Bernard Anderson Rawson

Bernard Anderson (Barney) Rawson was born in Fort William, Ontario, on October 27, 1907, and educated in that province at Coldwater and Toronto. He graduated with a Commercial Pilot's Licence from the Dungan School of Aviation at Cleveland, Ohio in 1928. Until 1934 he was employed as Chief Pilot for three American companies. For two years he flew open-cockpit biplanes for the U.S. Weather Bureau taking daily upper air readings at 18,000 feet (5,486 m).  These flights were the beginning of mass air analysis, permitting present-day long-range weather forecasting.

Rawson was employed as a pilot with American Airlines on continental routes until 1938, when he joined Trans-Canada Airlines (TCA) as a line captain. He was appointed flight instructor, and in 1940 he was named an officer of the company in charge of eastern operations. In 1942 he was named Director of Operations for TCA's entire system, which included Canada, the United States, the Caribbean, South America, the North Atlantic and Europe. In this position he was responsible for the selection and training of air crew, flight dispatchers and the development of flight technical manuals. In 1946 he was named Director of Flight Development, a position he held until 1953.

During this period, he convinced the Department of Transport (DOT) that a straight-line airway between Toronto and Winnipeg over the Great Lakes was feasible and practical. The airway would allow Sault Ste. Marie and the Canadian lakehead to become part of TCA's network and save substantial operating costs. During the one-year construction period of the Great Lakes Airway, he was involved with and assisted the DOT in the selection of airports and navigational aid positions. Rawson was awarded the Trans-Canada (McKee) Trophy for 1947 for meritorious service in the advancement of aviation in Canada. In 1949 Rawson moved to Montreal with TCA when they moved their main offices from Winnipeg.

In April 1953, Rawson joined Canadian Pacific Airlines (CPA) in Vancouver as Director of Flight Operations, and under his supervision the company expanded to serve five continents. He implemented the dream of Grant McConachie to link Vancouver, British Columbia, with Amsterdam, Holland, by non-stop flights across the Arctic region. To provide crews with modern training facilities, he outfitted CPA with electronic flight simulators, selected and trained personnel and evaluated new aircraft and operational equipment.

During his years of service with TCA and CPA, he served as technical representative for the Government of Canada at International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) conferences, and as a delegate to the International Air Transport Association (IATA). As a technical representative to IATA, he served as Chairman of the Lighting Committee which was organized to develop standards of lighting for approach and landing during poor visibility. A group of airline pilot representatives made zero-zero weather approaches at Arcata, California, to test lighting configurations that were selected and installed for testing purposes.

Rawson joined Radio Corporation of America (RCA) in December 1958, as Director of Custom Aviation Products in Camden, New Jersey. In 1960 he was named their Government Service Division Administrator. In this capacity he dealt with the U.S. Weather Bureau, Coast and Geodetic Survey, and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. As a Director of Airline Marketing for Fairchild Hiller Corporation from 1962 until 1968, he conducted marketing research for regional airline type aircraft for acceptable design parameters. The sales success of de Havilland Aircraft of Canada's Twin Otter in the U.S. was due in part to his excellent marketing strategies as an executive of the Miami Aviation Corporation, their American distributors. In 1973 he was named Aviation Director of Flood and Associates, consulting engineers at Jacksonville, Florida.

During a 45-year career as a professional pilot, he captained more than 100 aircraft types, logging more than 20,000 hours. Rawson died in Alabama on July 4, 1996.

"Barney" Rawson was the first non-military pilot to fly a jet aircraft in Canada when he flew the British Gloster Meteor Fighter at Edmonton, Alberta. A side light in his career that he, along with Frank Young, originated the National Air Show in 1953, which is held annually at the Canadian National Exhibition in Toronto.

Bernard Anderson (Barney) Rawson was inducted as a Member of Canada's Aviation Hall of Fame in 1974 at a ceremony held at Edmonton, Alberta.