Kenneth Lett

Born in Huntley Township, Ontario in July 1923 and inspired by the legacy of William Avery ‘Billy’ Bishop (CAHF, 1974), Kenneth Charles Lett joined the RCAF in 1941, training with the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan. His first flight was in an Avro Anson, and he began his flying career in the Fleet Finch, followed by the Harvard. He received his wings on Parliament Hill from Liberal prime minister William Lyon Mackenzie King and sailed overseas on the Queen Elizabeth in October 1943; Pilot Officer Lett soon joined 402 "City of Winnipeg" Fighter Squadron in England. His first flight, on 29 November, in a Supermarine Spitfire, was an escort mission for B-25 Mitchell’s.

The squadron, which was eventually equipped with various iterations of the Spitfire, spent the remainder of 1943 and the first half of 1944 continuing to fly escort and ramrod missions, the latter being short range attacks on various ground targets. On D-Day, Ken flew top cover for the Allied troops landing during the assault on Normandy, work that he came to consider a highlight of his wartime career. Having completed his posting in April of 1944, he returned to England and ended the war instructing with an operational training unit. All told he had flown some 143 missions in the United Kingdom, France, Belgium, and Holland. For his service assisting the Allies secure the D-Day beachhead in France, Ken received the French Legion of Honour on 27 March 2014.

Finding himself aimless in civilian life after the war, Ken rejoined in the Air Force in 1947 and was posted to 410 Squadron, based at St Hubert, flying Vampires. There, he served under another wartime pilot, Squadron Leader Don Laubman (CAHF, 2020), who led the RCAF’s first postwar aerobatic team, the Blue Devils. Ken did not fly with the team, but in 1949 he was in charge of publicity.

With 413 Squadron, based at Bagotville, Ken helped organize and conduct Operation Apple Tree, to introduce Canadians to the force’s new fighter, the F-86 Sabre. Between May and September of 1952, the squadron flew all over Ontario, Quebec, and the Maritimes. Late in the spring, Ken took over the squadron as acting commander, during which time he and his men developed an aerial show for that year’s display at the Canadian National Exhibition. They performed their 12-aircraft show for 19 consecutive days – Ken remembers it being “low, fast and noisy.”

With the publicity campaign a success, 413 Squadron was soon posted to Europe as part of 3 Wing, No.1 Air Division (CAHF, 2023) based out of Zweibrucken, Germany. There, Ken was in command of instrument training flight. A promotion to Squadron Leader followed and Ken was transferred to 416 Fighter Squadron, flying F-86 Sabres, out of Grostenquin, France. Defending western Europe was serious business, but Cold War flying did offer moments of levity. In 1955, Ken was entertained by American Sabre pilots at the USAF base at Chaumont, France. When he and his co-pilot Flying Officer Tex Macdonald reached the flight line the next morning, they were treated to a rude surprise: Ken’s T-Bird’s tip tanks were painted pink, and the plane now carried crude Russian markings. Their USAF friends were good enough to escort their foe home in style.

In 1956 Ken was posted back to Canada to become Chief Flying Instruct at 3 AFS in Gimli, Manitoba. In addition to his usual duties, in both 1958 and 1959 S/L Lett led a formation display of four T-33s. Known as the Gimli Smokers, so named because of the temporary smoke system installed in the T-Bird’s ammo can, the team performed for the annual Air Force Day, its signature manoeuvre a ‘bomb burst’.

From Gimli Ken was posted in 1960 to the RCAF Staff College in Toronto and, following promotion to Wing Commander, was appointed commander of No 6 Strike/Reconnaissance Operational Training Unit at Cold Lake, Alberta, which soon introduced the Air Force’s new CF-104 Starfighter. W/C Lett flew the first flight following testing of Canada’s fastest operation fighter in January 1962. Ken returned to Europe in 1963 with a posting to 3 Wing Headquarters, still based at Zweibrucken, as Chief Operations officer. He returned to Canada the following year when he joined Air Defence Command Headquarters at St Hubert (it would move to North Bay two years later).

Ken continued to climb in rank over the next decade. In November 1966 he was promoted to Group Captain and posted west to British Columbia, serving as Base Commander at Comox. While in B.C., Ken qualified on the CF-101, Albatros, Argus aircraft. After handing over command at Comox in the summer of 1969, Ken then attended the National Defence College in Kingston, ON before heading to the 24th NORAD Air Division in Great Falls, Montana in 1970; he completed a B.Sc. at Great Falls University during his time there. Another promotion, to Brigadier-General came in 1972, and Ken was transferred to Training Command Headquarters as Chief of Staff responsible for flight training. Two years later Ken again returned to Europe, this time to 4 ATAF in Germany as Chief of Staff Operations. His final promotion was to Major-General, which accompanied his posting to NORAD Headquarters in Colorado Springs as Deputy Chief of Staff Operations.

In 1978, after some 35 years in uniform, Ken Lett retired, moved to Calgary, and joined the world of business aviation. His first venture as a civilian was as a pilot and senior manager for a privately held aviation company. Then, at 69 years of age, he and a partner established a series of aviation companies that came to include the commercial air charter service, including Business Flight Limited, a flying school, and three leasing companies. Next came Executive Flight Centre Fuel Services Ltd, a company that continues to provide facilities and services to the aviation industry with a fleet of over forty refuelling trucks. Beginning with just four employees, it has proved hugely successful, growing to a staff of over 700. Ken, still active in the business world, is now the Chairman of the company.

Ken’s support for his community is significant. He has sat variously on the boards the Air Force Association of Alberta, the Aerospace Museum of Calgary, the Colonel Belcher Society, and Alberta Aviation Council, among others and has served both the Calgary Airport Business Association and the Calgary Transportation Authority. Recognizing his selfless contributions, Ken has been awarded the Aerospace Museum Lifetime Achievement Award, a lifetime membership with the Air Force Museum Society of Alberta, and the RCA Association's Meritorious Service Award. In 2013, Ken established the Ken and Roma Lett Charitable Foundation, which has since funded 23 charities. In 2021 he donated $2.4 million to Mount Royal’s aviation program to fund bursaries and scholarships for underrepresented studies.

Nor has Ken neglected aviation heritage. A founding member of the Air Force Museum Society, he has contributed extensively to the Air Force Museum component of Calgary’s Military Museums. In 2015, he donated $1 million, with matching funds provided by government and other private donors, to establish the Roma Lett Cold War Exhibit to tell the story of the RCAF’s contributions to NATO during the Cold War. Ken’s contributions ensured the purchase and display of critical aircraft, including examples of the F-86 Sabre, the CF-104 Starfighter, and CF-18 Hornet – a truly remarkable contribution to the history of Canada’s military aviation.