Frank Ogden first took flight at age five, as he sat on his father's knee, in a "barn-storming" fabric-covered bi-plane from the sandy beach at Ocean City, New Jersey. Later he served for six years in the Royal Canadian Air Force during WWII. During his six years in the RCAF, he flew many different planes, such as these:

A Catalina Flying Boat, pictured above. Early in the war they had no wheels and were a straight flying boat that few 100 Mph, then considered pretty fast. The sturdy plane could fly 21-hour patrols over the North Atlantic and elsewhere. Later, with wheels shown here, this amphibian could still go 100 MPH.

A B-24 Liberator Bomber, named 'A' for Able, converted for submarine and convoy patrol with the Eastern Air Command (Out of Newfoundland), Popularly known as the North Atlantic Squadron, became an 'EAC Met Flight" a week before the Allied Invasion of Europe.

During WWII one could get into considerable trouble taking photographs of practically anything. However I never heard of any problems with sketching. Much like today some court rooms prohibit cameras but have no objections to artists sketching. Must be a Canadian thing?

It wasn't until years after the war that some of us learned we were among the first of the now -- 50 years later, popular "Hurricane Hunters.". We were but we were never told. Sound Familiar? We thought that flight was a bit rough.

However, when the war ended or even slightly before the end, some pictures did turn up. Like these of a "Bamboo Bomber" (Anson Mark V Trainer) in which myself and F/O James McKeachie happened to be travelling in (One of the 13 flying incidents which Ogden survived.)

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After the war, Ogden formed "Vendair", operating out of the Toronto Island Airport as the Canadian distributor for Mooney Aircraft, Made in Kerrville, Texas. First, he sold the Mooney M-18 "Flying Scotsman", A fast (for those times) single-seat, low-wing monoplane known for astoundingly low fuel consumption: Toronto to Montreal return -- for only C$5.

Landing the small mooney on North Toronto's Young Street, then taxiing the plane into a supermarkets parking lot and selling the plane at $6 a Pound drew ample publicity to pay for a few planes.

Ogden gathered further publicity by setting the Canadian Light-Plane Altitude record of 19,400 Feet, 12 October 1953. He flew up to that altitude, ran out of gas and glided back to Toronto Island Airport. Go to 'What's New?" on our website (www.drtomorrow.com) Front Page, click on "1953" to catch the details. This record still holds, as of March 25, 2005. Thats 52 Years!. (Picture of that model flying over Toronto is in our web photo gallery).

The even faster Mooney Four-seater with retractable undercarriage became a favorite for executive flyers. In those planes and another 53 types in which he was qualified (Like gyrocopters and seaplanes), Frank Ogden quickly built up 5,000 Hours of "Pilot-in-command" flying time in Canada, the USA, Mexico, Switzerland and Papua New Guinea.

The new mooney being examined at Hope, BC by Craig McCullough, B.C.'s Freelance Reporter for the Voice of America, U.S. National Public Radio, and Now-TV.

He also flew a thousand others at centennial events, including Federal, Provincial and Municipal officials, (Plus a few inmates from Government institution). In those days most people had never actually seen a helicopter, never mind getting a ride in one. After opening and closing the door on his side so often, Ogden finally took it off permanently and flew across the country with this improved view. The Canadian trip was so sucessful that then Alaskan Governor, Walter Hickel asked Ogden to add Alaskan Logos to the chopper and fly to and across much of Alaska, for the Alaska Centennial that same year.