James Tocher Bain

James Tocher 'Jim' Bain was born on February 26, 1906 in Edinburgh, Scotland. In 1921 he joined the Royal Air Force (RAF) Engineering College at Cranwell, England. While in RAF service he earned Air Engineer Licences A, B, C and D.

After leaving the RAF in 1931, Bain worked for the Scottish Motor Traction Company, aviation division, then Hillman Airways. In 1933 he joined Spartan Air Lines as Chief Ground Engineer. When Spartan was re-formed as British Airways LTD., he continued as Deputy Chief Ground Engineer to oversee the manufacture of British Airways' Lockheed 10A's. He wrote the Operating Manual for the 10A, a document which was purchased and published by Lockheed.

In 1937, Bain met Lindsay Rood, a Canadian pilot for British Airways who was returning to Canada to join the newly formed Trans-Canada Airlines.  Through Rood's introduction, Bain was offered the chance to come to Canada and join TCA in an unspecified position in maintenance and overhaul.

When Bain arrived in Winnipeg in April of 1938, he found the total TCA facility was one single-bay hangar and an office annex. His first task was to write an organization chart, job descriptions and policy manual for the Maintenance and Overhaul department. As a result, he was appointed Superintendent of Maintenance and Overhaul, the first permanent assignment in the TCA management team. Under Bain's direction, shop training programs began, and gradually the maintenance and overhaul operations began to function. He remembered with pride the first engine successfully overhauled and tested. The war years brought a heavy demand for TCA service, and Bain was responsible for coordinating the rapid expansion of TCA's service and hangar facilities. Engineering became an added responsibility, and in 1941 he was appointed Superintendent of Engineering and Maintenance.

In addition to his TCA duties, Bain served as Member of the Executive Committee, Aircraft Production, for the Ministry of Munitions and Supplies from 1941 to 1945. During this commission, he wrote the preliminary draft for the establishment, organization and distribution of maintenance and repair facilities for a large-scale pilot training program, which was later to become the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan.

In 1942, Bain seized the opportunity to vault TCA into trans-Atlantic operations. British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC) had requested assistance with service and maintenance of the Consolidated B-24 Liberator for the Trans-Atlantic Ferry Command, through which planes and pilots were ferried to Great Britain. Bain somewhat exceeded his terms of reference and committed TCA to the task. He was first fired, then rehired, as the Minister of Transport, C.D. Howe recognized the advantages to be gained from this commitment. Bain now carried a third role, as Director of Engineering and Maintenance for the BOAC/Canadian Government Trans-Atlantic Air Service (CGTAS).

The CGTAS was the first service to operate year round and provided valuable training for TCA to start its own trans-Atlantic service with converted Lancasters. But the Lancaster's Merlin engines, such superb performers in wartime, were not suited to the long, low rpm trans-Atlantic flights, resulting in carbon-fouled spark plugs. Bain worked closely with Rolls-Royce to engineer and implement a solution with a temperature change control. A significant relationship was forged between James T Bain and Rolls Royce.

In 1943 TCA began the search for a replacement for the Lockheed Lodestar and Douglas DC-3 fleet, Bain initiated a thorough investigation of available aircraft and engines. This study dovetailed with C.D. Howe's decision to buy Canadian-built aircraft. When TCA staff began writing specifications, Bain insisted that they include a high degree of automation including engine controls, auto flight, auto approach and landing, pressurized airframe, simplicity of operation and easily dismountable engines. The aircraft that would emerge was a TCA engineered combination of the Rolls Royce Merlin RM-14-SM engine and the Douglas DC-4 airframe, to be known as the North Star.

From 1945 to 1947 Bain was seconded to Canadair as Executive Assistant to the President for the duration of the manufacture of this aircraft. The North Star was christened on July 22, 1946 and went on to provide stellar service to TCA, the Royal Canadian Air Force, Canadian Pacific Airlines and BOAC.

Bain's last major project was the Air Canada jet fleet base at Dorval, Quebec. As Director of Engineering and Maintenance, he was mandated to oversee the design, construction and installation phases, as well as the training phases of the base development. He recognized the potential of computer technology, and a data processing centre became the heart of the base operations. Here he initiated computer tracking of aircraft components, resulting in greatly enhanced preventive maintenance. At completion, this base was state-of-the-art and its comprehensive design was copied in facilities worldwide.

In 1963 Bain initiated the search for, and the installation of, flight data recorders, which were intended to provide on-board trend analysis, a vital component of preventive maintenance. It was quickly realized that the data recorders also offered significant opportunities for incident and accident investigations.

During his twenty-eight year tenure, the breadth and complexity of his role was considerable. Twenty-two aircraft types were introduced, each requiring the same organizational approach: research, specifications, procedure development, manufacture liaison, training and facilities preparation. TCA/Air Canada benefited from some sixty 'first in the world' engineering and maintenance procedures.

Although Bain retired in 1965, he continued to serve the air industry as consultant to the Government of Canada, Rolls Royce, the United Nations and the International Executive Service Corporation, advising on airport facilities in such places as Turkey, Korea, Indonesia, Honduras and Brazil.

Jim Bain was an excellent administrator. He was known for challenging ideas, allowing for investigation and rewarding innovation. He was able to visualize the direction of changes in airline technical operation, to choose the right person for the research and development he foresaw, and with his Scottish stubborn tenacity, to clear the administration hurdles. He developed a loyal, powerful and innovative team, many of whom would themselves become leaders in the air industry. He passed away on December 5, 1988 in Morrisburg, Ontario.

James Tocher 'Jim' Bain was inducted as a Member of Canada's Aviation Hall of Fame in 2000 at a ceremony held in Wetaskiwin, Alberta.