Sandford, John William George (Flying Officer)

Killed in Flying Accident 1956-April-03

Flying Officer John William George Sandford RCAF

Birth Date: 1929-August-24

Born: Hamilton, Ontario

Son of John Wesley and Ila Gladys (nee Abbott) Sandford of Brantford, Ontario. Brother of Bruce, Douglas and Norman Sandford.

Home: Hamilton, Ontario

Enlistment: Halifax, Nova Scotia

Enlistment Date: 1954-02-26

Service

RCAF

Unit

3 AFS- Advanced Flying School

Base

Gimli, Manitoba, Canada

Rank

Flying Officer

Position

Flying Officer

Service Numbers

N/10733

Home
Google MapHamilton, Ontario

No burial information, is he missing?

1956-04-03 - 224718 Flying Officer JW Sandford was reported missing, having bailed out of his aircraft over Lake Ontario enroute to Trenton in T-33 21457. Flying Officer Sandford had received permission to take an aircraft to Hamilton, Ontario, to attend his mother's funeral the afternoon of 1956-04-03, Early in the morning of 3 April, Flying Officer Sandford and Flying Officer Doucette, another instructor who was to accompany him on the trip, checked the weather for the flight. The result was fog and low ceilings prevailing from the Lakehead to Ottawa, therefore the trip was cancelled. However, at 0917 hours Flying Officer Sandford took off on his own for Toronto in spite of the fact that weather conditions were zero up to an including Ottawa.

Search and rescue operations failed to find any trace of the missing aircraft or pilot.

Canada Primary Source Station Historical Record - RCAF Station Gimli - 1956-04-03

Canadian Virtual War Memorial

Library and Archives Canada Service Files (may not exist)

Silver Star serial: 21457

Source: Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum

The Canadair CT-133 Silver Star (company model number CL-30) is the Canadian license-built version of the Lockheed T-33 jet trainer aircraft, in service from the 1950s to 2005.

The Canadair CT-133 was the result of a 1951 contract to build T-33 Shooting Star trainers for the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF). The powerplant is a Rolls-Royce Nene 10 turbojet instead of the Allison J33 used by Lockheed in the production of the original T-33. A project designation of CL-30 was given by Canadair and the name was changed to Silver Star. The appearance of the CT-133 is very distinctive due to the large fuel tanks usually carried on each wingtip. A total of 656 CT-133 aircraft were built by Canadair.

The CT-133 entered service in the RCAF as its primary training aircraft for fighter/interceptors. The designation of the Silver Star in the Canadian Forces was CT-133.

The CT-133's service life in the RCAF (and later the Canadian Forces) was extremely long. One of the more unusual roles it played was as an aerobatic demonstration aircraft, the RCAF's Red Knight. Although the aircraft stopped being used as a trainer in 1976, there were still over 50 aircraft in Canadian Forces inventory in 1995. The youngest of these airframes was then 37 years old and had exceeded its expected life by a factor of 2.5. During this period, the Canadair T-33 was employed in communication, target towing, and enemy simulation. Wikipedia

Wikipedia Wikipedia Canadair CT-133 Silver Star

unvetted Source Harold A Skaarup Web Page

Unit Desciption