The bird that sings

By Suraj Sasi

On Jan.19 the Canadian Historical Aircraft Association held its fundraising concert called Climbing Away with Dave Hadfield.

While many may Recognize the Hadfield name – Dave is a well-known pilot and his brother is a famed astronaut – his talent on the ground,  behind a microphone may come as a surprise to some

Dave said it is an absolute delight to be able to perform at this historic building and have the chance to play a concert of songs about aviation. During his concert, Dave mentioned how music has helped him so far in his journey.

“Music has helped me encapsulate a lot of things if you trying to write a song that speaks to specific time, place, life or story you got think about it and put the words together and it becomes more meaningful,” said Hadfield.

Susan Hummer came to attend the concert with her grandson and said you could not find a concert more Canadian, more authentic and fresh.

“I knew about the Hadfield family but never knew that they were musically gifted,” said Hummer.

The event organizer Mary Guthrie was surprised to see so many people on a day when other events were being canceled due to weather and people were being advised to stay indoors.

“We really enjoyed the concert and even though the weather was horrible, we had a lot of people here and I believe everyone enjoyed it.”

Dave has a vast repertoire of music. His work as a singer-songwriter has celebrated and documented the passions in his life — people, wilderness, flying, sailing, and anything that takes his fancy. In 2018, Dave had a new album “Climbin’ Away”, a collection of aviation-related songs.

The Canadian Historical Aircraft Association (also known as the CH2A) is a non-profit organization based in Windsor, Ontario, which is committed to preserving aircraft which have significance to the history of Canadian aviation.

A singing pilot was the ideal way to raise money to get the association’s future endeavors off the ground.