14 Air Maintenance Squadron
It was a beautiful day when A/C 109 returned from IMP Aerospace inHalifax, as the 18th and final Block 2 upgrade.
Aircraft 109 is special, as it contains one extra piece of equipment: a commemorative decal celebrating the extraordinary work of Brian Gowen. Like so many who work for IMP, Gowen was a former member of the Canadian Forces and had spent most of his life in and around the aircraft maintenance world. He joined the CF in 1979 and, after completing trades training in Borden, he was posted to 14 WingGreenwoodin 1980. He spent many wonderful years inGreenwood, Comox and Shearwater, before retiring in 2002 as a warrant officer.
Gowen loved the aircraft maintenance community and, after his experience with the CF, decided to join IMP as a technical compliance coordinator. His work and dedication at IMP was instrumental in allowing the company to build a large workforce of qualified avionics technicians to meet the challenges of the Aurora Incremental Modernization Program. He served as the foreman on prototype installations of Block 2, through Block 2 production and on the first Block 3 installation performed at IMP.
Unfortunately, Gowen died November 14, 2011 and did not see the final Block 2 aircraft. With this in mind, his peers asked the Department of National Defense to include a tribute on A/C 109. With Gowen’s excellent reputation within DND, the approval came without hesitation.
Gowen will always be remembered for his wide smile and joking nature. He left behind his loving wife, Susan, and his three children, Kyle, Steven and Victoria.
