Circa 1960: The Amazing RCAF Golden Hawks F-86 Aerobatic Team!
Thursday, July 1, 2010 at 04:35PM 
(click pic to enlarge)
I'd never even heard of these guys... so I'm guessing there's a chance you haven't either. The Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) Golden Hawks aerobatic team was formed in 1959. They only operated for a total of 6 years, but wow, this was one amazing aerobatic team! The first video below will give you a pretty good idea of just how sharp these guys were in their Canadair built F-86 Sabres. Don't let the old-school, warpy 'film' music scare you, it's an awesome video.
1959 was the 35th year of the RCAF as well as the 50th anniversary of the first controlled powered flight in Canada. The Golden Hawks had been put together to celebrate these events, and then wound up such a success that they continued on. It was later decided tho that the money it took to operate the team could be better spent elsewhere, so in 1964 the team was shut down.
It's interesting that just a few years later in 1967, an aerobatic team called the Golden Centennaires was put together to celebrate 100 years of the Canadian Federation. I didn't realize Canada was so big on using jet akro teams to 'celebrate' stuff! Anyway, the Golden Centennaires only flew that one year... but, they flew the Canadair CT-114 Tutor aircraft, which means it's easy to see how the new team that formed in 1971, that would later be known as the Canadian Snowbirds, came to be.
I think this is all especially good to know since the Snowbirds will be the jet team flying at the 2010 Reno Air Races in September. I remember seeing the Snowbirds a lot back in the 80's and they are really something special. Can't wait to see them again : )
Circa 1960 footage of the Golden Hawks flying their F-86's as good as anybody. Ever!
Modern video from 2009 of a commemorative F-86 in Golden Hawks paint flying simple formation with a Tudor in Golden Centennaires paint. No akro in this video, but man does it look like they're having fun! And, thankfully, all you hear is the wind noise, no music!
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For a complete history of all of Canada's military airshow teams, visit the High Flight Enterprises web site above and review "A Tradition of Excellence - Canada's Airshow Team Heritage."
At 768 pages and with over 1,800 photographs, it is the largest single volume aviation book ever published in Canada. The hard cover high quality book is now in its second printing and was written by Dan Dempsey, former Snowbird commander and current team leader of the Hawk One team.
High Flight Enterprises Ltd web site
<http://www.CanadasAirshowHeritage.com>