Jeremy Hansen soars on the Golden Hawk

Uploaded on September 12, 2013

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Jeremy Hansen soars on the Golden Hawk

2013-09-12 - On June 12, 2013, CSA Astronaut Jeremy Hansen had a chance to speak about Vintage Wing's Golden Hawk One F-86 Sabre, a restored 1950's-era Canadian fighter jet. Hansen is taking part in the Hawk One program, which aims to celebrate Canadian achievements and inspire youth to pursue an interest in aeronautics. (Credit: Canadian Space Agency)

Jeremy Hansen: What’s really neat about this past week is I’ve been flying the Golden Hawk One F-86 Sabre from Vintage Wings, and this is a 1950s era military fighter jet that’s been restored and we can now fly it around Canada and inspire Canadian youth and show them what they – what an historic military jet the F-86 is.

The Hawk One program is a really unique opportunity. For one thing, I get to fly an airplane I’ve never flown before, and this is the first time in my aviation career where I got in an airplane where I didn’t get a check ride. So this time, I read the books, I prepared myself, I spoke with other pilots and then I just climbed in the cockpit and took off all by myself for the first time. So that was a really interesting aviation experience for me.

But I also think it’s a great opportunity where we’re merging the desires of the Canadian Space Agency and the Vintage Wings Program to inspire Canadian youth. We really feel that the Canadian Air Force was a great example of Canadian excellence, and the Golden Hawks in 1959 to ‘64 were a great example for Canadians and we’re kind of bringing that tradition back and showing Canadian youth what Canadian excellence is all about and what they can achieve. And there’s a great motto they’re using right now: it’s “On the wings of yesterday go the leaders of tomorrow.” And myself personally I was inspired as a child going to an air show and seeing a jet fly. And this is just a way for me to pass that back.

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