page_title: Imperial Gift
section_title: Canada
hierarchical_section_title: Imperial Gift / Canada
caption_attribution_description: English: Felixstowe F.3, flight boat, Canada 1920 The Felixstowe F.3 was a british flight boat in the WWI (1917-18). In 1920 the Canadian Air Board sponsored a project to conduct the first ever Trans-Canada flight. The leg from Riviére du Loup to Winnipeg was flown by LCol. Leckie and Maj. Hobbs in a Felixstowe F.3 to determine the feasability of such flights for future air mail and passenger service.
context_page_description: The Imperial Gift was the donation of aircraft from British surplus stocks after the First World War to the Dominions: Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and the Empire of India. On 29 May 1919, the British Cabinet agreed to give 100 aircraft to each of these countries plus replacements for aircraft donated by these countries to Britain during the war. These aircraft formed the core of newly established air forces in several of the countries.
  In Canada the 100 Imperial Gift aircraft supplemented by another 20 and other related spares, supplies and equipment were used to establish the Canadian Air Force from 1920 and the later Royal Canadian Air Force from 1924. Australia's 100 aircraft, supplemented by an additional 28 and related supplies and other equipment, were used to establish the Royal Australian Air Force in 1921. New Zealand initially refused the Imperial Gift but later accepted a reduced allotment of 34 aircraft. Most were loaned to private aviation companies, but were returned to the government in the mid-1920s to constitute the New Zealand Permanent Air Force.
context_section_description: While 22,812 Canadian military personnel had served in the Royal Flying Corps (RFC), Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS) and RAF, Canadian air services were not created and did not operate as an independent military force until nearly the end of the war. With 1 Squadron and 2 Squadron of the Canadian Air Force established at Upper Heyford in Britain during August 1918 and the Royal Canadian Naval Air Service, established for home defence in September 1918, Canadian units had only reached operational status by the end of hostilities and never saw combat.
  In 1919, when the Canadian Air Board Director of Flying Operations, Lieutenant Colonel Robert Leckie studied the types that were being offered, he specified aircraft that would be suitable for civil operations as the peacetime force would undertake a number of roles that involved surveillance, fire-fighting and mapping. Although combat aircraft were offered from the large stock of surplus aircraft, Canada's share of the Imperial Gift mainly consisted of the following 114 "multi-purpose" aircraft, although a small number of fighters were also included:
  62 × Avro 504 trainers
  23 × Airco/de Havilland DH-4 (10) and Airco/de Havilland DH-9A (12) bombers
  12 × Royal Aircraft Factory SE.5a fighters
  8 × Felixstowe F.3 (patrol flying boat)
  2 × Curtiss H.16 (patrol flying boat)
  2 × Bristol F.2b Fighter two seat fighter
  2 × Sopwith Snipe fighters
  1 × Fairey IIIc (patrol seaplane)
  The final deliveries included six non-rigid airships, several kite balloons and additional aircraft, including two Royal Aircraft Factory B.E.2C, and single examples of Royal Aircraft Factory F.E.2D and Vickers F.B.9, along with some replacement airframes, bringing the total to 120 aircraft. In addition to the aircraft, numerous spares were sent, including engines and ancillary equipment such as cameras and seaplane beaching gear, along with 300 support vehicles consisting of motor transports, trailers and motorcycles. The value of the Imperial Gift was about $5 million, more money than the Canadian government spent on aviation from 1919 to 1923.
  The Imperial Gift aircraft formed the basis of the postwar Canadian Air Force (CAF), later the Royal Canadian Air Force. In 1920, the Canadian Air Board sponsored a project to conduct the first Trans-Canada flight to determine the feasibility of such flights for air mail and passenger services. Rivière du Loup to Winnipeg was flown by Leckie and Major Basil Hobbs in a Felixstowe F.3 and the remainder of the relay was completed using several of the CAF's DH-9As. All aircraft were part of the Imperial Gift. Although not considered suitable for the harsh Canadian weather, the Imperial Gift aircraft soldiered on into the 1930s; the last aircraft in service, an Avro 504K, was retired in 1934.
caption: Felixstowe F.3, c.1920 that served in the Royal Canadian Air Force, originally part of the Imperial Gift.
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