Air Traffic Control

Historical Detail

Courtesy of Jim Dunn

Trenton - 1968 - I was passing through North Bay early one cold, (-35F), winter morning, turning off Highway 17 onto 11, and noticed a young native lad hitchhiking with his hockey gear. I stopped and asked where he was going. It was Temagami, 60 miles up Highway 11. I told him to hop-in. Well, I'll be the first to admit, I didn't shower immediately after every game, but I am not sure if this young fellow showered after every season. The stories probably still abound about the crazy white dude who likes to drive at 35 below with his window rolled down.

Courtesy of Ren L'Ecuyer

I arrived at RCAF Station Trenton in August 1971 - having just completed a three year tour at Goose Bay. One of the problems associated with "getting older" is the difficulty in remembering exactly what occurred some 35 years ago.

None the less - I do recall that the airfield consisted of two runways. The main runway 06/24 was 10,000 feet in length and there was a crossing runway 13/31, a little in excess of 3,000 feet. We did not have a RAPCON and all IFR was completed via procedural control. There was a GCA site, and in most cases, approaches to the airport were ILS with a precision final. There was what we could call a "mixed bag" of traffic which consisted of Boeing 707's, the C-130 Hercules, Buffalos and Twin Otters. Toss in an occasional T-33 and other jets of the day, and those involved with Air Traffic control found themselves in for a busy day.

From the perspective of officer personnel: Major Wally Pokotylo was the SATCO. Other officers, aside from myself were: F/L Bob Hussey, Ian Stewart and F/L Pete Cooper. I recall that we had more than our share of contact trainees - some of these were: Sharon Galenzowski, Wayne Annany, and a very young "Paul Hussey".

I manage to maintain a number of fond memories from my tour at Trenton, but the happenings of 10 July, 1972 are most prominent. That was the day that the "Snowbirds" made their appearance in Trenton in an Open House, and I was the Duty Controller in the tower during the airshow.

An unfortunate aspect about the start of a new formation team is that is seems, regardless of extensive training and the care taken to produce a safe performance, it is not unusual to have a serious accident during the early years. Such was the case with the Snowbirds on this day, when Lloyd Waterer was killed following a wing-tip collision with Mike Marynowski during an opposing solo manoeuvre which was part of the air show.

Cockpit - Major Glen Younghusband (team leader).
Standing (L-R) - Capt Lloyd Waterer, Lt Larry Currie, Capt Gord Wallis, Capt Chester Glendenning.
Front row (L-R) - Captains Tom Gernack, Michael Marynowski, Laurie Illingworth, Fred McCague.