The now legendary Golden Hawks aerobatic team was formed in 1959 to help commemorate the 50th anniversary of powered flight in Canada. Initially it was equipped with Canadair built Sabre Mk5 aircraft, but by the time of its disbandment at the end of the 1963 season, it had converted to slightly more powerful Mk6s.

The inaugural team was carefully chosen from the ranks of the most seasoned RCAF Sabre "jockeys" and included Squadron Leader Fern Villeneuve as leader and Flight Lieutenants McCombe, Rozdeba, Kerr, and Annis and Flying Officers Price, Stewart and Holt. Villeneuve is a "pilots' pilot" who is still flying actively today and has accumulated over 8,000 flying hours in jet fighter aircraft alone. He studied the craft of team aerobatic flying while serving on squadrons in Europe and Canada, and was a natural choice to organize the new team. In a short time the Hawks became famous across North America for their innovative repertoire and dazzling showmanship. The team flew a total of 317 shows in its all too brief five year lifespan and was forced into retirement because of "budgetary restrictions". The tradition of superb Canadian aerobatic teams continues today with the Snowbirds; but those who remember the Golden Hawks can never forget their special panache and elan.

Fern Villeneuve left the team after its 1960 season, but was soon in the limelight again when he won the Air Force Cross by an heroic feat of airmanship in landing a crippled Sabre rather than risking its crashing into a built-up area. The aircraft was destroyed in the crash landing, and Villeneuve spent several months in a body cast; but he recovered to continue flying.