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Jim Belliveau, 410 Tactical Fighter (Operational Training) Squadron graphic artist from 4 Wing Cold Lake, Alta, has painted a few airplanes in his 31 years with the unit.
Belliveau has put his imaginative designs on aircraft to commemorate historical events, to give squadrons distinctive “colour birds,” and to jazz up CF-18 Demonstration Team jets. In all this time, he has not had the opportunity to paint a Hornet with a dedicated 410 Squadron-specific commemorative scheme – until now.
In early March, the squadron unveiled the new paint scheme on the tails of Hornet 928, celebrating 30 years of fighter pilot training in Cold Lake.
At the unveiling, wing commander Colonel Patrice Laroche commended 410 Squadron for “thirty years of producing world-class fighter pilots”.
The program’s success “is a testament to your skill and your dedication to your unit, your team members and the RCAF as a whole,” he said.
“It’s the fighter force that puts the ‘force’ in the Royal Canadian Air Force,” said Lieutenant-Colonel Paul Doyle, 410 Squadron’s commanding officer.
The new art on 928’s starboard tail celebrates the squadron’s instructor pilots and students, while the port-side tail depicts the work of ground crew.
Belliveau describes the art work and the process:
“The painting took a little over two weeks, with 1 AMS [Air Mobility Squadron] removing the old paint first then setting the colour base. Master Corporal Darin Adams and myself then applied the stencils for the large crest, but all vignettes on both sides were done freehand with retouch spray guns.
“The murals were meant to show the complex nature of this operation, from first and second line maintenance to the instructors and students in the high tech world of fighter pilot training. The artwork honours over 700 students that have received fighter pilot training at 410 Squadron since 1984, as well as the thousands of instructor pilots, maintenance and support staff who have made it all possible.
“The large Hornet crest, the mark of the graduate of the training program, is depicted in both the original red, white and black design, as well as the low visibility crest worn today. While a training establishment, 410 Squadron is very much an operational squadron, dovetailed in to Canada’s main line of defence. The lightning bolt in red and yellow highlights the squadron colours.”
