Every
morning for almost three years I’ve driven past the Argus so gallantly mounted
at the entrance to 14 Wing Greenwood. It’s
monstrous silhouette gleaming in the early morning sunlight which reflects a
ghostly image of an airframe so instrumental to our Air Force Heritage.
During a casual conversation one day, I was invited to take part in a
restoration project for the Argus as it was becoming a victim of Nova Scotia’s
harsh winter climate. This project
involved the complete gutting of the interior in order to identify spots that
needed immediate repair so the airframe can be preserved. I had no idea what this job entailed nor did I expect the
amount of work involved. Every
piece of equipment has to be removed as well as the miles upon miles of wiring
which enables us easy access to remove all the interior insulation.
On that particular day, Bill Flynn and George Eakins who had already spent countless hours and months working on the Argus gave me an area aft of the aircraft to work on. This did not seem too difficult to me as most of the equipment racks are forward in the Argus; therefore, providing me with somewhat easy access to the insulation panels. So with great ambition and pride I suited up in the protective gear and started my task for the day. It wasn’t very long before I realized how dirty this job really was. After several hours and several garbage bags of insulation I was down to my last few panels to remove when I discovered a treasure on the wall that brought a huge smile to my face. On the back port side of the aircraft deep behind all the protective coverings I discovered a poppy that was proudly displayed in the insulation. This was no ordinary poppy as it showed it’s age and in our minds had been placed in the walls of the airframe during its production in the 1950’s as this area would not have been accessed again once the airplane was put into service. We could only speculate that one of the aerospace workers out of Canadair intentionally placed it there during production.
So we all agreed that it would be best to leave the poppy in the wall of
the airframe and hopefully it will become a conversation piece for years and
years to come. And with any luck at
all the person that actually placed this poppy will come forward and share his
story. After all, this poppy has a
huge amount of flying hours………
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Nick Bailey
Sgt
404 Squadron
14 Wing Greenwood
Nova Scotia
Canada