Scudrunners

Hank Henry

NATO TOP GUN DIES IN VANCOUVER


Jan 14/2018.

RCAF Captain Clifford John (HANK) HENRY passed to the Top Flight at 23:00 hours in Royal Columbia Hospital at the age of 93. His passing was peaceful and painless.

Hank was born in Maple Creek, Sask. in June 1924 and spent his youth hunting rabbits to help feed his family through the 'dirty thirties', becoming a crack shot.

When WWII broke out young Hank joined the RCAF at the tender age of 18 and by 19 was instructing pilots for the BCATP. His skill with aircraft and guns made him an excellent instructor. Anxious to join the battle in Europe he finally managed to transfer to the Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm where he flew [b]Corsair fighters of the aircraft carrier[/b] HMS Pretoria Castle off the west coast of Europe until the end.

In 1952 the RCAF came calling again and Hank became an instructor on [b]Sabre[/b] F-86s at the Chatham, N.B. OTU. In 1957 he joined 422 Squadron in Baden-Soellingen, Germany. There, he inspired Canadian fighter pilots to aerial supremacy in a NATO air-to-air gunnery competition with a never equaled score of [b]95 of 100 rounds[/b] into the jet-towed target, the last 2 rounds stuck in the guns. The following year he mentored the Canadian team that went on to win the coveted Guynemer Trophy for 4 years in a row.

In 1961 Hank was assigned to instructor school in Nellis AFB, USA to train on the new Mach 2 [b]CF-104[/b] Starfighter. He called it 'a rocket with a man in it.' He loved it! He went on to fly the 104 in Cold Lake, Alberta, and Europe. He retired in 1970.

Hank was the consummate combat pilot, hunter, fisherman, golfer, curler, and father. After retirement Hank joined Sandwell Engineering and worked in Vancouver and Kitimat. He is fondly missed by his son Larry (Liliana) Henry of Edmonton, Alberta, daughters Cheryle Jensen, Poco, B.C, Deborah (Bill) Van Otterloo, Nanaimo, B.C., grandson Ryan (Katie) Henry of Edmonton and daughters Kaden and Bailey, granddaughter Jennifer (Jordan) Stack of Edmonton, granddaughter Myra Van Otterloo, granddaughter Rina (Jeff) Puska and great-grandchildren Ali and Sophie of Nanaimo, granddaughter Brie (Kevin ) Verbek and great-grandson Tyson of Kamloops, granddaughter Jelena (John) Torbica and great-granddaughters Alexis and Katerina. Hank will be buried in his Saskatchewan hometown next to his father, John. His family wishes to thank all his friends for their kind wishes.

Hank could shoot, and he could fly, and he could teach.

[b]Landing a Corsair on a carrier was pretty hairy - at age 20![/b]

Hank didn't mind running a -104 out of gas overhead
an airport at 50,000 feet, either.  Funny story there.

My father's generation is pretty well gone.

You can see why I cry in my beer when I see
CPL's that can't land a 172 in a 10 knot
crosswind.  Try a Corsair on a straight deck
carrier, kid.

Jesus, have we ever gone downhill from the
old breed that taught and inspired me to fly.

Thanks for sharing this, sounded like a remarkable pilot and character. 

One day Hank and my father were heading back to Cold Lake
in a pair of -104's.  Corporal was in the back of the D-model
with a high speed camera - he took pictures of missile release
of Hank's -104.  CEPE.

On final for the overhead break, low on fuel, dear old Dad
told the Corporal to enjoy the ride.  Throttle goes all the
way forward and outboard.

Hank was too good a pilot to be surprised by that.  He
did exactly the same, despite having less fuel.

They roared towards the runway, light and accelerating
fast.  Pulled vertical to try to stay subsonic, Hank was
too good a pilot to be surprised by that, too.

Canopy to canopy they roll around each other, vertically
upwards.  They pull over the top inverted, the Corporal
looking up through the canopy at Cold Lake, 10 miles
below.  "Oh, wow".

Dear old Dad has very little fuel left, Hank has none, and
Hank laconically requests a somewhat bemused tower for
a "simulated" forced approach.  Uh huh.

Landed Corsairs on a straight deck carrier at age 20,
and was cool with flaming out going straight up in
a -104 at 50,000 feet.

They don't build them like that any more.  The men my
father flew with were giants, like Blackie Williams.

[url=http://www.c-and-e-museum.org/marville/ ... ams-1.html]http://www.c-and-e-museum.org/marville/ ... ams-1.html[/url]

And they're gone.

[img width=500 height=185][/img]

and we are left with the Keystone Kops in King Airs
that opine that their excrement has no odour.

For those unfamiliar with the silent film era:

[url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keystone_Cops]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keystone_Cops[/url]