Vintage Wings of Canada

One of the latest acquisitions of Mike Potter's ever expanding Vintage Wings of Canada Museum at Gatineau, Québec, Canada is this Curtiss P-40 ( Kittyhawk III). Currently under restoration at Pioneer Aero in New Zealand, it is the hope of everyone in Geneseo that the aircraft is completed ahead of schedule and returned to Canada in time to attend the Flying Tigers Reunion.

It is being painted in the markings of RCAF NCO Sergeant J. F. "Stocky" Edwards, which he flew while with No. 260 Squadron in North Africa. Edwards finished the war as Canada's highest scoring P-40 pilot and the third-highest Tomahawk/Kittyhawk pilot of the entire British Commonwealth.

He began his first combat sorties while with No. 94 Squadron flying Kittyhawk AK 739/FZ-R based at Gasrel Arid, Libya and scored his first of over a dozen aerial victories on his first mission that lasted one hour and 40 minutes. That first victory was a Bf-109F from III/J.G. 27 and occurred on March 23, 1942. On June 6th he shot down another Bf-109F while flying against Rommel's forces over El Alamein while flying ET 623/in WS-E.

He joined the No. 260 Squadron in August and was leading a squadron by mid-September while still a Flying Flight Sergeant. On October 22nd, while flying one of the first new Kittyhawk II's, he scored his fifth victory, becoming an ace and promoted to Flight Commander. On December 22, 1943, while flying FR 350/H. S.-B his 126th operational sortie, he shot down an ME-323 from 4/in JG 77 and ended the year as Canada's last Kittyhawk ace. The squadron later transitioned to Hurricanes.

Vintage Wing's Kittyhawk III displays the scheme of Stocky's last P-40 (FR 350/HS-B) of No. 260 Squadron based at Castel Benito, Libya in January, 1943. Hopefully the Geneseo Airshow will be its North American debut. Stocky Edwards himself has been invited as an honored guest of the 1941 Historical Aircraft Group and is planning on attending the show.

By Frank Schaufler and Seth Goltzer