'Hawk One' Sabre Coming to AirVenture

Vintage Wings of Canada bringing Sabre 5, Lysander to Oshkosh

February 26, 2010 - A Canadair Sabre 5 fighter jet owned by Vintage Wings of Canada will return to one of its many former homes this summer – Oshkosh, Wisconsin – where it will be a featured warbird attraction at EAA AirVenture 2010. The aircraft, Hawk One, has one of the most spectacular paint schemes ever to grace the Sabre - that of the Royal Canadian Air Force Golden Hawks precision aerobatic team. The aircraft traveled throughout Canada in 2009 to help celebrate the country's Centennial of Aviation. The Golden Hawks team was created in 1959 to honor the RCAF's 35th anniversary along with Canada's golden (50th) anniversary of flight. This very aircraft – SN 23314 – was owned by the EAA Aviation Foundation from 1992-1996. Vintage Wings of Canada acquired it in 2007 from a private owner who lived in Oshkosh.

Vintage Wings of Canada's Canadair Sabre 5 jet Hawk One (Photo credit: Peter Handley/Vintage Wings of Canada)

Carolyn Leslie, Vintage Wings hangar manager, said the decision to bring Hawk One (C-GSBR) to AirVenture was made last summer after they had brought three World War II fighters to Oshkosh for the centennial. Vintage Wings' P-40, Corsair, and Spitfire appearances were very well received – in fact P-40 won the 2010 Warbirds Best Fighter award and was one of the more memorable airplanes to be featured at a Warbirds in Review presentation. (The Corsair was an EAA Grand Champion in 2003.)

"We kept the Sabre in Canada last year, and decided to have it come down this year," she said. "Everyone had such a nice time (at Oshkosh 2009). The crew working on the ramp (AeroShell Square) were amazing." Like the P-40 last year, Hawk One is slated to be featured in a Warbirds in Review presentation, with a very special pilot to be announced who flew her years ago. Leslie said Vintage Wings would also bring its Westland Lysander IIIA to AirVenture 2010. That airplane, also acquired in 2007, is in the final stages of restoration at Vintage Wings' Gatineau, Quebec, headquarters.

Vintage Wings of Canada's Hawk One taxis at its home airport in Gatineau, QC (Photo credit: Peter Handley/Vintage Wings of Canada)

The Sabre Jet is a swept-wing, single-seat aircraft long recognized as one of the finest fighter aircraft of all time, and the Sabre 5 and Sabre 6 models built by Canadair at its Montreal plant are considered the most capable of all variants. More than 9,500 aircraft were built, including six variants, totaling over 1,800 planes built in Canada.

Canadair Sabres served both in Canada and with 12 squadrons at RCAF stations in Europe with NATO. Chosen by the RCAF as its frontline day fighter in August 1949, Sabres served in Western Europe from the early days of the Cold War until it was replaced by the CF-104 Starfighter beginning in 1962.

Read more about Hawk One's history here.

Canadair Sabre Jet Specifications
Length: 37 ft 6 in (11.43 m)
Wingspan: 37 ft 1½ in (11.32 m)
Height: 14 ft 9 in (4.49 m)
Empty weight: 10,638 lb (4,825 kg)
Max takeoff weight: 17,560 lb (7,965 kg)
Powerplant: Orenda 10 turbojet
Maximum speed: 696 mph (1,120 km/h)
Service ceiling: 50,700 ft (15,450 m)

  EAA Aviation Center
  P.O. Box 3086
  Oshkosh, WI 54903-3086

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