Canadian Virtual War Memorial
Commonwealth War Graves Commission
Library and Archives Canada Service Files (may not exist)
Dorchester, Massachusetts, USA
Northrop Nomad
Northrop A-17A Nomad, RCAF (Serial No. 3508), painted with target towing stripes
, RCAF Station Rockcliffe, Ontario, 21 Nov 1941.
The Northrop A-17, a development of the Northrop Gamma 2F model, was a two-seat, single-engine, monoplane, attack bomber built in 1935 by the Northrop Corporation for the U.S. Army Air Corps. When in British Commonwealth service during World War II, the A-17 was called Nomad.
The Royal Canadian Air Force received 32 Nomads that had been part of a French order of 93 aircraft. When France fell in 1940, this order was taken over by Great Britain who transferred 32 of the aircraft to Canada where they were used as advanced trainers and target tugs as part of the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan. All were assigned to No. 3 Training Command RCAF.
Nomads were never used operationally overseas. Initially, the aircraft were used at Camp Borden to check out qualified civilian pilots who were offering their services to the air force. In 1941, the aircraft were modified to a target-towing configuration to allow for air-to-air gunnery training at various schools in Quebec and Ontario. In addition to being used by the RCAF in Canada, the Royal Norwegian Air Force trained some aircrew in exile on the A-17A at airports in Toronto and Muskoka. The RCAF Nomads were retired with the cessation of hostilities. The Nomads were not particularly outstanding aircraft, but they did provide reliable training service logging an average of approximately 3,000 flying hours each in their four and a half years of service. Wikipedia and Harold Skaarup web page
Wikipedia Nomad Trainer
Harold A Skaarup Web Page
Northrop Nomad - Kestrel Publications
CASPIR Aircraft Groups:
RCAF On Strength (32), Canadian Aircraft Losses (8)Nomad (Northrop) 3498
Delivered marked as NX-NI7. Assigned to No. 1 Service Flying Training School, Air Traffic Services, Camp Borden, Ontario. Category “B” damage on 14 Oct 1940 while at Camp Borden. To No. 6 Repair Depot Trenton, Ontario, for conversion to target towing configuration as of 3 Jul 1941. Next assigned to No. 4 Bombing & Gunnery School in Fingal, Ontario, as of 31 Jan 1942. Transferred to No. 9 Bombing & Gunnery School at Mont-Joli, Quebec, on 22 Sep 1942. Category “A” accident on 20 Jul 1943 near that station. The a/c was on a post-maintenance test flight. The a/c was restricted to the confines of the aerodrome and below 2,000 ft to avoid both the cloud ceiling and related weather. The maintenance test pilot, Flying Officer E.G. Meade, was an experienced pilot, but new to the a/c type having only 3:15 hours on the Nomad. The a/c was observed making left and right turns below the ceiling. A civilian witness then observed the a/c begin to spin. The investigation concluded that the pilot had executed too steep a turn, stalled the a/c, and entered a non-recoverable spin from low altitude. Both Flying Officer E.G. Meade and Cpl J.T. Vasileff were killed.
1940-08-13 Taken on Strength at Uplands, Ontario 2022-01-26
1940-October-14 Accident: 1 Service Flying Training School Loc: Camp Borden Names: Gillard | Rawson
1940-10-14 Accident Category B 2022-01-26
1942-July-22 Accident: 4 Bomb & Gunnery School Loc: Aerodrome Names: Brownlee | Wheat
1942-November-15 Accident: 9 Bomb & Gunnery School Loc: Station Aerodrome Names: Darby
1942-11-15 Accident Category C 2022-01-26
1943-July-20 Accident: 9 Bomb & Gunnery School Loc: Aerodrome Names: Mead | Vasileff
1943-07-20 Accident Category A 2022-01-26
1943-11-02 Struck off Strength written off 2022-01-26
RCAF.info - RCAF Station Mont Joli QC
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