Canada 20 Dollars Silver Coin 1994 Canadian Vickers Vedette
Aviation Commemoratives
Obverse: Profile portrait of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II created in 1990 and notable for the grand jewelled tiara and a beautiful string of pearls, this royal effigy was designed by Canadian artist Dora de Pedery-Hunt.
Lettering: ELIZABETH II D · G · REGINA · 1994 ·
Reverse: The Canadian Vickers Vedette flying boat in flight. Portrait of Wilfrid Thomas Reid in 24-karat gold-plated cameo, denomination below.
Lettering: CANADA 20 DOLLARS RRC.
Engraver: Robert R. Carmichael.
Edge: Reeded & Plain Sections.
Diameter: 38 mm.
Weight: 31.103 g.
Material: Silver.
Fineness: 0.925.
Denomination: 20 Canadian Dollars.
Produced By: Royal Canadian Mint.
Wilfrid Thomas Reid
Reid was born on 4 March 1887 in Battersea, Surrey. He died in Newton Abbot, Devon on 5 April 1968 of heart failure. He was married with two children.
Aviation career
United Kingdom
Reid was educated at Bedford Modern School before taking up an apprenticeship from 1 June 1903 to 1 June 1908 at the Queen's Engineering Works of W. H. Allen, Son & Co. Ltd located in Queens Park, Bedford, England. His father, James Reid, was a manager at the Works. Reid then worked as a marine engineer with the Fairfield Shipyards on the River Clyde in Glasgow, Scotland. In the course of his work at the company, he travelled across the Atlantic several times.
During the initial stages of the First World War, Reid worked at the Royal Aircraft Factory. In 1916, Reid started working for the Bristol Aeroplane Company (then known as the British and Colonial Aeroplane Company) assisting Frank Barnwell, working on aircraft such as the Bristol M.R.1, the Braemar bomber, M.1D and Bristol Ten-seater, .
In October 1921 Barnwell left the company to emigrate to Australia and Reid took over the role as chief designer, designing the Bristol Racer, Bloodhound and Berkeley. Barnwell subsequently returned in 1923 and displaced Reid as chief designer. This caused Reid to leave the company.
Canada
Canadian Vickers Limited
In 1924, Canadian Vickers Limited hired Reid to be their chief aircraft designer. The company was located in Montreal, Canada. Reid was given the plans for an aircraft started by R. K. Pierson who worked for Vickers Limited, the British parent company of Canadian Vickers Limited.
Reid, together with a man named Newall, developed the design into the aircraft known as the Vedette. "The design and production of the Canadian Vickers Vedette marked the true beginning of the Canadian aircraft industry."
Reid Aircraft Company
Reid founded the Reid Aircraft Company in February 1928. The company was based at what was to become known as the Cartierville Airport. The objective of the company was to design and produce a light training aircraft initially called the Reid Rambler. but subsequently became known as the Curtiss-Reid Rambler
Curtiss-Reid Aircraft Company
In December 1928, the Curtiss Aeroplane and Motor Company bought the Reid Aircraft Company. The company was renamed to the Curtiss-Reid Aircraft Company. Curtiss-Reid went bankrupt in 1931 and was sold to a new company called Montreal Aircraft Industries. Reid was not part of the new company.
Crude Oil Engine and Engineering Co.
Several years after he sold Reid Aircraft, he bought a diesel engine sales agency, the Crude Oil Engine Co. (which he renamed the Crude Oil Engine and Engineering Co.). It supplied engines for marine use and other purposes.
Honours
Inducted into The Québec Air and Space Hall of Fame on 6 April 2006.
Elected Associate Fellow of the Royal Aeronautical Society on 19 April 1917, then to the rank of Fellow (FRAeS) on 10 November 1925.
Associate Member of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers.
In 1994, the Royal Canadian Mint issued a $20 coin honouring Wilfrid Reid and the Vickers Vedette.
Canadian Vickers Vedette
The Canadian Vickers Vedette was the first aircraft in Canada designed and built to meet a Canadian specification for Canadian conditions. It was a single engine flying boat purchased to meet a RCAF specification for an aircraft suitable for forestry survey and fire protection control work. The type went on to have a long and distinguished career in civil operations with the RCAF. Five versions of the Vedette were produced, including two amphibious versions and one with an enclosed cabin on an all-metal hull. With the exception of these major changes however most of the remaining differences between versions were relatively minor and not externally visible. Each version was produced with a range of optional engine types.
In RCAF service, the aircraft proved popular and versatile. It was able to perform photographic and forestry patrols satisfactorily and provided a backbone for RCAF flying operations through the difficult depression years. They lasted even until the outbreak of war. Most of the topographical maps in use in Canada today are based on photos taken from these aircraft.
Design and development
Based on a preliminary design in early 1924 for a "flying boat" by R.K.Pierson of the home company, Vickers (UK), the Canadian Vickers Vedette was a two/three-seat single-engine pusher aircraft. The design was passed over to the Canadian Vickers Limited of Longueuil, Quebec (formed in 1911) where Wilfrid Thomas Reid served as Chief Engineer.
The prototype Vedette I was first flown on 4 November 1924, powered by a 200 hp Rolls-Royce Falcon III. It was subsequently fitted with 210 hp Wolseley Viper, 200 hp Wright J-4 and 215 hp Armstrong Siddeley Lynx engines for testing. Several versions of the Vedette were produced, including two amphibious versions and one with an enclosed cabin on an all-metal hull. With the exception of these major changes, most of the remaining differences between versions were relatively minor and not externally visible. Each version was produced with a range of optional engine types.
Operational history
The first production example was provided to Fairchild Aerial Surveys (c/n 31 G-CAFF) before they started designing their own survey aircraft. The majority of the production run was purchased by the RCAF where the aircraft proved popular and versatile, if somewhat temperamental due to leaky hulls that required constant maintenance (a problem afflicting all wooden hulled flying boats). The Vedette undertook photographic and forestry patrols satisfactorily and provided a backbone for RCAF flying operations through the lean peacetime years. Vedettes started a coast-to-coast photographic survey that was needed to map out the large areas of the country still unmapped. These missions lasted until the outbreak of the Second World War, and would be completed after the war with newer types. Vedettes stationed on both coasts were also used for fishing and smuggling patrols, both with the RCAF and with Western Canada Airways.
The Vedette featured prominently in a number of mercy missions, while some airmen discovered it was nearly ideal for aerial goose hunting, at least until a pilot was hit by a goose. The first Canadian to join the Caterpillar Club by using a parachute to escape from an aircraft did so from RCAF Vedette "ZF" on 17 May 1929. The pilot, C.S. (Jack) Caldwell, while testing the aircraft at the Canadian Vickers factory, entered an uncontrollable spin after the engine failed and bailed out successfully over the St. Lawrence River.
The RCAF acquired one Wright J-4 engined Vedette I in 1925 and 18 Armstrong-Siddeley Lynx IV (210 hp) engined Vedette IIs from 1926 onwards; all of these were out of service before the Second World War began. Starting in 1929, the RCAF acquired 13 Vedette Vs with higher gross weight, and 11 Vedette VAs featuring Handley Page wing slots. The single Vedette VI, with Wright J-6 engine, featured a metal hull and an enclosed cockpit. A mark V was refurbished by the factory and as the sole Vam was given a new metal hull, as well as a new serial number (the last), but it retained its RCAF call sign as "ZD." Seven Vedette VAs and the Mk VI survived into wartime service, flying with No 4(BR) Squadron and the Seaplane and Bomber Reconnaissance Training School (later No 13 OT Sqn) in Vancouver, BC until May 1941.
In addition to the RCAF, The Ontario, Manitoba and Saskatchewan governments used Vedettes extensively for scouting out forest fires in the heavily wooded areas of those provinces.
The company exported six Wright J-5 powered Vedette Vs to Chile, where they were based at Puerto Montt (which is on an inlet off the Pacific coast) with the Escuadrilla de Anfibios N° 1 (now known as the Grupo de Aviación N° 5). They were used to forge an air link between there and the capital Santiago, 569 miles (916 km) up the coast. At least one of the Vedettes, and possibly all six were lost due to hurricane force winds, which also caused the loss of two lives when one of the aircraft overturned while on the water.
AIRCRAFT SPECIFICATIONS
Manufacturer: Canadian Vickers
Crew / Passengers: crew of three: one pilot and 2 passengers
Power Plant(s): one 200 hp Wolseley Viper , Rolls Royce Falcon or Wright J4 or 185 hp Armstrong Siddeley Lynx IVB radial engines
Performance: Max Speed: 95 mph ( 153 km/h) Cruising Speed: 87 mph ( 140 km/h)
Service Ceiling: 13,000 ft (3,962 m)
Weights: Empty: 2,140 lb ( 972 kg) Gross: 3,155 lb ( 1,432 kg)
Dimensions: Upper Span: 42 ft 0 in ( 12.8 m) Length: 32 ft 10 in ( 10.0 m)
Height: 11 ft 9 in ( 3.58 m) Wing Area: 496 sq ft (46.04 sq m)
Canadian Coins
Canada 20 Dollars Silver Coin 1994 Canadian Vickers Vedette