John Charles Sloan

John Charles (J.C.) Sloan, C.D.*, was born in Rockburn, Quebec, on April 11, 1924. He was educated there and at Ormstown, Quebec, from where he enlisted in the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) in 1942. His outstanding abilities as a pilot earned him a promotion to Flying Officer and a posting to instructional duties. Hoping to see active service, he transferred to the Royal Navy (RN) early in 1945 and joined what was to become Canada's first naval fighter squadron. In September 1945, he transferred to the Royal Canadian Navy (RCN), and was promoted to Lieutenant in the permanent forces.

For two years Sloan served with No. 803 Squadron as an operational pilot from both shore bases and afloat until he was assigned to additional flight training with the Royal Navy in England. His outstanding flying abilities and grasp of modern operational flying concepts were recognized, and he was appointed to the staff of the Canadian Directorate of Naval Aircraft. In 1949 his completion of an instrument flying course at Centralia, Ontario, was followed by appointment to the Empire Test Pilot's course in England.

In 1951 the United States Navy (USN) requested Sloan's services as a test pilot and liaison officer. For the next three years he experimented with the most sophisticated and fastest jet fighters known, at the USN Test Centre at Patuxent River, Maryland, U.S.A. He later carried out duties as executive officer of an all-weather, single-seat, night fighter squadron with the USN Sixth Fleet in the Mediterranean Sea and was promoted to Lieutenant Commander. In 1952, while preparing to conduct tactical test evaluations of night refueling techniques with test leader, Alan B. Shepard, who later became an astronaut, his jet aircraft caught fire just ten miles (16 km) out and at 3,500 feet (1,070 m) above sea level. He ejected at low level over the water and was able to swim ashore. After completing that tour of duty, he returned to Canadian service in 1954 and was assigned duties as Communications Officer aboard a destroyer in Korean waters.

His next assignment, in 1955, was Air Staff Officer, Atlantic Command, at Halifax, Nova Scotia, in which he played an important part in formulating training and operational plans for submission to RCN Headquarters. During this period, he was seriously injured when the engine of a fighter aircraft he was piloting failed on take-off. After a year's hospitalization and recuperation, he was back flying and in command of VX-10 Experimental Squadron, a post he held until 1959, when lie again went to sea as Executive Officer of a frigate in North Atlantic waters. His squadron's performance during that period was officially commended by the Board of the Royal Canadian Navy and the United States Chief of Naval Operations.

In 1961 Sloan was promoted to the post of Naval Air Staff Officer in Ottawa, Ontario. His evaluations of command requirements and his initiative in tackling the formulation of new defense weapons and their deployment, resulted in another appointment in 1964, as Special Weapons Coordinator at National Defence Headquarters in Ottawa. There he prepared studies concerning the relative effectiveness of various weapons in both air and sea environments. He worked directly with several government departments and travelled extensively to effect liaison with U.S. and other North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) governments and military agencies.

Sloan retired from the RCN in 1968 with the rank of Lieutenant Commander, after twenty-five years of military flying. For a time, he became a demonstration pilot and aviation consultant. He died on December 26, 1983.

JC Sloan's flying experience includes command time on 48 aircraft types, from single to four-engine aircraft and helicopters. He had more than 300 carrier landings to his credit, 80 of them at night. When he retired from the service, he commanded a most sophisticated and still-secret air experimental squadron.

John Charles (J.C.) Sloan was inducted as a Member of Canada's Aviation Hall of Fame in 1974 at a ceremony held at Edmonton, Alberta.