Memorial Wall
Bruce Walton
1937-2012
Bruce farmed for 35 years and worked on the oil rigs for 20 winters. After renting the farm out he custom combined for the Innisfail Co-Op. He enjoyed also enjoyed to drive truck for Can-Go hot shotting until his passing. In October 1984, he obtained his private pilot's license and logged a total of 1626 hours of flying. After obtaining his commercial pilot's license in 1997 he bought a Cessna 182 retractable and started Red Deer Aviation. During this time he transported oil company staff and also loved touring people out to the mountains and around Central Alberta. Bruce helped out with many Fly-In breakfasts with the Red Deer Flying Club and also many of the Red Deer Airshows. He also enjoyed flying with friends to Golden, BC for breakfast on some occations. Many families, especially their children enjoyed a trip around Red Deer and area with Bruce. He took great joy in flying with his grandchildren to many different locations around Alberta. Bruce and Ellen had four children, eleven grandchildren, and two great-grandchildren at the time of his passing.
John Henry Bugbee
1918-2001
John was born in Middlesex England. As a boy he was interested in things mechanical, motorcycles, automobiles, & airplanes. He joined the RAF just before the start of World War II with hopes of being a pilot. However because he was too short for the air crew, he was named chauffeur for Group Captain Peter Townsend. On day when he was driving Townsend, John told him about his dream to become a pilot. A good word was put in and John was sent to Penhold, Canada to become a pilot and he met Ruth while he was here training. John’s first posting was to Halifax, NS flying a Hudson for Coastal Command and was later transferred to England also flying Costal Command. After the war he flew supply planes between Karachi, India and England. In 1946 he and Ruth returned to Canada and a farming operation that they ran for 41 years. For over 40 years John did not fly, until one evening Phillip Anderson invited him to a Flying Club meeting. Ron Schmidt took John for a ride in his Grumman Traveler and asked him if he would to try and fly it. John said, “I sure would” and proceeded to fly it, fly the circuit and then land it. From that time on John hardly ever missed a meeting. He was active in the Flying Club as well as joining the local Civil Air Rescue Emergency Services organization. He and Ruth were always active helpers at all of the Flying Club activities including Fly-In Breakfasts, air show activities, socials, etc. John was a highly respected member of the flying fraternity. We always enjoyed his stories about flying the big four-engine Halifax aircraft.
William John "Bill" Corbett
1917-1994
Bill was born March 27, 1917 in Ontario. As a boy he travelled west with his family to settle in the Garrington area. In his youth Bill never had the opportunity to acknowledge his love of flight and aircraft, but the outbreak of World War II gave him the chance to pursue his dream. He volunteered with the RCAF and entered service in 1941. He was an AERO Engine Mechanic, serving in the Commonwealth Training Program in Ontario. He later graduated from the Flight Engineer Program and was mustered out of the service in 1945 as a Pilot Officer.After the war Bill attended the Calgary Business College and eventually entered into business with his brother Earl. They provided a machine shop, auto electric and auto parts services. He retired in the early 1980’s.Business and family commitments – wife Marie, daughter Lorna kept Bill too busy to fly until 1972. At age 55, with a total of 39 hours he obtained his private pilot’s license. Bill and his friend John Pollock spent the next few years constructing a “plans built” Pazmany PL-4 which first flew in 1977. During the next 16 years Bill accumulated 300 hours in 326 flights in the little plane. He also constructed a RAND KR-2 with another friend, Bert Wever. At the time of Bill’s death at the age of 77 he held a current pilot’s license and had accumulated 929 hours over 22 years.Bill was a long standing, active member of RDFC, CASARA, RAAC and EAA. He was a “permanent fixture” at the Red Deer Airport, a friend to everyone, and was respected for his superb ability to troubleshoot aircraft problems. More importantly he is remembered for his mentorship, contagious enthusiasm and love for flying and machines that fly.
Ted Grauman
1931-2009
Ted was born in Hanna, AB and started his career working with the Calgary Police Service. He later became an electrical lineman for the City of Red Deer. He loved people and action, he belonged to the Masonic Lodge and then graduated to the Shrine Club. He also belonged to the Red Deer Flying Club, Emergency Aid Patrol, Civil Air Search and Rescue and St. John Ambulance. He spent thousands of hours with the St. John organization helping at hockey games, field sports, parades, boat races, you name it. He helped with every pancake breakfast that the Flying Club organized. He was the one who talked us into buying a meat slicer which would make his job easier! He was the proud owner of a hot air balloon and had many wonderful rides. He became a judge for balloon events and travelled to Japan, Europe and the USA to help judge competitions. Ted and Mary had four children, Judy, Pat, Don and Ken.
Gordon Moss
1921-2005
Gordon joined the RCAF at the start of World War II and graduated as a pilot. He became a flight instructor and taught at several stations across Canada. He later served with a bomber squadron flying the Lockheed Ventura on coastal patrol. After the war he attended University of Saskatchewan and received a Bachelor of Science in Ag Economics. He was employed by United Grain Growers for 35 years and was the General Manager of the company when he retired. He worked as an instructor with the Calgary Flying Club for several years. Gordon joined the Red Deer Flying Club in 1983 and was an enthusiastic member for over 20 years. He never missed helping with a Fly-In breakfast or any other event the club organized. In 1988 he became a charter member of the Central Alberta Gliding Club and experienced a while new type of flying. He was as excited as anyone when he was awarded his gliding license even though he had thousands of hours in powered planes. Our most memorable occasion was the day that he looped the Schweizer 222 six times in succession! His log book shows a total of 4581 hours. Gordon and Maoni had four children, six grandchildren and five great-grandchildren at the time of his passing.
John Eric Page
1924-2002
John was raised in the Louisiana district and attended the Fairbank School south east of Pine Lake. As a young person he found work and many of the local farms. In 1966 he went to the Calgary Technical School and received his mechanics papers. He then worked in garages in Innisfail and Red Deer. John enjoyed membership in the Red Deer Camera Club, Skyline Trail Hikers, Red Deer Motorcycle Club, and the Red Deer River Naturalists.In 1974 he took his pilot’s license and joined the Red Deer Flying Club. He then rented a variety of aircraft from Johnson Air Services and enjoyed local flights, fly-in breakfasts and opportunities to take friends for a ride. For several years he was the proud owner of an Emeraude amateur-built plane. He spent many enjoyable hours using his mechanical skills to fix and modify the aircraft. It rewarded him with 207 flights totaling 166 hours in the air. Johns total time as a pilot was 598 hours in Cessna 172’s, 176’s, 150’s Beechcraft 23’s, Piper PA-28-200’s and his beloved CP301 (Emeraude).John was also an active member of the local Civil Air Rescue Emergency Service. He acted as a spotter and a member of the support group that planned exercises and set out targets.John was always a diligent worker at the Flying Club and was awarded a life membership. In 1984 he donated the John Page Trophy with is presented annual to a member of the Red Deer Flying Club who has shown exemplary service to the club during that year.
John Lawrence Pollock
1917-1988
John was fascinated by airplanes, starting with models when he was very young. Encouraged by his father, he entered many competitions throughout Alberta. John became an Industrial Arts teacher in 1935 and it 1941 he enlisted in the RCAF and served four years as a Technical Instructor or Aircraft Instruments. After the war he taught Industrial Arts and later became an Administrator with the Red Deer School District. He was appointed Principal of the Vocational School and later Deputy Superintendent of the School System,In 1975 John and his friend Bill Corbett started to build a Pazmany PL4 from plans only. It was a masterpiece of precision work, every part was meticulously crafted. When it was finished in 1977 the test pilot, Bert Wever found that it performed as well as it looked. John and Bill were very proud of it and in 1983 John flew it to Oshkosh.John held his pilot’s license for 18 years and spent 211 wonderful hours in “The Paz”, he took it up for 234 flights. John was an active member and supporter of the Red Deer Flying Club activities for many years. He and his wife Mary had three daughters, Carolyn, Susan and Janie who died in a tragic accident when she was six.
Herluf Nielsen
On 8 November 2008, the Red Deer Zone of the Civil Air Search and Rescue Association (CASARA) were holding a night search and rescue (SAR) training exercise. The exercise concluded a little after 10 PM and everyone headed home. Herluf Nielsen, a long time SAR pilot with CASARA decided to fly his plane back to Innisfail airport and leave it there as he would not be able to land at his unlit farm strip, near Spruce View. At approximately 10:30 PM, he departed CYQF for Innisfail. He never got there. A massive search in very heavy fog was conducted by a ground search team, as well as a CAF C130 Hercules aircraft from Winnipeg. At approximately 5:30 AM, a ground search team found his crashed aircraft. We had lost one of the most respected, kind gentleman, that many of us had ever known. Herluf, 67 years of age, lived with his wife Alice, on their family farm south of Spruce View. He had been flying for the last 47 years and was a founding member of the Innisfail Flying Club. He had logged more than 3000 flying hours in his life, many of those hours were spent flying as a volunteer for CASARA
helping missing people and downed pilots. On 3 October 2015, a monument will be dedicated to those military pilots including Herluf, who have lost their lives in service to their country while serving at Penhold and Bowden airports. This monument
will be situated at the base of the Harvard 370 situated at the entrance to the Red Deer Regional Airport and has been the work of the Red Deer Flying Club, the Harvard Historical Aviation Society, the RCAF Association, and CASARA. Monies to build this monument have been donated by several organizations, and private citizens.