Canadian Vickers Vedette The Canadian Vickers Vedette was the first aircraft in Canada designed and built to meet a specification for Canadian conditions . It was a single - engine biplane flying boat purchased to meet a Royal Canadian Air Force ( RCAF ) demand for a smaller aircraft than the Vickers Viking with a much greater rate of climb , to be suitable for forestry survey and fire protection work . The type went on to have a long and distinguished career in civil operations in Canada . Most of the topographical maps in use in Canada today are based on photos taken from one of these aircraft . Design and development . Based on a preliminary design in early 1924 for a " flying boat " by R . K . Pierson of the home company , Vickers ( UK ) , the Canadian Vickers Vedette was a two / three - seat single - engine pusher aircraft . The design was passed over to the Canadian Vickers Limited of Longueuil , Quebec ( formed in 1911 ) where Wilfrid Thomas Reid served as Chief Engineer . The prototype Vedette I was first flown on 4 November 1924 , powered by a 200 hp Rolls - Royce Falcon III . It was subsequently fitted with 210 hp Wolseley Viper , 200 hp Wright J - 4 and 215 hp Armstrong Siddeley Lynx engines for testing . Several versions of the Vedette were produced , including two amphibious versions and one with an enclosed cabin on an all - metal hull . With the exception of these major changes , most of the remaining differences between versions were relatively minor and not externally visible . Each version was produced with a range of optional engine types . Canadian Vickers Limited developed and produced a series of follow - up designs intended for use in the Canadian north ( none were related design - wise to the Vedette ) : Operational history . The first production example was provided to Fairchild Aerial Surveys ( c / n 31 G - CAFF ) before they started designing their own survey aircraft . The majority of the production run was purchased by the RCAF where the aircraft proved popular and versatile , if somewhat temperamental due to leaky hulls that required constant maintenance ( a problem afflicting all wooden hulled flying boats ) . The Vedette undertook photographic and forestry patrols satisfactorily and provided a backbone for RCAF flying operations through the lean peacetime years . Vedettes started a coast - to - coast photographic survey that was needed to map out the large areas of the country still unmapped . These missions lasted until the outbreak of the Second World War , and would be completed after the war with newer types . Vedettes stationed on both coasts were also used for fishing and smuggling patrols , both with the RCAF and with Western Canada Airways . The Vedette featured prominently in a number of mercy missions , while some airmen discovered it was nearly ideal for aerial goose hunting , at least until a pilot was hit by a goose . The first Canadian to join the Caterpillar Club by using a parachute to escape from an aircraft did so from RCAF Vedette " ZF " on 17 May 1929 . The pilot , C . S . ( Jack ) Caldwell , while testing the aircraft at the Canadian Vickers factory , entered an uncontrollable spin after the engine failed and bailed out successfully over the St . Lawrence River . The RCAF acquired one Wright J - 4 engined Vedette I in 1925 and 18 Armstrong - Siddeley Lynx IV ( 210 hp ) engined Vedette IIs from 1926 onwards ; all of these were out of service before the Second World War began . Starting in 1929 , the RCAF acquired 13 Vedette Vs with higher gross weight , and 11 Vedette VAs featuring Handley Page wing slots . The single Vedette VI , with Wright J - 6 engine , featured a metal hull and an enclosed cockpit . A mark V was refurbished by the factory and as the sole Vam was given a new metal hull , as well as a new serial number ( the last ) , but it retained its RCAF call sign as " ZD . " Seven Vedette VAs and the Mk VI survived into wartime service , flying with No 4 ( BR ) Squadron and the Seaplane and Bomber Reconnaissance Training School ( later No 13 OT Sqn ) in Vancouver , BC until May 1941 . In addition to the RCAF , The Ontario , Manitoba and Saskatchewan governments used Vedettes extensively for scouting out forest fires in the heavily wooded areas of those provinces . The company exported six Wright J - 5 powered Vedette Vs to Chile , where they were based at Puerto Montt ( which is on an inlet off the Pacific coast ) with the Escuadrilla de Anfibios N° 1 ( now known as the Grupo de Aviación N° 5 ) . They were used to forge an air link between there and the capital Santiago , up the coast . At least one of the Vedettes , and possibly all six were lost due to hurricane force winds , which also caused the loss of two lives when one of the aircraft overturned while on the water . Survivors . A replica of a Vedette V is at the Western Canada Aviation Museum , Winnipeg , Manitoba . The replica project which took a group of more than 100 dedicated volunteers 22 years to complete . The remains of three Vedettes recovered from crash sites formed the basis of a meticulous templating of aircraft components , aided by hand drawn plans created by one of the WCAM volunteers who had been employed by Canadian Vickers as a junior draughtsman . Until the official unveiling on 24 May 2002 , there was no known intact surviving examples of a Vickers Vedette anywhere . While the replica is airworthy , the museum has no intention to ever fly its one - of - a - kind exhibit .