Arthur Haliburton Wilson

Arthur Haliburton Wilson was born in Kendal, England, on July 27, 1899. He received his education at the Old College, Windemere, and Dover College, Kent, then joined the Royal Navy Air Service (RNAS) as a provisional officer in March 1918. After graduating from the Royal Naval College at Greenwich, he earned his pilot wings at No. 7 Training Depot Squadron, Feltwell, in October 1918. On completion of an instructor's course, his superior instructional abilities resulted in his return to Feltwell as a training officer, where he served until being demobilized in early 1919.

In 1923 Wilson immigrated to Canada to live in Victoria, British Columbia. Four years later he enrolled in a Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) refresher course which he completed at Camp Borden, Ontario. He joined British Columbia Airways Limited in 1929 to begin the first inter-city landplane service between Victoria and Vancouver in British Columbia, and Seattle, Washington, U.S.A., flying a Ford Tri-Motor aircraft.  In this capacity he became the first captain of a multi-engine aircraft on the west coast. Following severe damage to this aircraft by another pilot, Wilson completed a seaplane course with the RCAF at Jericho Beach, Vancouver, in the spring of 1929. In the fall of that year, he joined Alaska-Washington Airways, flying a Fairchild 71 seaplane between Vancouver and Victoria, until this aircraft, too, was put out of service when it was crashed by another pilot.

Inaugural flights always created excitement. On the first flight of B.C. Airways from Victoria to Vancouver, the Mayor of Vancouver rushed forward to greet the civic dignitary from Victoria and received a crack over the head from one of the propellers of the Ford “Trimotor”. This, it was felt, was of historical note, inasmuch as Mayor L.D. Taylor became one of the few persons who have survived this type of accident.

Wilson joined the Aero Club of British Columbia at Vancouver in 1930 as Chief Flying Instructor. He earned a distinct reputation as a Club instructor, becoming the central figure in the drive for high standards of flying techniques so evident on the West Coast during his tenure. He was granted a Class 1 Instructor's Rating, the first issued in Western Canada by the Ministry of Transport. In 1936, when instruction in instrument flying was becoming a requirement of the Flying Clubs in Canada, he was chosen to take an instrument flying course at Camp Borden. He then became the instructor to which all other Club instructors in western Canada came for training. As well, he was a proficient aerobatics instructor, and the first pilot in his area to fly a towed glider.

While he was with the Aero Club, Wilson became active in the RCAF's No. 111 Auxiliary Squadron at Vancouver during the late 1930's. In the opening stages of World War II, he completed further flying courses with the RCAF at Camp Borden. His first assignment was to open Patricia Bay Air Station on Vancouver Island. He was then given Command of the Jericho Beach Air Station at Vancouver. In 1941 he was the first Commander of No. 10 Service Flying Training School (SFTS) at Dauphin, Manitoba. From there he was transferred to command No. 4 SFTS at Saskatoon, Saskatchewan.

Wilson retired from the service in 1944 with the rank of Group Captain and joined the Airways Division of the Department of Transport. He later became Regional Superintendent of Airways in British Columbia. In this position he personally flew over all areas of the province to update existing airports and establish new flying fields. His innovations in many aeronautical fields brought new standards of flight safety to the province, including the installation of markers on cables which stretched across many of British Columbia's valleys.

In 1965 Wilson retired from aviation. He was honoured in 1979 by the International Northwest Aviation Council (INAC) for his accomplishments in instructing by having his name placed on the Honour Roll. He had qualified as a pilot on 68 aircraft types during a career which spanned almost half a century. He died at Vancouver, B.C. on December 30, 1983.

Arthur Haliburton Wilson was inducted as a Member of Canada's Aviation Hall of Fame in 1979 at a ceremony held in Edmonton, Alberta.