Great Canadian Planes

"Dunnik" (dunnik) 10/04/2013 at 17:38 • Filed to: PLANELOPNIK

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"Wait, what?" you say, "Canada makes planes? Who knew? I thought you guys only made !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! and !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! ." Well, we not only make planes, but !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! too. We've made planes of peace - and planes of war. Here are some of the greatest.

DHC-6 Twin Otter

Photo Credits: (Above) Viking Air, (Top) Jim Buckel

Affectionately referred to as the "Twotter" (say it out loud), this is one of the most rugged, reliable and flexible aircraft ever to take flight, and has been in continuous production (more or less) for almost half a century.

Based on the older single-engine !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , the Twotter is a STOL aircraft - Short Take Off and Landing - so it doesn't need much of a runway. It doesn't need a runway at all, actually. Or an airport. Or even solid ground: it can land on water and snow and sand. The secret to its success is specially designed !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! and !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , combined with two powerful turboprop engines designed and built by !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! .

It's been said of many planes that they're "in service all over the world". Yea? Antarctica? The North Pole? The middle of the Sahara Desert? While it does see ho-hum service as a short-hop passenger airplane, (especially in the Carribean) it's true home is in the middle of nowhere, deep in the bush - a !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , if you will. It's especially popular with the mining industry, and used for both aerial surveys and for getting people and supplies in and out of remote areas. It's also the plane of choice for the US Army Parachute Team.

CF-100 Cannuck

Photo Credit: Dean Pascoe

Canada's first jet fighter was the CF-100 "Cannuck", produced by Avro Canada for the Royal Canadian Airforce (RCAF) with homegrown Orenda engines (we'll meet that engine again later). A !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! jet fighter, the "Clunk", as it was nicknamed (due to the sound the landing gear made upon retraction), was a day late and a dollar short. Conceived of in the late 1940's and produced in 1950, the CF-100 was really a WWII jet design, similar to the USAF P-80 !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! and the famous !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , and so was quickly overtaken by more modern types.

The fighter was produced just in time for the Korean War, and the US was so desperate for all-weather interceptors that it considered placing a huge order for them, but decided against it because of the Clunk's short range, small payload, and lack of maneuverability. Probably a good thing, since it likely would not have fared well vs North Korean MiGs flown by Russian pilots. Instead, the RCAF operated the excellent !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! during the war (1,815 of which were made in Canada, incidentally).

A closer inspection will reveal why it was a bit of beautiful failure - it has a relatively straight wing, where the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! had a swept wing, like most jets do today. Nevertheless, they were put into service in the interceptor role, where for a time they were a credible threat to Soviet bombers. Long after it became obsolete, the CF-100's continued in second line service until 1981, serving as trainers, targets and test beds. We tried to sell this plane to our allies, but everybody was, like, naw, pass, thanks. Except for the Belgians. Maybe they liked its looks?

CF-105 Arrow

Photo Credit: Department of National Defense

In the late 1950's, Avro Canada tried again with one of the world's first Delta-winged fighters. Powered by upgraded versions of the Orenda engine in the CF-100, this gigantic and elegant flying triangle of doom was intended to defeat Soviet bombers and anything foolish enough to get in its way.

The aircraft had the potential of Mach 3 speeds and could reach an altitude of 60,000 feet, and had an internal weapons bay (like the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! today) to accommodate the earliest air-to-air missiles. It's delta wing configuration allowed for more fuel storage and hence greater range - overcoming a key shortcoming of the CF-100 - and gave it greater performance at high altitudes. Its characteristics were such that it might still be in service today in the air-intercept role, prompting some Canadians to press Ottawa into !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , instead of buying the problematic !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! .

Key word: potential. The Arrow never entered service. After several overwhelmingly successful test flights, the project was cancelled and the prototypes and blueprints destroyed (!) at the behest of the Federal Government in Ottawa, supposedly as a cost savings measure. The government of the day also said the new !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! threat made interceptors obsolete - that nobody would use bombers anymore, and just chuck missiles. Some say the US military-industrial complex engineered its destruction, so as not to face competition. If so, it worked, for Avro Canada went out of business not long after the Arrow debacle (many of its engineers left Canada to join a newly-formed NASA and worked on the Mercury and Apollo space programs), and ever since then, we've bought !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! .

Canadair CL-215

Photo Credit: Wikimedia Commons

Canada manufactured British and US designed bombers for Allied air forces in the thousands during WWII. That heritage lives on in the CL-215, which drops life saving water instead of life taking high-explosives and incendiaries.

Specifically designed as water bomber, and not, as is often the case, a plane or helicopter adapted to the purpose, the "Scooper", as it was inevitably known, skimmed the water of a lake or bay, filling up its bomb bay with water, and took off again to dump its load over the forest fire. The Scooper's engines are mounted high, above the wing, so they don't get waterlogged, and its wings are designed to face the unusual and unpredictable air currents present during large forest fires.

First introduced in 1969 and still in service today both domestically and internationally, the CL-215 is a truly OG aircraft, as it was based on a Canadian Vickers Co. variant of the famous !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! from WWII. Further adding to its old school cred are the two big piston engines, some of the last still flying outside of air shows (though a retrofit with turboprops is available).

Challenger 600-series

Photo Credit: Wikimedia Commons

This trim little bizjet is made by !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , who originally got their start making snowmobiles (go figure). Designed in the dying days of disco, the plane has proven successful with strong overseas sales and is still in service today.

Unlike some of its competitors in the business jet market, the Challenger series has proven popular as a military plane, used as VIP transport and !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! platform in the air forces of nine countries, including the US. It's fast, for one, due to its !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! - one of first business jets to be so equipped - which allows the plane to achieve supersonic speeds. With a range of almost 4,000 miles (6,200 km) and a ceiling of 40,000 feet it can fly halfway around the world without refueling, conduct long range patrols, and loiter over a battlefield for extended periods of time.

The success of the Challenger led Bombardier to develop the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! of small passenger jets and the ambitious twin-engined C-Series airliner, aimed squarely at the lucrative 100-150 passenger market that is served by Boeing, Airbus and Embraer. That plane may be on this list someday, but it's in final testing now and will enter service in 2014.

C102 Jetliner

Photo Credit: Wikimedia Commons

The C102 was the world's...second jet-powered passenger airliner, beaten to the punch by the British !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! - by thirteen days! Construction delays with the runway at Malton Airport - today's !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! - and a last-minute problem with the aircraft's skin lost the race.

With a maximum speed of 500 mph (805 km/h) and a range of 1,250 miles (2000 km) the plane was a sensation, and did manage to secure one world record - the delivery of the world's first jet airmail, from Toronto to New York in 58 minutes. A jet airliner was such exotic technology, the American aviation authorities had it park far away from the terminals or other planes, in case it suddenly blew up.

Alas, this is another Avro plane that was strangled in the cradle. As with the CF-105 Arrow, the plane never entered full production. With its limited resources, and what with there being a war on (the Korean War), the government forced Avro to concentrate on the CF-100 fighter project, and so the plane was fatefully delayed. At one point Howard Hughes - best described as a slightly crazy 1950's Elon Musk combined with Richard Branson - tried to revive the project and placed a huge order to outfit !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , but Avro couldn't deliver the production volume wanted.

By the time Avro was ready to built it in 1958, Trans Canada Airlines (long since renamed to Air Canada), its first and only customer, wasn't interested anymore, and by the time the Boeing 727 entered the picture a few years later, it was all over.

The plane's legacy lives on in one important way, though. The very name "Jetliner" has come to describe any jet-powered passenger airplane in Canada and the US. Bet ya didn't know that, eh?

ddavidn > Dunnik 10/04/2013 at 17:39

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Well I don't believe any of that. But I do know that Canada is NOT just all about hockey and maple syrup!

They have curling too, eh?

Lets Just Drive > Dunnik 10/04/2013 at 17:41

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You forgot something rather important-cool.

Dusty Ventures > ddavidn 10/04/2013 at 17:44

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And moose

For Sweden > Dunnik 10/04/2013 at 17:51

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Aww Canada you tried

For Sweden > ddavidn 10/04/2013 at 17:52

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And poutine!

desertdog5051 > Dunnik 10/04/2013 at 17:55

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I know about toques better now. One of my friends sent me a picture of her wearing one. I commented that it was a nice stocking cap. She goes whaaaat are you talking about.

DailyTurismo > Dunnik 10/04/2013 at 18:12

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Great Canadian plains you say...hard to pick my fav, they are all so majestic.

Turbineguy: Nom de Zoom > Dunnik 10/04/2013 at 18:28

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It's cool that the Twin Otter is back in production after DeHavilland quit many moons ago

DavidHH > Dunnik 10/04/2013 at 20:20

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!!! UNKNOWN CONTENT TYPE !!!

But the de Havilland Canada DHC-7 kinda sucked.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/De_Havill…

confuzdbycloudz > DailyTurismo 10/08/2013 at 14:54

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Looks like Regina area. Or Moose Jaw. Or Saskatoon. Winnipeg? Ah hell it all looks the same at -30.

Winter is coming.

Remarkably-Average-Avalon > Dunnik 10/08/2013 at 20:35

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It's fast, for one, due to its Supercritical airfoil - one of first business jets to be so equipped - which allows the plane to achieve supersonic speeds.

No it doesn't. It allows the plane to fly faster without having the airflow on the wing achieve supersonic speeds , at which point drag increases dramatically. It's worth noting that jets do regularly fly with some of the air moving at beyond Mach 1, but not that far. If the light is right, you can even see shockwaves on the wing. (I have. It's cool!)

The actual manifestation of the benefits of supercritical wings is variable. They have nice handling characteristics at low speeds. You can achieve the same speeds as a thinner wing with the same sweep and have a thicker, higher wing volume for simpler structure and more space for fuel, although that's rare. Or you could do what Cessna did with the Citation Excel and use it to fly at a respectable speed with lower wing sweep allowing for less touchy handling characteristics, better structural efficiency, and better field performance.

But if you take your Challenger supersonic, you're gonna have a bad day. And 4,000 isn't halfway around the world. It's more like 1/6.

gmporschenut also a fan of hondas > For Sweden 10/09/2013 at 07:39

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Regarding the 21, I love how the jet version becomes the R model.