Shortt, A. J.

• Shortt, Fred
• Shortt, Alfred John

A native of Oshawa, Ontario, Alfred (Fred) John Shortt developed a love of flying and aviation history at an early age as the son of a First World War aviator.

As a teenager, he joined the Canadian Militia, and later served in Korea with the Lord Strathcona’s Horse (Royal Canadians), an armoured regiment which was part of the 25th Canadian Infantry Brigade Group, 1st Commonwealth Division. He was a member of the Royal Canadian Armoured Corps during the mid-1950s, and later served with Canadian peacekeepers as part of the 1956-57 United Nations Emergency Force responsible for patrolling the Sinai. While still serving in the Canadian army, Shortt participated in pilot training at Rivers, Manitoba, on single engine Auster aircraft.

Following his military service, he enrolled in engineering studies at Toronto’s Ryerson Institute of Technology. He was subsequently employed in Montreal by Canadair but loaned to Boeing in Seattle, Washington, where he worked on development of the Boeing 727. He returned to Canadair in 1967. There, he worked with the company’s electrical systems (avionics) design group on the development of its CL-215 water bomber.

During the summer of 1969, Shortt shifted career paths by accepting an appointment as Assistant Curator with the Aviation and Space Division of the National Museum of Science and Technology. This position included responsibilities for the National Aeronautical Collection at Rockcliffe Airport in Ottawa. In 1981, Shortt was appointed acting Curator. In 1982, it was decided to once again open a separate Museum dedicated to aviation, this time at Rockcliffe. He was appointed formally to the Curator position in 1983, and retired from the museum as Director of Collection and Research in 1997.

Over his long career, Fred Shortt’s contribution as a researcher, speaker, and historian, and his work in historical aircraft restoration were widely recognized. He was the only non-American advisor to serve the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum. Among the many projects he undertook while at the National Aviation Museum (NAM, later the Canada Aviation Museum and then the Canada Aviation and Space Museum), some important examples are: the acquisition of the museum’s Hawker Hind and Fairy Firefly F.R.1; restoration of one of the museum’s Messerschmitt Me 163Bs; the design of the new museum, from 1982 to its opening in 1988; and work on its contribution to Expo 86. He co-authored with Ken Molson the book, The Curtiss HS Flying Boats, published by the NAM in 1995, in which he documented the recovery and restoration of the museum’s Curtiss HS-2L. He was a frequent contributor to the Canadian Aviation Historical Society Journal and was awarded CAHS’s Fred Hatch Award in 1996. Shortt was also the recipient of the Queen’s Golden Jubilee Medal. He died on November 29, 2002 following an eleven year battle with cancer.

Written by D. Dalziel, 2020-04; edited and draft French translation by A. Torrance, 2021-11. French editing Céline Mongeau, Larocque Linguistic Services, 2022-01.

-Attractions Ontario. (November 2019). Canada Aviation And Space Museum - Attractions Ontario, Attraction Listings. Accessed online 2022-02-28: https://www.attractionsontario.ca -Griffiths, Brian J. (2003). “Alfred John (Fred) Shortt - Curator, Historian, Restorer and Author 1934-2002”. Canadian Aviation Historical Society Journal, Spring 2003.
-Shortt, Maryann. (March 2020). Interviewed by Doug Dalziel.
-Terry, Christopher. (2019). E-mail re: Fred Shortt to Don MacNeil, December 13, 2019, 9:49:19 PM EST
-Wikipedia contributors (September 2019). Lord Strathcona’s Horse (Royal Canadians) . Accessed online 2022-02-28: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lord_Strathcona%27s_Horse_(Royal_Canadians)
-Wikipedia contributors. (September 2019). United Nations Emergency Force. Accessed online 2022-02-28: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Nations_Emergency_Force