An old saying is "One man's junk is another man's treasure" and, when you meet Vince O'Connor and Darrel Brown, truer words cannot be spoken. Vince's property is abound with former RCAF and CAF aircraft and memorabilia that he has been saving and collecting for decades. Vince has amassed more in his collection than many museums have in their inventory. It's certainly a huge personal collection as well as a love for the RCAF. Vince's years of obtaining, purchasing and amassing aeroplanes, aeroplane parts, engines and memorabilia is a love of collecting and a love of the RCAF. His property and buildings are a treasure trove of aviation and it's anything but junk!

Tucked away on a back road not far from Uxbridge, Ontario is O'ConAir. There, Vince O'Conner and his partner in crime, Darrel Brown, buy, sell, trade and rent aircraft parts and memorabilia out. Clients include both static & flying museums and organisations, advertising companies, TV and movie production companies, aircraft owners and aircraft enthusiasts looking for anything from aircraft instruments to an aircraft fuselage, wings, control surfaces and more.

Some items in the inventory have been used in movies, TV series/shows, TV commercials and still ads. Other items have gone to museums who are restoring aircraft and things have been sold and sent all over the world. Though this is a business at which Vince likes to make money, it's as much a personal collection of aviation artifacts as it is a business.

One of the aircraft that stands out once you walk out to the 'storage' fields is that of a Canso, the Canadian built version of the PBY Catalina. The Canso was built for the RCAF at two different plants, one in British Columbia, Boeing Aircraft of Canada in Vancouver, B.C. and the other in Montreal, Quebec, Canadian Vickers. The PBY-5 & PBY-5A were the first production aircraft in April of 1943. Vickers built a total of 369 aircraft with the last production aircraft completed in May 1945. Of the aircraft built, 139 went into service with the RCAF and 230 went to the USAAF, designated as the OA-10A. The Boeing plant in Vancouver built 240 Catalina PB2B-1s for the Lend-Lease and were sent to the RAF, operated as the Catalina Mk IVB, 41 went to the RVZAF and 6 went to the RAAF. Boeing Canada also produced 50 PB2B-1s that were sent to the RAF as the Catalina Mk VI. Also produced were 17 Catalina flying boats (no landing gear) and 55 amphibious Cansos for the RCAF with a total of 362 built in Vancouver on Sea Island.

Vince's Canso is not complete. There's the fuselage, tail surfaces, wheels, undercarriage, sponsons and other assorted parts but there's enough that, with a set of wings and some engines, one could build a decent static example of the aircraft and a wonderful tribute to the service of the Canso with the Royal Canadian Air Force. There are also parts that may be viable, airworthy pieces for a full restoration.

While walking around you may come across the fuselage section from a de Havilland Dash 8 or a Harvard wing or two, maybe a set of Noorduyn Norseman floats or one of several radial engines and so much more. There are also CF-101 Voodoo parts, CT-133 Silver Star parts, Avro Anson parts, Bolingbroke parts, a huge assortment of aircraft instruments, Avro Lancaster engine cowlings, TBM Avenger control surfaces, assorted propeller blades and so much more. If you're looking for something for an aircraft rebuild you might just find what you're looking for here and, if you ask Vince, he can probably tell you what he has and where it's located within his vast collection.

Though his inventory of aircraft has shrunk over the years, there's still lots available to those who may be looking for something specific. Darrel Brown, Vince's partner in crime and associate, helps Vince with the "heavy lifting," as it were. With Vince well into his 70s, he is limited as to what he can physically do so Darrel takes care of much of that side of the business for him. Darrell also scours the country in search of aircraft and parts to increase their inventory.

However, Darrel is also a collector himself and he owns several Bolingbroke fuselages, wings, tail sections and more, among other aircraft parts and collectibles that he, himself, has been searching the country for and purchasing for years. Like Vince, Darrel is a wealth of information when it comes to former RCAF aircraft and knows much of what Vince has available. Darrel and Vince work together to help preserve Canadian military history and they throw nothing away. Even virtually useless parts can serve a purpose in that, if someone is restoring an aircraft and is missing a part, and Vince & Darrel have it, even if it's rusted, corroded, bent, broken, etc, it can be used as a template for the manufacturing of a brand new part. Anyone who's restored, or is restoring an aircraft, can certainly attest to that!

As mentioned, the Bolingbroke was a Canadian built version of the Bristol Blenheim Mk IV built by Fairchild of Canada in Quebec, Their first production run was that of the Bolingbroke Mk I built under British specifications. After that small run of aircraft production switched over to the Bolingbroke Mk IV, built with a mix of Canadian and American instruments as well as equipment and included anti-icing boots and a dingy. The Bolingbroke was used as both a training aircraft and a maritime patrol aircraft, the most produced version, built as the Bolingbroke Mk IVT (trainer) of which 457 having been built bringing the total number of Bolly aircraft built to 626. One of the most noticeable differences with the Canadian built aircraft was the 'glass' nose section which offered a greater view, better suited for their maritime patrol duties.

Next week we'll return to Uxbridge, northeast of Toronto, Ontario to have a look at more of Vince & Darrel's collection of aircraft, aircraft parts, instruments and memorabilia. We'll include contact information for them as well. If you're in need of something in the field of aviation for a rebuild, museum, restoration, TV show or movie, advertising or for any other reason, contact one or both of these gentlemen. IF they don't have what you're looking for, they might just know who does.