Owen Bartley Philp

Born on December 25, 1923 in Vancouver, British Columbia, Owen Bartley Philp was the only child of his parents, Jessie and Bartley. Bart flew for Canada as a pilot with the Royal Air Force in the First World War and as a ferry pilot for the Royal Canadian Air Force in the Second World War. Owen enlisted in the RCAF during the Second World War on November 25, 1942 at Winnipeg. The moniker naming him “O.B.” stayed with him for life after joining the RCAF.

O.B. Philp earned pilot’s wings flying Tiger Moths at No. 15 Elementary Flying Training School in Regina, Saskatchewan. At No.12 Service Flying Training School in Brandon, Manitoba he flew twin-engine Anson and Cessna aircraft. In 1944 he was posted overseas, flying with 88 Squadron of the Royal Air Force.  With the rank of Flying Officer, Philp joined Transport Command on D-Day, June 6, 1944 and at age 20 flew paratroopers during the invasion of Normandy. During 1944-45 he flew Douglas DC-3 Dakota aircraft in India and Burma with 436 Squadron of the RCAF. For service during those operational tours he was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross.

Following the Second World War, O.B. Philp continued with the RCAF and served with 121 Search and Rescue Unit at Sea Island, British Columbia, and later flew with 112 Composite Flight at Rivers, Manitoba. There in 1948 he organized the Canadian Army’s first glider pilot school. He married Maeve Armour of Vancouver in May, 1949 and they had two sons and a daughter – Brent, Kimberly and Blair.

In 1951, O.B. attended the Empire Test Pilots’ School at Farnborough, England and subsequently became a senior test pilot with the RCAF Central Experimental and Proving Establishment in Ottawa from 1952-1956. Upon graduation from the RCAF Staff College in 1957 he became a member of the Accident Investigation Bureau, Directorate of Flight Safety, at Air Force Headquarters in Ottawa until 1961. After training on the CF-104 Starfighter jet aircraft at Cold Lake, Alberta, he took command of RCAF 434 (Bluenose) Squadron at No. 3 Wing in Zweibrücken, West Germany, part of Canada’s Air Division in NATO.

Returning to Canada, O.B. was chosen to organize and administer Canada’s Centennial Aerobatic Team, The Golden Centennaires. The team featured eight Tutor jet trainers, a CF-104 Starfighter, CF-101 Voodoo, two Avro 504K biplanes, the Red Knight T-33 trainer jet and two support T-33s. The team completed 100 displays in Canada and another 12 in the United States in commemoration of Canada’s Centennial in 1967.

In 1968 O.B. commanded the original CF-5 Operational Training Unit at Cold Lake, Alberta and also conducted pilot training training for the CF-104 program. In September 1969 he was promoted to the rank of Colonel and posted to CFB Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan as Base Commander. He found that the Tutor aircraft used by the Golden Centennaires were stored on the base and might be used to form an aerobatic team. Philp then guided an unofficial group of pilots at the base in perfecting manoeuvres, eventually becoming what is today the world famous Snowbirds, 431 Air Demonstration Squadron, based at 15 Wing in Moose Jaw.

Colonel Philp was the instigator in bringing the “Chateau Room” to the Moose Jaw Officers’ Mess in 1970. This room was originally reproduced in 1959 at RCAF No.1 Wing at Marville, France by members of the Officers’ Mess, using materials and inspiration from a 16th century castle in France. When France withdrew from participation in NATO and No.1 Wing was to be closed, the room was dismantled, and  together with furnishings ultimately found its way to CFB Moose Jaw where it was reconstructed and dedicated in June 1970.

In 1971 the Saskatchewan Airshow at CFB Moose Jaw was organized in conjunction with “Homecoming” celebrations.  At that time, the event was considered the largest one-day air show in North America. As a result of this endeavour, O.B. received the Marketing Achievement Award from the Marketing Executive Association of Saskatchewan in recognition of “the successful completion of a masterpiece of promotion, logistics, sales and marketing”.

In August 1973, although he had been posted to Air Force Headquarters in Ottawa, O.B. retired from the air force on November 27, 1973, after 32 years of military service. His log books show that he had flown 8,246 hours in 79 different military aircraft. With his wife and family he settled down to country living on his twenty-acre property known as “Manor Farm,” situated within sight of the Victoria International Airport.

O.B. soon became an aviation consultant for private and government sectors.  He was engaged by EXPO 86 in September 1983 to formalize an aviation concept for the exposition and later became aviation administrator for the corporation. In December 1984 he was awarded the “Sword of Excellence” by the International Council of Air Shows (ICAS) in recognition of being “The Father of the Snowbirds”.

In 1990 O.B. was contracted by the government-sponsored “Rendezvous 92” group to create a feasibility study and propose appropriate air events to commemorate the 50th Anniversary of the Northwest Staging Route. That corridor was extensively used during the Second World War to ferry American-made aircraft through the northern states, Alberta and Alaska, eventually arriving in Russia.

Encouraged by then Snowbird team leader Major Dan Dempsey, O.B. and Bill Johnson, who was the team’s photographer for ten years, wrote Snowbirds - From the Beginning, which was published in October 1990 to coincide with the Snowbirds’ 20th Anniversary. The limited edition book covered development of the team and many of the authors’ experiences in air shows.

Through his extensive network of former air force friends and acquaintances, O.B. Philp organized and directed the Victoria air shows of 1989 and 1991, featuring the Snowbirds as headliners. Two years later, in January 1993, he was appointed as a member of the Order of Canada in recognition of “his outstanding contribution to the military aviation history of Canada.”

In January 1995 O.B. was diagnosed with leukemia. He died peacefully on April 15, 1995. The Snowbirds made a special trip to Victoria to salute their founder with a final flypast over Manor Farm. He was honoured again in 1999 when posthumously inducted into the ICAS Hall of Fame. In 2000 the NATO Pilot Flying Training Complex at CFB in Moose Jaw was dedicated in his name, and in 2011 he was named to the Saskatchewan Aviation Hall of Fame.

The highlight of Colonel Own Bartley Philp's career was the creation of the Snowbirds, accomplished with the same determination that he displayed in all avenues of his career, both during his air force service and afterwards. Known and loved throughout Canada and beyond, since the formation of that aerobatic team, 431 Demonstration Squadron has epitomized skill, professionalism and teamwork in the Canadian Forces.