Description
This Royal Canadian Air Force C54 North Star was known as the "Rockcliffe Ice Wagon".
The aircraft was operated by the RCAF's Central Experimental & Proving
Establishment (which conducted scientific research on various aspects of aircraft and
flight), out of RCAF Station Rockcliffe, Ottawa, in concert with the National Research
Council--it was conducting research into icing on airplanes during flight. Ice build up
on the surfaces and in the engines of airplanes can be--and often was throughout the
history of flight--fatal.
The "Rockcliffe Ice Wagon" North Star seen here was later returned to being a transport
airplane--what it was originally designed for--and was destroyed in a hangar fire in1956, at Dorval, Quebec.
Photo provided by John Hicks.
Information provided by Doug Newman.Creator
Lorne Hicks