The North American F-86 Sabre was first flown on 01 October 1947 and the aircraft quickly proved to be a highly successful design. In 1949, with the formation of NATO the Canadian government made the decision to re-equip the RCAF's front-line fighter squadrons with modern aircraft and the F-86 Sabre was type selected. Consequently, an agreement was...

Last Update: Sunday May 19, 2013

Selected to replace the Sabre of Canada's air forces in NATO, the CF-104 Super Starfighter was the fastest aircraft to serve in the RCAF. It is derived from the Lockheed F-104 Starfighter, popularly dubbed 'a missile with a man in it'.

Canada was the second NATO country to select the F-104G as its next generation combat aircraft. On July 2, 195...

Last Update: Friday March 18, 2011

The P-40 was the best known Curtiss-Wright airplane of World War II. It was also one of the most controversial fighters of the war. It was vilified by many as being too slow, lacking in maneuverability, having too low a climbing rate, and being largely obsolescent by contemporary world standards even before it was placed in production. The...

Last Update: Sunday February 10, 2013

The Curtiss P-40 was a development of the company's radial engine P-36 and the experimental YP-37 fighters. The P-40 variants became among the most widely used fighters of the Second World War being employed by over a dozen air forces.

Early production variants were known as the Tomahawk. Four overseas RCAF squadrons including Nos. 400, 403, 41...

Last Update: Monday February 16, 2009

The D.H.2 was the second design by Geoffrey De Havilland for the Aircraft Manufacturing Company and the Royal Flying Corps. Introduced in 1916, the unusual pusher configuration was necessitated by the lack of a suitable interrupter gear to permit a machine gun to fire through the propeller disc. Mounting the engine to the rear of the...

Last Update: Monday February 16, 2009

The DeHavilland Mosquito was called either the "Wooden Wonder" or the "Termite's Dream" because of its unusual plywood construction. Although it's construction did provide drawbacks in tropical climates, in the European theatre and Canada the aircraft proved to be outstandingly successful. Its wooden construction made it one of the first stealthy...

Last Update: Saturday February 23, 2013

The tremendous wartime success of the deHavilland Mosquito led to the development of a faster aircraft with the same basic features and construction techniques. The resulting design was elegant, streamlined and with a top speed of 488 mph (780 km/h), the Hornet was faster than jet fighters of the day. The De Havilland Hornet in fact became the last...

Last Update: Monday February 16, 2009

On 20 September 1940, a prototype of the De Havilland Vampire became the third British jet aircraft-type to fly. It was fully introduced into service too late however to see active combat during World War II.

Canada briefly evaluated the second British jet, the Gloster Meteor, and after the acquisition of a sole Mark I the De Havi...

Last Update: Monday October 19, 2009