FlyPast – August 2018

(John Hannent) #1

GLORY DAYS PHOTOGRAPHIC MEMORIES


114 FLYPAST August 2018

Canuck


C llection


Trans-Canada Airlines was formed in 1945 with DC-3s for internal fl ights, but Canadair
DC-4M North Stars (such as this example CF-TFB) were employed on longer routes from 1947.
The aircraft were powered by Rolls-Royce Merlin engines, and fl ew to European countries
including the UK, before being replaced by Lockheed Super Constellations.

Resplendent in its ‘house’ livery, Canadair’s CL-44 coded CF-MKP-X was a company test and
demonstrator aircraft, and the fi rst to be built for the civil market. Its aerial debut was made on
November 16, 1960. Twelve dedicated airframes were built for the RCAF, designated CC-106 Yukon.

No focus on Canadian post-war aviation would be complete without a glimpse of the ill-fated
Avro Canada CF-105 Arrow interceptor, seen here during its roll-out ceremony in Toronto, on
October 4, 1957. As with Britain’s similarly infamous TSR.2, the CF-105 project was cancelled
due to cost overruns and politics.

Post-war Canadian aviation is the subject of
this month’s Glory Days, courtesy of the
Key Publishing archive

When the RCAF needed to replace its ageing Neptune maritime patrol aircraft, it plumped for
the CL-28 Argus, which was based on the Bristol Britannia. The structural conversion involved
shortening the fuselage and adding two bomb bays. Crews for the type were trained by the
Argus Conversion Unit from 1958.
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