Southern Alberta’s Geoffrey Brayne has always had a passion for historic planes.
Brayne owns and maintains his 1952 Harvard MK (mark) IV aircraft at the Lethbridge Airport. He will be high in the sky on Monday, November 11 during Remembrance Day ceremonies, for a fly-past above Lethbridge, Coaldale, Stirling and Raymond.
However, this year, unlike in years past, Brayne will not be flying. That responsibility will fall to retired Captain David Deere with the Royal Canadian Air Force. Deere is a retired CF-18 Snowbird pilot and is now the technical pilot of WestJet.
Brayne will instead be in the backseat of the historic plane. “We started doing it [fly-pasts] when we restored the airplane four years ago,” he notes.
Brayne adds the reception to the fly-past was highly positive during the first event and has continued to receive a warm response since then.
“The number of phone calls I got after we flew the Remembrance Day [ceremony], and people approaching us [saying] just how much it meant because they had some family member either flying the airplane or worked on the airplane – I realized it was significant for people to see a bit of history and connection to family members.”
Brayne says the Harvard aircraft had been left in a Tisdale, Saskatchewan hangar for 25 years before it was moved to Lethbridge. “We took it apart, trucked it home to Lethbridge and spent about a year with some good friends and a good maintenance department here in Lethbridge, and we restored it back to the way it was when it was retired in 1966.”
A LABOUR OF LOVE
Brayne describes taking care of the planes as a passion project.
“You have to love to maintain these old airplanes,” he remarks. “They’re 75-years-old, so they do require a lot of maintenance. I’ll typically go fly for an hour and then spend quite a bit of time, cleaning it for one, and then just [making] sure it’s in really top shape.”
The pilot adds it may surprise some, but the historic aircraft’s systems are not much different than current equipment used today. Brayne adds the Harvard was used in Canada to train NATO pilots during the Cold War. “They made about 15,000 of these airplanes and there’s about 700 or 800 still flying in the world,” he states.
“Parts are still available. You just need good maintenance people and there’s a lot of resources to keep them flying.”
Brayne has been flying since 1982, honing his craft at the Lethbridge Flying Club during his last year of high school. He remarks that it is an honour to be a part of the Remembrance Day ceremonies. “I like to do it just as a tribute to everyone that’s served in the military, as well as from pilots to the ground people, to the engineers, to the designers of these airplanes, and particularly, to the extended family that it means something for.”
“It’s a privilege to be a custodian of these airplanes,” Brayne adds.
He says the total flight time will be about an hour and 15 minutes, but the memories last much longer. “It’s a real honour to fly in the Remembrance Day [ceremony] and I look forward to it every year, and I look forward to just bringing back some good memories and connections to the people in southern Alberta.”
The Harvard will not be alone in the air on November 11, as the Royal Canadian Air Force 429 Transport Squadron will conduct a fly-past with its C-17 Globemaster at the Lethbridge Cenotaph. This year marks the 100th anniversary of the RCAF.
There are two ceremonies set to take place in Lethbridge on Remembrance Day.
An outdoor event with the 20th Independent Field Battery is set to start at 10:45 a.m. at the Cenotaph on Veterans Avenue (4 Avenue South) in front of the Yates Memorial Centre. This is where attendees can expect the fly-pasts.
A concurrent ceremony is set to start at 10:45 a.m., hosted by the General Stewart Branch #4 of the Royal Canadian Legion indoors at the Agri-food Hub and Trade Centre.
