer, the son of Richard “Chick” Harmer, I stumbled upon this Website which will guide me for my next project on My Forgotten Hobby.
This site is dedicated to those men who helped defend the skies over the island of Guadalcanal during the period August 1942 through November 1942.
You might wonder why a website has been made just for this subject. It started merely as an exercise in web page development, but soon became a labor of love. I had just finished reading the book “Fighter Squadron over Guadalcanal” by Max Brand, and I found myself thinking the same thoughts that I had had when I had read “The…
In the Spring of 2019 I made the trip to Dayton Ohio in order to attend WrightCon and to visit the Museum of the United States Airforce. My collective 6+ hours in the museum felt incredibly rushed because there is simply too much to look at. The report of my USAF Museum visit also seems incredibly rushed because I tried to fit it all into one post. I could easily make individual posts about the airplanes that stood out. One of those ‘stand out’ airplanes was the RF-86 “Haymaker” Sabre.
What is an RF-86 Sabre?
The RF-86 is a variant created from the F-86F Sabre. This was a conversion that turned a tactical fighter into a strategic reconnaissance aircraft. The guns and gun sight were removed and camera equipment was installed in the gun bay. Due to the size of the equipment and film canisters, some large fairings had…
Its the end of the year and the holidays are now upon us. What better way to sit and anticipate the season of receiving than to scroll down a blog entry about model stashes? And if there is one surefire way to get views and responses on a forum then just invite people to post stash shots or look at stash porn.
Now I know what you are thinking: this is going to be one of those confessional or reflective pieces like “When I first got back into this hobby I didn’t have a stash, but then I got a basement…Woe is me.”
No – no it won’t.
Some would call this a half hour in the vendor room
Nor is this going to be a hobby hoarder shame piece or one of those “how did I get here?” articles.
No – it’s nothing serious and probably not all that harmful.
Kit hoarding you think? No – its not cool model kits, interesting and colorful decals or aftermarket. Besides, seeing some of the stashes I have seen, my pile of kits is barely at Level 1. As well, I have been to many a show and hobbyshop and walked out without buying a single kit or aftermarket product. But I almost always walk out with something else.
Reference material? Close, but not quite. I do have an ever expanding library of good reference material. But I also have a confidence that lets me ignore yellowing old books featuring “in action” photos and questionable color plates… they will always make a better one if I just give it time. Otherwise, collecting these things can lead down the hoarding path quickly.
No, my addition is used model magazines. Usually priced cheaply and stored unsorted in cardboard boxes. Under…
Another small model completed in 2019 was this minute MiG-19S, produced by Mark I. The kit was detailed with Mark I produced photo-etched set and a few bits made from metal tubing. Cutting the trimming these tubes can be hard (specially if you are using hypodermic needles as a source material), but with simple tools you can easily get the shape you are aiming for.
I have taken the decals off that I had put on the Harvard. They did not look good.
So I went on My Forgotten II to remind me why I had started this project. The following is what I had written.
This photo is most probably taken at No.2 SFTS Uplands, Ontario. Don’t ask how I know because the explanation could be quite long.
Most of Allied WWII pilots trained on the North American AT-6 (Harvard in the RCAF). The Harvard is somewhat special in my stash even if I bought it more than 20 years ago.
I could make you believe I own one, but I can’t tell a lie on my blogs…
My fascination for aviation started in 1958. Writing blogs about WWII started with writing about a ship, a Canadian destroyer which I knew nothing about before my wife’s uncle told us in a family reunion in July 2009 that he was a stoker aboard HMCS Athabaskan. I just had to write about it since my wife’s uncle did not want to tell us more. Little by little I wrote about HMCS Athabaskan both in the two Canadian official languages, French and English.
I don’t monetise my blogs. There is something more precious in life like people who read my blogs and sometimes comment on what I wrote. The first WWII veteran who wrote a comment on a blog was a rear gunner with 425 Alouette Squadron. Curiously for someone who thought he knew a lot about WWII, I knew nothing about 425 Alouette Squadron the only French-Canadian RCAF squadron who flew Vickers Wellingtons and then Handley-Page Halifaxes. Through this veteran I met a man whose hero when he was young was a Mosquito pilot who history had forgotten.
His name was Eugène Gagnon the trainee seen here in front of a Harvard.
My research led me to find all about Eugène Gagnon and his days of training first on a Fleet Finch, then on a Harvard in Dunnville, Ontario where he earned his wings.
Eugène became a staff pilot in Paulson, Manitoba before he was sent overseas. In December 1944 he became a part of RAF 23 Squadron flying de Havilland Mosquito Mk VI. From December 1944 to May 1945 Flight Lieutenant Eugène Gagnon flew 33 operations most of them in the dark of night, in all-weather conditions, and often around German airfields stalking German nighfighters.
Some would call this a half hour in the vendor room 
My Forgotten Hobby III 