High River senior adding to his story of an aviator’s life
Wednesday, January 02, 2013
For his 90th birthday on Jan. 12, Gordon Jones has booked a flight - in a 1942 Tiger Moth 1214.
This isn't one of those bucket list birthday thrills, though. Jones will be in the cockpit of the bright yellow biplane that has been his pride and joy for the past 18 years.
"People look up in the sky and say, ‘What's that old fool doing?' " Jones said with a chuckle.
The residents of High River are accustomed to seeing Jones high up in the sky. Recently, he not only marked 70 years of flying a Tiger Moth, he also celebrated the completion of 10,000 flying hours.
In fact, Jones is something of a celebrity in these parts. A building in the town's centre sports an image of him as a young pilot at inspection by the governor general; last year, he was honoured with an award by the Canadian Owners and Pilots Association; the south road leading to the High River Airport was recently renamed Gordon Jones Way; and there are plans in motion by supporters to have him nominated to the Canadian Aviation Hall of Fame.
Still, the local legend and longtime flight instructor has been something of a secret gem, his renown confined to his neighbours and the Canadian flying community.
Now, more people are learning about Jones and his high-flying ways with the recent publication of Wings Over High River: Conversations with A. Gordon Jones, a book written by Calgary writer Anne Gafiuk and published by the Nanton Lancaster Society, which runs the Bomber Command Museum.
The book was launched in early December, quickly selling out its first 200 copies; there are plans to print more, with the museum now taking pre-orders (bombercommandmuseum.ca).
In it, the native of Bangor, Sask., shares his tales of an adventurous aviation life that began when he enlisted with the Royal Canadian Air Force as a fresh-faced 18 year old. It was at the RCAF's No. 5 Elementary Flying Training School just north of High River where he took his first ride in a Tiger Moth.
The facility was part of the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan, which had hundreds of facilities across the country. Jones was one of more than 130,000 aircrew from allied nations trained under this whopping $2.2-billion effort, of which Canada contributed $1.6 billion. It was the BCATP that prompted then-U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt to declare Canada "the aerodrome of democracy."
During a storied aviation career, Jones would fly no fewer than 106 Tiger Moth planes; in 1994, when he purchased one from an Edmonton man who had restored it to its original grandeur, he discovered he had flown that aircraft 10 times previously.
While many in his community know of Jones's exploits, he never expected anyone to write his life story. That is, until 2011, when he got a call out of the blue from Gafiuk. The former school teacher had been researching for a novel on a Second World War pilot, a journey that had taken her to aviation museums in British Columbia and Alberta.
It was at the Claresholm airport that summer that she first spied Jones in his bright yellow flying machine. "I see this old fellow get into a plane and take off," Gafiuk said at her home in Calgary as she served up coffee and scones to Jones and his daughter, Mary Ellen.
Source:
High River senior adding to his story of an aviator’s life
http://www2.canada.com/calgaryherald/iphone/news/latest/story.html?id=7767849
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