Warbird Registry
Aerial Visuals
Early History
United States Navy. TBM-3S. Construction number 3616.
Royal Canadian Navy. Avenger AS 3M. BOC: Aug. 19, 1952. SOC: July 5, 1960. Flew in Squadron VU 32.
Skyway Air Services, Langley, BC #614 CF-KCF 1961-69
Aerial Spray Program – NB
1961-1965 – No records, but very likely flew in NB for these years. 1966 – Pilot Sendra. 1967-1968 – Did not fly in NB.
Conair Aviation Ltd., Abbotsford, BC
#614 CF-KCF 1969-71
Aerial Spray Program – NB
1969 – Pilot Kydd. 1970, 1971 – Pilot Smith.
Accident Badly damaged 8 Aug 1971 at Winfield, BC, after throttle linkage broke after take-off from Kelowna. Returned to Abbotsford but written off. [Robert M. Stitt, pers. comm.]
Posted by former pilot John Truran to FPL Alumni on 18 Nov 2015. John recollects: “I thought this was a Budworm accident but a mechanic friend of mine corrected me. It was a training flight out of Abbotsford in 1970 and was probably the first Conair accident. The pilot apparently switched to an empty tank at low altitude and ended landing in the trees. As was often the case with the TBM both pilot and aircraft survived to fly again although not with Conair for the pilot!”
Conair #614 at Fredericton, 23 May 1970. [Barrie MacLeod]
