by Barbara Simpson the Sarnia Observer
(2015) Sarnia’s first son of space will help rededicate the city’s recently-restored Golden Hawk next weekend.
Former Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield will pilot Hawk One – another restored F-86 Sabre – as part of a flyover during the rededication ceremony set for Germain Park May 31 at 2 p.m.
“For the ceremony itself, there are people coming from all over the world whose families were tied to the Golden Hawks,” restoration volunteer Mark Seibutis said Friday.
The 1960s-era Canadian aerobatic flying team was a predecessor to today’s Snowbirds.
“It was a very significant air demonstration team because they invented maneuvers that are being used today by the best teams in the world and they were invented back in the ’60s,” said John Stewart, president of the Air Force Association of Canada’s 403 Sarnia Wing.
After sitting in Germain Park for 40 years, Sarnia’s F-86 Sabre Golden Hawk recently received a much-needed facelift. Volunteers clocked 4,800 hours restoring the fighter jet over the last two years. A total of 36 businesses donated materials and services towards the project.
“It’s a perfect example of Sarnia at its best,” Seibutis said.
While the plane has been back in Germain Park since December, volunteers have spent months organizing a fitting rededication ceremony for the significant piece of aviation history. The plane will be dedicated in honour of the late Golden Hawk Cmdr. Jim McCombe who spent more than two decades with the Royal Canadian Air Force. His daughter will be travelling from Spain to bring her mother to the rededication ceremony next Sunday.
In addition to a ceremonial flyover and speeches from dignitaries, the public will also have a chance to check out a variety of aircraft at the Sarnia Chris Hadfield Airport that same weekend. More than 40 airplanes are expected to touch down during an interprovincial air tour stop Friday. The public is invited to view the planes and speak to pilots at the Sarnia airport Saturday from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m.
All of this is a fitting tribute to Sarnia’s Golden Hawk who has had a rich local history since it was first purchased by the AFAC 403 Sarnia Wing, Seibutis noted.
“It was destroyed by fire, resurrected, refurbished once in ’85 and then (it was) almost to the point of no return, taken down and now she’s back again, good for another 40 years.”