Fern Villeneuve
| Joseph Gerard Fernand Villeneuve | |
|---|---|
| Nickname(s) | "Fern" |
| Born |
2 July 1927 Buckingham, Quebec, Canada |
| Allegiance |
 Canada
|
| Service/branch |
.svg){kind=small} Royal Canadian Air Force
|
| Years of service | 1950–1982 |
| Rank | Lieutenant Colonel |
| Commands held | Golden Hawks |
| Awards | RCAF Air Force Cross Canadian Aviation Hall of Fame |
Lt. Col (Ret.) Joseph Armand Gerard Fernand "Fern" Villeneuve was born 2 July 1927 in Buckingham, Quebec, Canada. He joined the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) in 1950 and was the first leader of the RCAF's Golden Hawks aerobatic team. He flew for 32 years as a military jet fighter pilot Villeneuve was inducted into the Canadian Aviation Hall of Fame in 2006.
Villeneuve learned to fly as a civilian in a Piper J-3 Cub. In 1946 he obtained his Canadian Private Pilot Licence, and in 1948, he went on to acquire his Canadian Commercial Pilot Licence. In 1950, Villeneuve joined the RCAF in which he had a long and distinguished career as a fighter pilot. He flew the Harvard propeller trainer, the North American P-51 Mustang Second World War piston fighter, and several fighter jets over the decades: Canadair CT-133 Silver Star, de Havilland DH.100 Vampire, Canadair Sabre, Avro Canada CF-100 Canuck, McDonnell CF-101 Voodoo, and the Mach 2+ Canadair CF-104 Starfighter. Villeneuve was a squadron leader three different times, on the CF-104 and the T-33 and CF-101. Villeneuve retired as a Lieutenant-Colonel in 1982. He has logged more than 13,000 hours.
The "Golden Hawks" were a Canadian military aerobatic flying team established in 1959 to celebrate the 35th anniversary or the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) and the "Golden" 50th anniversary of Canadian flight. Initially a six-plane team was envisioned as performing for only one year with the Canadair Sabre 5, but the Golden Hawks were so popular after their 1959 show season that the team was re-established for 1960, under the command of LCol Jack Allan with Villeneuve flying as the lead pilot with the team.
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