MAIN MENU CONTRIBUTORS MENU RECENT ADDITIONS 1000aircraftphotos.com GARY HEBBARD COLLECTION Contact  Photos

"My father made the first glider flights in Newfoundland in 1938 and I believe I inherited his natural love of aviation. Born in Toronto, Ontario, I grew up right across the street from what was then Downsview AFB. On the same airfield was the de Havilland factory turning out Beavers and Otters. A short walk or bicycle ride brought me to the boundary fence where I could watch everything taking place. Not far away was what was then called Malton Airport, now known as Lester B. Pearson International. Visiting there with my Dad on hot summer nights we'd watch the planes come and go until it got too dark to see any more. There I watched, fascinated, the First Trans Canada Airlines DC-8 touch down one sultry evening. In various corners of the field could be seen war surplus Lancasters, post war de Havilland Meteors, DC-4s, DC-6s and DC-7s as well as Consellations (arguably the most beautiful airliners ever built), Viscounts and Vanguards and who knows what else. In this environment, how could I ever avoid catching the plane bug? Later in life I lived on the former US AFB at Goose Bay, Labrador, where I was subjected to a steady diet of Vulcans, Victors KC-135s, F-4 Phantom IIs, F-16s and lots of bushplanes including, no doubt some of the very Beavers and Otters I'd seen at Downsview all those years ago. I never got my wings, spending my time instead reading about and studying the history of all things with wings. I love to fly any chance I get and have been aloft in about 20 different types over the years including a never-to-be-forgotten flight with Canada's Snowbirds aerobatic team! Currently I am a photo journalist for The Telegram, the largest daily newspaper in Newfoundland. As a journalist and photographer for 37 years I've written extensively on aviation topics for newspapers and magazines in Canada and the US through which I have met some of the most fascinating people ever. I published a biographical book about a pioneer pilot in Newfoundland, "I'd Rather be Flying: The Airborne Life and Times of Ted Pearcey." Ain't life grand for us airplane nuts?"