The Golden Honks; an obscure Centennial 1967 patch?
I recently acquired this “Golden Honks” patch, presumably representing a small RCAF aerobatic team formed for Canada’s Centennial in 1967 and a take-off of the name of the famous, "Golden Hawks". The patch indicates it’s from the Regular Officer Training Program (ROTP) and division of the Pilot Training School (P.T.S.) which was located at Centralia Ontario.
In the 1950’s and 60’s, the base trained NATO pilots from around the world and may have been the first to do so. Planes flown included the Harvard and Chipmunk aircraft. The base closed on March 31, 1967 so if the date is 1967 (and not 1961?), this may well have been the swan song of the many patches to come from that organisation.
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