The Alberta Aviation Museum is mostly known for our aircraft collection – and for good reason, as our more than 30 aircraft are restored and displayed beautifully. When you come to visit the museum though, you may be surprised at the number of vehicles here that do not defy gravity. This article highlights a few of our vehicles that (mostly) stay on the ground.
Ford Marmon-Herrington Crash Tender
It’s a bird, it’s a plane, it’s a … fire truck? In our central gallery, we have a little red fire truck that interests and confuses visitors – after all, what do fire trucks have to do with aviation? This particular truck is referred to as a crash tender, which is a fire truck designed specifically to fight fires at airports and military air bases. Our Ford Marmon-Herrington was the Royal Canadian Air Force’s, built in 1942 and number 33-799. The truck could carry 300 gallons of water, had four CO2 cylinders and would carry pike poles, a bolt cutter, fire axes and more to aid in its firefighting. In a 6×6 configuration and with a V8 engine, the Crash Tender could reach areas that traditional fire trucks would not be able to access. During World War II, these trucks were distributed to British Commonwealth Air Training Plan flight schools across Canada. They would have a dedicated crew of airforce men who were trained in its operation and would have used the truck in the case of crashes or other flaming mishaps.
The Great Bear Sectional Canoe
As a museum with several bush planes, we have many canoes. While bush planes can access many places in Canada, once in the remote wilderness, it can still become necessary to travel by water. More of the time, a canoe can be transported between the float and the bottom of the fuselage of a bush plane. However, Leigh Brintnell dreamed of an easier way.
Northwest Industries was a company at Blatchford Field that worked to repair and overhaul training aircraft during World War Two. After the war, Leigh Brintnell, president of Northwest Industries, was looking to diversify their offerings. They began to construct
canoes, duck-boats and other pleasure boats out of molded plywood. The Great Bear Sectional Canoe was constructed specifically with pilots in mind as a way of having a canoe that was easier to transport by air. The canoe splits into three sections that could nest inside one another while in transport and then could easily be reassembled “in minutes” claims the brochure.
This ingenious design can be found near our Noordyun Norseman bush plane, split into sections to show how it would have been transported.
Hebard Shop Mule Type A14V
There are many little tractors scattered around the museum. These tractors, known as “tow mules” or “shop mules” are often used to tow and maneuver aircraft on the tarmac for flight operations and scheduled maintenance. While aircraft are capable of moving themselves on the ground using their engines, it can often cause unnecessary wear on the engine, can be loud, and possibly damaging for the airport or air force base. Ground tractors can prepare an aircraft for taxi, tow it to a new part of the airport, and provide a vehicle from which to do maintenance.
This particular tractor is a 1948 Hebard Shop Mule. The Hebard company coined the name “shop mule” as the tractor was designed to move items around a factory or warehouse. During World War Two, their use was expanded to include aviation and naval applications.
Even though they keep wheels on the ground, these vehicles are still integral to flight. Come to the Alberta Aviation Museum to see all manner of engineering marvels!
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