The RCAF was a large postwar user of the Avro Lancaster Mk X  built by Victory Aircraft at Malton, Ontario. The pattern aircraft R5727, complete with ventral guns, arrived in Toronto in August of 1942 and by 1945 Canadian production totaled 430 aircraft. The aircraft were structurally identical to their British brothers, with the exception of the...

Last Update: Friday February 17, 2012

The Boeing 707 was the most successful and versatile of the early jet airliners. This versatility led to a wide variety of subsequent military roles. The USAF first used the type as the basis for an Airborne Warning and Control (AWACS) platform designated E-3 Sentry.

The E-3 Sentry is a modified Boeing 707/320 commercial airframe with a distinc...

Last Update: Saturday February 28, 2009

The Canadian-built, Canadair Argus was a unique hybrid that employed the wings, tail surfaces and undercarriage of the British designed Britannia transport, married to a completely new unpressurized fuselage of Canadian design and equipped with different American-designed engines. Work on the CL-28 began in April 1954 and at the time it...

Last Update: Saturday January 08, 2011

The Canadian Vickers Vancouver was another twin engine flying boat designed to a RCAF specification for an aircraft to replace the Varuna and capable of transporting men and equipment to forest fire locations.

The resulting equal-span biplane had a metal hull manufactured from a new Alclad material. The remainder of the aircraft was of period c...

Last Update: Saturday February 28, 2009

The Canadian Vickers Vigil was a single-seat patrol aircraft based on an RCAF specification for a forest fire patrol aircraft. The CAF/RCAF had been undertaking forest patrols from the early 1920s. In 1926, the RCAF issued a specification to replace aging D.H. 4 aircraft being used in this role. The Vigil was a strut-braced sesquiplane. The upper...

Last Update: Saturday February 28, 2009

The Vickers Viking was a single engine flying boat purchased in 1923 to meet a CAF tender for an aircraft suitable to replace the wartime-vintage Curtiss HS-2L flying boats. Canadian Vickers had proposed it's parent company's Vickers Viking IV. The mahogany wood hull of the aircraft gave them a rich appearance. The aircraft was in fact...

Last Update: Saturday February 28, 2009

The Consolidated Catalina and Canso were close cousins. The Canso was the true amphibious version of the design and therefore included a conventional undercarriage to allow for either water or land use. The Canso provided over two decades of valuable service to the RCAF. The Catalina variant came first and was produced beginning in 1935 for the US...

Last Update: Monday March 01, 2010

The Consolidated Catalina and Canso were close cousins. The Catalina was the true flying boat version of the design and therefore did not include a conventional undercarriage to allow for either water or land use. The Catalina variant came first and was produced beginning in 1935 for the US Navy. The RCAF began using the aircraft on anti-submarine...

Last Update: Saturday April 02, 2011