SO, YOU WANT TO WRITE A BOOK? BE CAREFUL! IT COULD HAPPEN! By John C. Corrigan

In the summer of 1993, while visiting the Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum near Hamilton, Ontario, I stopped at the gift shop to browse. While looking through some aviation art, I came across a limited-edition print that, as they say, caught my fancy. It was a work by noted Canadian aviation artist Don Connolly. The painting was titled, “From Stage Right, The Red Knight.” It depicted a Canadair T-33 Silver Star, in a brilliant red paint scheme, performing a rolling manoeuvre over a large stadium.

 

In the white border at the bottom of the print was a brief history which read as follows:

 

During the period 1958-68, the featured solo performer at many North American air shows was the Red Knight, shown here doing a pass in front of the grandstand at the Canadian National Exhibition (CNE) in Toronto. The ‘Knight’ was actually seventeen different pilots, but the best remembered is Roy Windover, who was not only the first Red Knight, but also the driving force who conceived and developed the famous airshow demonstration.¹

 

My interest in aviation has been life-long. Growing up in the late 1950s and through the 1960s, I fondly remembered the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) demonstration teams of the day, like the Golden Hawks and the Golden Centennaires. During that period, I attended the Canadian International Air Show (CIAS) at the CNE several times. I also remember attending air displays at the RCAF Station in Trenton, Ontario, and the Municipal Airport in Oshawa, Ontario. However, I do not recall seeing the Red Knight.

I decided to purchase the print, to add to my modest collection of aviation art. Pleased with my new acquisition, I was anxious to learn more about the “Red Knight.” An information sheet that was supplied with the print provided some additional details. The first two sentences repeated what was written on the print. The information sheet went on to add:

 

Later the Knight was based at Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, and Portage la Prairie, Manitoba. The Canadair-built T-33, with its striking red paint job, dazzled the crowds when flown through a flamboyant, high-speed, low-level routine. The Knight often shared billing with the RCAF Golden Hawks, a combination guaranteed to give audiences a spectacular demonstration of precision flying.

 

Over his 10-year career, the Red Knight was many different pilots; in fact, seventeen in all (three of whom died in unfortunate accidents.) One who stands out strongly in memory was Roy Windover, the first to perform. It was he who conceived the idea, then lobbied the RCAF ‘brass’ enthusiastically until he was cut loose in his own bright red machine. He campaigned the idea at a handful of appearances in the summer of 1958, and the legend was born.

 

In the original painting, a later version of the Knight is shown flashing by the grandstand at the Canadian National Exhibition where he became a standard attraction each year.²

 

Some information about Roy Windover’s life after the Red Knight was also included on the information sheet. It indicated that he was in his early sixties at that time, and that he had his own fleet of crop-dusting aircraft in Eastern Ontario. Unfortunately, this information was not up to date, as I would find out later.

 

Still thirsting for more information about the Red Knight, I pulled out my copy of Sixty Years, The RCAF and CF Air Command 1924-1984 by Larry Milberry. As I expected, there was more information in this book. According to Milberry, the Red Knight program ran from 1958 to 1969, (this differed from the information on the painting.) I also learned that the Red Knight flew T-33 aircraft until midway through the 1968 season, when a switch was made to the Canadair CT-114 Tutor. There was, however, no explanation given for this change.

 

As I continued reading, I learned the reason Windover started the display, how he got permission to work up a routine, why the aircraft was painted red and how the Red Knight got its name. I remember being surprised to learn about the relatively small number of displays that were flown by Windover in 1958 and 1959. The account also mentioned Windover’s successor as Red Knight. In fact, it provided the names of six of the seventeen pilots, including the three pilots who were killed, along with the dates and locations of their accidents. Perhaps the most notable fact I learned was that when the program was terminated in 1970, it was the longest-running aerobatics display in the history of the RCAF^.3

 

The information provided by Sixty Years gave me a few more leads to follow-up. My next stop was at the Public Library in Oshawa, Ontario, to look through microfilm of old newspapers from around the dates of the Red Knight accidents. Although I was able to find some information on the fatalities that occurred in August 1963 and July 1969, there was no mention of the incident in May 1965. I would find out later that the year stated in Milberry’s book was incorrect.

 

Since the age of fourteen, it had been my ambition to author a book on Canadian aviation history. Over the years, I had thought of many ideas for a topic to write about, but none seemed original enough. As I researched the story of the Red Knight, I began to think that I had finally found my topic. It appeared many people remembered the Red Knight, but there was little recorded about this display. Much of the information I had found to that point was contradictory or incorrect. And yet, next to the Snowbirds, the Red Knight was reported to be the longest-running aerial display in Canadian Forces history. It just did not seem right that there was no documented history of this program. It was then that I decided to write the story of the Red Knight.

 

As with any project of this nature, I am indebted to many people. Foremost among these was my late wife, Donna. Without her patience and support, this book could not have been written. I greatly appreciate the assistance provided by all the former Red Knight pilots, support personnel and their friends and families. Special thanks to Jack Waters and the late Bob Hallowell and Dave Curran. These three gentlemen were a tremendous help, providing background information about the air force in general and solo aerobatics in particular. I would also like to thank Richard Banigan and the late Don Connolly for the original artwork that contributes so much to this book. A great deal of my appreciation goes to the late Vic Johnson for editing the original manuscript. Thanks also to Mary Metcalfe who edited the published version of The Red Knight. I am incredibly grateful to the staff at Airforce magazine, for their support of this project. Finally, I owe a debt of thanks to former Snowbirds leader Dan Dempsey for his support, encouragement, and mentoring.