They'd all be put on a truck

Heroes Remember

They'd all be put on a truck

Transcript

Basically, they would be... Of course the engines were cast engines and a lot of aluminum, but some of the aircraft themselves were made of, well, made of pretty well metal. The old Ansons were, they were a fabric and wood, so they buckled up pretty good. There was one, actually there was one... Like, magnesium is light and strong, but it also burns. There was an odd aircraft, I think Bolingbrokes. There was, they were quite a lot of magnesium in them, and they would, they'd burn if they ever got going..., the metal, but they were light. If the aircraft crashed within the range that we looked after, which was Ontario and a lot of Quebec, most of Quebec, I guess the, the parent unit would, would phone the repair depot and the aircraft recovery section, which we were in and they say, "Okay, this crew, this is what has happened, away you go." So, you would, the aircraft, the motor transport people would come up with their equipment, and you would have the, what we called the gen poles, equipment to hold the engines and, and... so that would..., they'd all be put on a truck and brought back. There were certain, there was certain equipment that was adaptable to each aircraft. If you were going after a Harvard, you would have certain slings that would, the wings would fit and the engine would fit on, if it had been knocked off, things like that. So if it was a different type of aircraft, it was an old Anson... The wing, it was, they were kind of dirty. The big old wing went right through the other side, so it had to come off, obviously, you know. And sometimes, an odd time there'd be one hit, hit the lake, been in the water. And strange to say, if an aircraft hit the water, it would be torn to pieces worse than the land. It just would, just, the water would just, they'd just be torn to shreds. And we, we would, there would just, there would be probably special people equipped to get those out. And there were certain things, certain instruments, clocks, compasses, things like that, that had to be accounted for if they could be, if they were still salvageable. There were the two main things.

Description

Mr. MacKenzie describes aircraft recovery on land and in the water.

Grant MacKenzie

Grant Mackenzie was born in Harriston, Ontario, in 1923. He finished school and went to work at a local auto dealer. He attempted to serve overseas as a pilot or electronics technician, but colour blindness prevented him from doing so. Instead, Mr. Mackenzie joined 6 Repair Depot in Trenton, Ontario, where he was an aero engine mechanic. He was also a member of one of the teams tasked with recovering parts from aircraft which crashed during training exercises. Upon completion of his military service, Mr. Mackenzie rejoined the automotive industry.

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