Military aircraft relocation hits turbulence

Local Air Force veterans helped move a decommissioned airframe out of Canadian Forces Base (CFB) Borden to the former site of the RCAFA 441 Huronia Wing on Monday, but the trip did not go as smoothly as planned.

The T-33 Silver Star flew in the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) from the 1950’s until it was decommissioned in 2005. It spent much of the last two decades on display outside Hangar 11 of the Base Borden Air Annex.

“It was in Europe during the cold war and once again used as a trainer over there,” said Bill Sergeant, president of the Royal Canadian Air Force Association (RCAFA) 441 Huronia Wing. “This operation was set up by Rudy Mak as a thank you to the RCAF for the liberation of Holland.”

The 33 Silver Star parked at Rudy Mak Surveying Ltd. In Barrie Ont. on Nov 18, 2024. (CTV News/ Mike Lang)

Mak’s land surveyor business is on the former site of the RCAFA 441 Huronia Wing in the west end of Barrie, which closed in 2008 and used to have a T-33 Red Knight on display. Mak wanted the T-33 Silver Star as the new aircraft monument for the site.

“We were working together to form a public park that would honour the history of the RCAF and everything that it represented,” said Mak.

Mak and other local RCAF veterans arranged for the aircraft’s already dismantled fuselage and wings to be loaded onto two separate trucks and transported from CFB Borden to Mak’s business.

However, while leaving the base, the aircraft’s tail could not clear a cable with street signs, causing the tail’s tip to get completely shredded off by the cable.

Clipped piece of a T-33 Silver Star's tail in Barrie Ont. on Nov. 18, 2024. (CTV News/ Mike Lang)

The two transport trucks halted for roughly an hour while military police tended to the scene, as did Mike Lindsay, the T-33 Silver Star’s main volunteer technician.

“It happens,” said Lindsay. “It's not the worst thing that could have happened to us, and it's an easily repairable item. So of the things that could go wrong, this is pretty minor.”

The fuselage and wings finally made it back on the road down Highway 90 before landing at the new Rudy Mak Surveying Lt. parking spot.

The wings were unloaded first and the fuselage was successfully reassembled back on top of the wings.

Former pilots who used to fly the TC-33 Silver Star had a laugh while posing with the clipped piece of tail and reminisced about their time at the aircraft’s controls.

Clipped piece of a T-33 Silver Star's tail in Barrie Ont. on Nov. 18, 2024. (CTV News/ Mike Lang)

“It handled more like a truck than a fighter airplane,” said Art Cameron, a former RCAF Pilot. “But it was an excellent airplane for training.”

Members of the RCAFA 441 Huronia Wing are hoping to have a formal ceremony to honour the T-33 Silver Star at the new Rudy Mak Surveying Lt. parkette before winter time.

The aircraft is also set for a new paint job in its original 1950’s colours, and of course, a new fiberglass tip for its tail.