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Eric Rathborne fonds
Part Of:
Eric Rathborne fonds
Type
Community Records
GMD
graphic
Date
[ca.1935-1960]
Level:
Fonds
Physical Description:
111 photograph prints : b&w ; 8 x 10 in
Scope:
The fonds consists of photographs taken by Eric Rathborne of aviation subjects in and around the Vancouver Airport on Sea Island, Richmond, B.C. Subjects include both civil and military aircraft, facilities, personnel, and aerial views of the airport and vicinity. The majority of the images date from 1935 to 1940, with some post war images as well.
Responsibility:
Eric Rathborne
History / Biographical:
Donald Eric Dalby Rathborne was born in England December 18, 1907. He had his first ride in an airplane in 1924 and there began a life-long passion for aviation. Eric Rathborne came with his family to Windsor Ontario in 1926 at the age of 18. He moved to Victoria in 1930, then to Vancouver in 1933, where during his free time he did odd jobs around the Vancouver Airport in exchange for flying instruction. Eric qualified as a private pilot in 1936, then in 1939 took a full-time job as maintenance man with fledgling Trans Canada Airlines - TCA; which later became Air Canada. His duties at TCA included loading food for passengers, loading/unloading oxygen and mail, engine servicing and refueling. Eric earned his commercial pilot license in May 1941 and shortly thereafter joined the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan as a staff pilot during the war. After returning from war-time service in 1945 he was 37 years old, and deemed too old to be hired as a commercial airline pilot. As a private pilot he flew occasionally for local airlines, while making his living as a commercial photographer for over 30 years. Eric Rathborne died on November 30, 1990 at the age of 82.
Name(s):
Vancouver Airport (Civic/International)
United Airlines
Trans Canada Air Lines
Creator:
Eric Rathborne
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