Canada's Aviation Hall of Fame
Profile of Members
Birthdate: August 29, 1959
Birth Place: Sarnia, Ontario
Year Inducted: 2005
Awards: MSC, CD
“Through his many achievements in Space, his dedication to perfection and his many firsts as a Canadian in Space, he inspires young Canadians and brings honour and recognition to Canada and its Space Agency.”Chris Hadfield joined the Canadian Armed Forces in May 1978, attending the Royal Military College, Kingston. Following graduation, Hadfield began training as a pilot in the Canadian Forces and eventually would fly the CF-18 Hornet for NORAD and hold other positions within the armed forces. In 1992, Hadfield was selected to join the Canadian Space Program and for nearly 25 missions was the Chief CAPCOM of NASA. His first shuttle mission would come in 1995 aboard STS-74. In 2001, Hadfield would return to space aboard Space Shuttle Endeavour to install Canadarm 2 aboard the International Space Station. This mission would mark the first time a Canadian was to leave the orbital vehicle and float freely. Hadfield retired from the Canadian Air Force in 2003 after 25 years of military service and is currently a civilian Canadian Space Agency astronaut.
Harry Halton
Birthdate: January 24, 1922
Birth Place: Pilsen, Czechoslovakia
Year Inducted: 1984
Death Date: December 17, 2003
"His exceptional abilities in aircraft design and development together with his outstanding personal and leadership qualities have all been of outstanding benefit to Canadian aviation."
Harry Halton emigrated to England in 1938 where he attended technical school at Walthamstow. He was appointed Chief Design Engineer at D & H Designs Ltd., London, England after earning his diploma in Mechanical and Electrical Engineering and Science degree. He moved to Montreal, Quebec to join Canadair in 1948 and worked on the North Star aircraft and on the RCAF's C-5. Halton also designed, developed and certified the CL-215 Water Bomber, used in fire fighting and was Program Manager for the CL-289 Drone surveillance aircraft. He was appointed as Executive Vice President of Canadair in 1975 and was responsible for program management, engineering quality control, manufacturing and product support on all Canadair activities.
Paul Albert Hartman
Birthdate: November 25, 1918
Birth Place: Grafton, Massachusetts
Year Inducted: 1974
Death Date: January 30, 1990
Awards: DFC, AFC, CD
"His record can be matched only by those airman of high endeavour and professional calling, who have devoted their lives and skills to the benefit of the free world, despite adversity, and whose contributions have substantially benefited Canadian aviation."
Paul Hartman moved to South Portland, Maine in 1933 where he was educated and learned to fly. He enlisted in 1941 in the RCAF and graduated as a pilot the same year. Hartman then completed operational training in Northern Ireland and joined No. 69 Squadron, RAF at Malta in 1942 where he flew a Wellington bomber on night operations. At the end of the war, Hartman served at the Test and Development Establishment at Rockcliffe, Ontario and later was named the commanding officer of the Central Experimenting and Proving Establishment. His extensive flying experience in all RCAF aircraft placed him in the role of test pilot of the CF-100 and the F-68E acceptance trials.
Henry Winston Hayter
Nickname: "Harry" Hayter
Birthdate: October 29, 1900
Birth Place: Murray River, Prince Edward Island
Year Inducted: 1974
Death Date: March 17, 1974
"The unselfish application of his airborne skills and his personal determination in the operation of his own aeroplane, despite adversity, over isolated areas for sustained periods of time in the service of others, have been of outstanding benefit to Canadian aviation."
Henry Hayter joined the Canadian Light Infantry at age 15 and served with the 26th Battalion in France until October 9, 1918. He worked at Jacksonville, Florida for the Buick Motor Company and later returned to New Brunswick to complete his flying training where he earned a transport pilot's certificate and air engineer's license. Hayter became near legendary with flights to the Yukon Territory where he flew prospectors and trappers into remote territory and left them isolated for months, never failing to pick them up on the appointed day. Hayter organized and managed Aircraft Repair Limited at Edmonton, Alberta where he maintained military aircraft during WWII.
Robert Thomas Heaslip
Nickname: "Bob" Heaslip
Birthdate: June 26, 1919
Birth Place: Uxbridge, Ontario
Year Inducted: 1974
Death Date: December 30, 2007
Awards: AFC, CD*
"The application of his exceptional abilities as a military helicopter pilot, and his perfecting of new operating techniques for rotary wing aircraft, have been of outstanding benefit to Canadian aviation."
Robert Heaslip graduated from Oshawa Collegiate in 1936 and later joined the Oshawa Times-Gazette where he remained until he enlisted in the RCAF in 1941. He earned his pilot's wings later that year and was assigned to No. 122 Squadron and transferred two years later to No. 166 Squadron at Sea Island, British Columbia. In 1947 Heaslip trained as one of the RCAF's first helicopter pilots and began instructing others in 1951. During his career, Heaslip piloted numerous flights and was responsible for the evolution and perfection of many new cold weather helicopter operating techniques.
Birthdate: June 4, 1914
Birth Place: Toronto, Ontario
Year Inducted: 1998
Death Date: December 13, 1996
Awards: MBE"His dedication and expertise in the area of aircraft design helped to foster a line of Canadian built aircraft that continue to be highly successful around the world, and his ability to impart knowledge and encouragement to others, are of lasting and significant benefit to Canada."
Richard Hiscocks spent his engineering career between de Havilland and the National Research Council of Canada. His major contribution to the design of aircraft, was that of the wing geometry of the DHC-2 Beaver. At de Havilland, Hiscocks was involved in the design of many of their famous STOL aircraft. He published numerous papers on aircraft design, engineering and industrial research and in 1995 published "Design of Light Aircraft" which is in widespread use by students and engineers across Canada.
Birthdate: July 10, 1904
Birth Place: London, Ontario
Year Inducted: 2007
Death Date: November 3, 1972
Awards: CD
"His undying devotion to the preservation of military aviation history, encouraging and inspiring future historians, has been of paramount importance in documenting and explaining Canada’s aviation heritage."
He was a distinguished military historian whose passionate interest in aviation history led him to become Canada’s official RCAF Historian during the years 1945-1960. Hitchins was educated at the University of Western Ontario (BA and MA), then received his PhD. in history at the University of Pennsylvania. Following several years of instructing in history at universities in the USA, he returned to Canada to enlist in the RCAF. By that time he had accumulated a massive amount of information about Canadians who had served in the RAF, and published many articles. In 1944 his first volume of an RCAF battle history was published, entitled The RCAF Overseas: The First Four Years. He went on to complete two more volumes of RCAF battle history, and composed the first history of Canadians in the Battle of Britain (Among the Few), as well as many other historical works. He encouraged other writers to write about aviation history as well. His collection of papers and books was donated to the University of Western Ontario, where he served as history professor from 1960 to 1970.2007 Induction Video - Biography of Fred Harvey Hitchins
Birthdate: December 20, 1894
Birth Place: Arlington, Berks, England
Year Inducted: 1987
Death Date: 1963
Awards: DSO, OBE, DSC
"This man truly reached for the stars and through his flying achievements and ability in peace and war brought honour to the aviation fraternity of Canada."
Basil Hobbs moved to Canada at a young age where he obtained his education and developed his love of flying. In 1915 he took his flying training at the Wright Flying School in Dayton, Ohio and later joined the Royal Naval Air Service as a Flight Lieutenant. During his career in the war, he was Mentioned in Despatches for sinking two German submarines and destroying a German Zeppelin. In 1920, he joined the CAF and was employed by the Canadian Air Board as a "Certificate Examiner" for civil aircraft and pilot licensing. At the beginning of WWII, he was re-commissioned into the RCAF with the rank of Group Captain and was employed as a commanding officer at Dartmouth, Nova Scotia. The most important contribution Hobbs made in Canadian aviation was in his role as a peacetime pilot in the period between the World Wars. In 1924 he was the sole pilot for the first long-range air survey over northern Saskatchewan and Manitoba which, at the time, was quoted as being one of the most brilliant achievements in aviation.
Herbert Hollick-Kenyon
Nickname: "Bertie" Hollick-Kenyon
Birthdate: April 17, 1897
Birth Place: London, England
Year Inducted: 1974
Death Date: July 30, 1975
"The long-range flights he captained during the Arctic expedition and Levanevsky search allowed the mapping of hitherto uncharted areas, which contributions have proven of great benefit to the international fraternity of aviators, and of outstanding benefit to Canadian aviation."
Herbert Hollick-Kenyon emigrated to Ewing's Landing, British Columbia as a youth and worked locally until 1914 when he joined the Canadian Army as a trooper. He later joined the Royal Flying Corps in 1917. Just prior to WWII, Hollick-Kenyon became involved in leading searches for numerous missing parties. Among those he searched for were the marooned MacAlpine Expedition which went missing in the Canadian Arctic in 1929 as well as Sigmund Levanevsky and his five companions who went missing in 1937 on a trans-polar flight from Moscow to Alaska. During his career, Hollick-Kenyon also piloted the aircraft used in the Ellsworth Expedition and in doing so, charted land never before seen by humans. In honour of his achievement, a major land area on the Antarctic continent was named the Hollick-Kenyon Plateau.
Herbert Hopson
Birthdate: December 2, 1909
Birth Place: Blandford, Dorset, England
Year Inducted: 1989
Death Date: August 25, 1993
"His superior technical ability to develop coordinated technology for pilots, the ground facilities for instrument landing systems and airport landing systems standards, adopted throughout the world, has been of outstanding benefit to Canadian aviation."
Herbert Hopson moved to Calgary with his family in 1912 and in 1929 commenced flying training at Great Western Airways. During his career as a pilot, he worked as an instructor, barnstormer and engine mechanic to make ends meet. From 1946 to 1952 Hopson began assisting the Department of Transport in the implementation of the Instrument Landing System (ILS). With the adoption of the ILS System, the development of High Intensity Lighting became imperative. Consequently, Hopson was responsible for establishing International Standards for High Intensity Approach, Threshold and Runway Lighting Systems. Later in his career, Hopson spent several years consulting for an air planning services firm working in STOL and VTOL with Jack Dyment. He also worked for a manufacturing firm developing area navigation systems, fibre optic instrumentation and weight and balance systems.
David Ernest Hornell
Birthdate: January 26, 1910
Birth Place: Lucknow, Ontario
Year Inducted: 1973
Death Date: June 25, 1944
Awards: VC
"His winning of the Victoria Cross in aerial combat must be regarded as one of the most outstanding contributions possible to Canadian aviation."
David Hornell was educated at Toronto and Mimico where he worked for the Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company from 1927 to 1940. He entered the RCAF in January, 1941. He was posted to Reykjavik, Iceland in 1944 with No. 162 Squadron when a German U-boat fully surfaced and Flight Lieutenant Hornell attacked. The U-boat crew opened fire on the aircraft but despite his precarious position, Hornell targeted and successfully sank the submarine. However, the aircraft was badly damaged and Hornell and the crew were forced to crash land into the sea. They spent 21 hours in the water, taking turns between riding in the small dinghy and clinging to the side, after which they were rescued. Sadly, Flight Lieutenant Hornell succumbed to his exposure to the elements shortly after being picked up. For this outstanding feat of bravery, he was awarded the Victoria Cross.
Birthdate: December 29, 1913
Birth Place: Toronto, Ontario
Year Inducted: 1998"His lifetime in aviation has been highlighted by his contribution to corporate aviation and the 70 year history of de Havilland in Canada. His ability to relate his extensive career to the writing and preservation of the country's aviation history has been of lasting value to Canada."
After serving in the RCAF as an instructor and with Transport Command, Hotson worked as a corporate pilot until joining de Havilland in the test flight and product support department. He is an accomplished author and a noted aviation historian. Hotson's interest in Canada's aviation history, and his careful documentation and writing style have left a legacy and treasure of written words about Canada's aviation heritage.
Clarence Decatur Howe
Birthdate: January 15, 1886
Birth Place: Waltham, Massachusetts, U.S.A.
Year Inducted: 1976
Death Date: December 31, 1960
"The unselfish application of his engineering skills and qualities of leadership and determination as a servant of the Nation, and more especially his successful efforts to give birth to a national airline and create a viable aircraft industry, have been of outstanding benefit to Canadian aviation."
Clarence Howe graduated from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1907 and came to Canada as a professor of civil engineering at Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia. In 1935, Howe was elected to the House of Commons and was later named Minister of Railways and Canals and Minister of Marine. He united both departments into one Department of Transport. He also fashioned the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation from the Canadian Radio Commission and founded the nation's first transcontinental airways system, Trans-Canada Air Lines. During WWII, Howe was also responsible for most of the production of military aircraft and the chain of airports he established proved invaluable to the training of Allied aircrew. After the war, he ensured that government-owned companies were turned over to private enterprise to maintain a viable Canadian aircraft industry.
Albert Edward Hutt
Birthdate: January 30, 1901
Birth Place: Halton, Ontario
Death Date: April 27, 1990
Year Inducted: 1992
"A pioneer in the field of aircraft maintenance and engineering at a time when there was only his knowledge and integrity for guidance, his lifetime of excellence provided an example for all who followed, thus benefiting Canadian aviation."
Albert Hutt joined the RFC in Canada at the age of 16 as an engine mechanic. He later became a survey camera operator and mapped the Rocky Mountain Area west of Calgary, Alberta. In 1924 he joined the Ontario Provincial Air Service as a mechanic/photographer; four years later he joined Western Canada Airways. Hutt was responsible for repairing and overhauling a fleet of 45 different aircraft, comprised of 14 different types that used 9 different types of engines. His solutions to complex problems became legendary. During his career, Hutt also became manager of the Repair Plant in New Westminster, British Columbia, and established its reputation as being the most efficient in Canada.© Copyright in the portrait drawings of the honoured members of the Aviation Hall of Fame, which were prepared by Mrs. I. Coucill are the property of Mrs. Coucill.
