Jim Reith’s life has been shaped by his lifelong passion for aviation and his time in the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF), commercial flying experience and involvement in the Abbotsford Airshow.
“Looking back on my life, that period of 11 years was unbelievable,” Reith says of his stint in the RCAF from 1969 to 1980.
On April 1, the RCAF celebrated 100 years. To commemorate the anniversary, Reith and his wife, Maggie, went to Victoria to attend a dinner with many other individuals who served in the RCAF. Reith saw people he had not seen in decades and even obtained a video of him and his fellow pilots flying the Grand Canyon in the 1970s. But Reith’s story goes back far longer than that.
By the time Reith was 15, he had read every book from the library about fighter pilots in the First and Second World Wars. Billy Bishop, William Barker, Buzz Beurling and Sir Douglas Bader were just a few who influenced his love for aviation and those who have served. Reith even got to meet Bader, his boyhood hero, as an adult.
Reith attended Royal Roads Military College in Victoria and joined the RCAF in 1969. He graduated as an engineer from the Royal Military College of Canada in 1973. Reith was sent to do pilot training in Moose Jaw, Sask., where he learned how to fly on the CT-114 Tutor and F-5 aircraft.
To become a fighter pilot in the RCAF, candidates had to graduate with an “A” rating, and an exceptional six people, including Reith, obtained it. His talented class was divided into different aircrafts to be trained on, and Reith was assigned to the supersonic jet fighter F-101 Voodoo. Reith still gushes about his love for the aircraft that became his companion.
“No question, the Voodoo is my favourite plane I have ever flown,” he said.
As is standard for a life in aviation, Reith was once again sent somewhere new. North Bay, Ont. became the place he trained on the T-Bird plane in preparation to fly the Voodoo. Finally, after years of flight training and six weeks of squadron-ready training, he was posted to Comox to be a combat-ready fighter pilot in the 409 All Weather Fighter squadron during the Cold War.
For three years Reith was ready to protect Canada against enemy aircraft. A few times a month Reith was on five-minute alert at the base. He showed up to work and prepared the aircraft for an immediate departure. That meant helmets in the plane, uniform on and plane plugged in and pointed at a 45-degree angle towards the runway.
Reith did not have to wait long for the horn to go off the first time, and suddenly he was thrust into his first major alert as a combat pilot. Reith, along with a second plane, flew full throttle towards the suspected enemy as they were getting sent information from the McChord-based air controllers. It was an exercise no-notice intrusion of two B-57s. During the stressful Cold War period, planes without proper identification were considered bogeys until they could be properly IDed. Reith got up close in his Voodoo and identified the plane while his flying partner got in position to launch a missile if necessary. Luckily, it was determined there was no threat. During his three years Reith never had to attack an enemy plane.
After his three years, he was posted back to Moose Jaw to teach others how to fly the Tutor. Reith only spent about six months instructing because he preferred to be the one in the action.
A dream came true for Reith shortly after when he was selected to be part of the 1979 Snowbirds team. Reith recognized flying in tight nine-plane formations in shows was risky. However, Reith loved it, and it was a reason he wanted to be on the team.
Instead of being stationed at one air force base, Reith was now travelling around the country flying the Tutor in shows with eight other pilots and all the maintenance staff. Their plane was their instrument and it even housed all their belongings from place to place.
“There is not a lot of room in the Tutor, so we learned how to pack stuff well,” Reith said. “We would open the nose and put shoes in there, a rolled-up duffel bag would go in the wing compartment. We had to have mostly wrinkle-free clothing.”
Reith and his team even got to fly a loop over Mount Rainier in Washington State: his favourite memory. The height needed, combined with the speed and power to stay in formation, made it challenging. On the second try they got everything right, and the photo snapped during the loop is still an iconic image associated with the Snowbirds.
Reith also got to visit small towns across Canada and remembers being treated like a king in Bonaventure, Que.
“Everyone from town had watched us and wanted to see us land. In those days there was no security; they didn’t even have a fence around the airport. We landed and all these people drove up and are walking around the airplanes.”
They celebrated what they called a “perfect 10” show with the townspeople, where they were treated to an elaborate lobster boil. Although Reith was only a Snowbird for one show season, he remembers the experience – and the people he met – fondly.
In 1980, Reith retired from the RCAF and the Snowbirds and became a commercial pilot for Canadian Pacific Airlines. He wanted to continue flying and live on the West Coast, so working out of Vancouver International Airport was ideal for his family.
To continue flying larger planes, Reith accepted many long-haul flights, notably routes to New Zealand and Hong Kong. He even walked through Tiananmen Square during the 1989 protests, despite the dangers it presented.
“How many times do you get to watch a revolution happen? We walked in the square and talked to students for about an hour,” Reith said. “They thought we had to be journalists and were yelling, ‘Tell the world democracy has come to China!’ ”
Reith was in the air working another normal flight to Hong Kong about a week later when the massacre unfolded. On day three after the massacre, Reith was asked to evacuate the Canadian embassy in Beijing. From Beijing to Tokyo to Vancouver, everyone came along – even pets.
“At one point I went for a walk in the cabin and it was just a menagerie back there,” Reith said, laughing.
He retired from commercial flying at the required age of 60 in 2012. After volunteering since the early 2000s with the Abbotsford Airshow, it was recommended that Reith become the president. For 10 years Reith was the head of one of the biggest airshows in Canada. During that time he modernized the show by upgrading the infrastructure, introducing women in aviation, promoting through social media and even bringing in food trucks.
In 2022 his son David took over the role and Reith stepped back to become the flight operations director. He now works mostly part-time and takes care of performer aircrafts and logistics to bring them to Abbotsford, and deals with the subsequent military involvement.
Reith’s life has been molded from his love for flying and his decision to serve Canada. He met his wife while in the RCAF, made friends and was afforded unique experiences. He continues to connect Abbotsford with aviation and is inspiring the next generation of pilots.
READ MORE: VIDEO: RCAF veterans tell their stories at 100th anniversary celebration