This past weekend, the Alberta Aviation Museum at the Edmonton Municipal Airport had its annual “Airfest”. While not an airshow in the truest sense of the word, it brings in some interesting things that we don’t see everyday around here.
Here’s a few shots from the film roll I finished this past weekend, with any luck, I’ll have the roll I started finished and developed with more pics to share in the next week or so.
Enjoy[:D]
This is the Canadian Forces’ new basic trainer, the Beech CT-156 Harvard II in from CFB Moose Jaw.
This is the Canadian Forces’ new advanced trainer, the BAe CT-155 Hawk in from CFB Cold Lake.
And a CF-18 B Hornet of 410 Squadron, also out of Cold Lake.
Nice pics, thanx for sharing. Hopefully I download some of my pics of the WW2 weekend at Reading,Pa. Some of the planes that they had there was if I remember was a Hurricane, Spitfire, B-24 (actually a LB-30), B-29, 3 B-25’s, Mustang, Wildcat, P-2v, 2 Avengers, Corsair, P-38 and a B-17. The only bad thing was that it was raining that day and some of the pics came out a bit dark.
That first trainer sure is a strange bird…
Falcon: You should share! I wanna see the Corsair especially… But that’s just me 
[;)] No problem Akuma I will get them on here when I get home. [sigh] Cant really do much now considering that I am at work.
some great pics there. thanks for sharing.
joe
Whats strange to me is that all basic trainers seem to be getting designed this way now. I think the Embraer Tucano set this trend, Shorts made a licensed copy of the Tucano, then Pilatus made a very similar training aircraft called the PC9.
Its to my understanding that the U.S. Air Force has about 700 of this Beech trainer on order and have followed suit with Canada and called their version the Texan II, being as how the Harvard was the Canadian version of the Texan.
Great shots! I really like that Hawk.
For those who are interested, here’s a bit of FYI on the lineage of the Harvard II and on these similar-looking trainers in general.
The Pilatus PC-7, I think, can claim to have been the ‘start of the line’ of all these trainers which ‘look alike’. The PC-7 was first introduced in 1978, before either the PC-9 or the Embraer/Shorts Tucano. The Tucano wasn’t too far off, though. I think it first flew in 1980 or 1982.
Anyhoo, as to similarities in looks, often times it’s a case of similar problems netting similar solutions; the PC-7 and the Tucano were both developed in the same basic timeframe and for the same basic role but were, in fact, separate developments. Nevertheless, this being the case, you certainly can’t mistake a Tucano for a PC-7 or even a PC-9.
In the case of this ‘new’ trainer, it’s nothing more than a modified Pilatus PC-9 license-built by Beech for Raytheon, Pilatus’ US partner in the JPATS (Joint Primary Aircraft Training System) program. The aircraft was first named by the USAF as ‘Texan II’, with Canada following suit; not the other way round.
It’s rather interesting to note that these Canadian trainers, the Hawk and the Harvard II, aren’t even owned by the Canadian Government, but rather by Bombardier Aerospace which manages the NFTC (NATO Flying Training in Canada) program for the Canadian Forces. Bombardier performs all maintenance of the CT-156 and Hawk fleets, but the in-flight instruction is handled by personnel from the CF’s Flying Training School.
Fade to Black…
I like the look of the prop trainer. The BAe Hawk is just beautiful though. So graceful and sleek.
Hey, does anyone know if Canada still operates any cf-5 aircraft?
Hmmm, that’s an interesting question. The CF-5 (CF-116) was retired from Canadian service in 1995, but I dunno if any test units would have kept one or two on, as is sometimes the case in the USA.
As a 'fer instance,The F-4 has been ‘officially retired’ from service in the US for some time now, but VX-30 operated Phantoms until just recently. VX-4, and then VX-9 also operated the F-4 for an extended period after the type had been ‘retired’. All these aircraft had been converted to QF-4 drones, I believe, but were still used in non-target duties.
The USAF still has it’s QF-4 drones too. And although they’re actually the property of the Luftwaffe, the F-4F’s of the 20th FS at Holloman AFB are operated jointly by Luftwaffe and USAF personnel.
So there may be some CF-5’s still flying in Canada. Anyone know for sure?
Fade to Black…
Indeed the F-5 has been gone from Canadian Forces inventory since 1995. Some, myself included, would say its retirement was quite premature.
The last CF-116s were at CFB Cold Lake in the hands of 419 Squadron which used them in the advanced training and agressor roles. A few were also test birds at the Aerospace Engineering and Testing Establishment (AETE), also at Cold Lake.
To my knowledge, no Canadian Forces unit continues to operate them. Twelve were taken out of storage a few years back and sold to the air force of Botswana. The last I heard, the remainder of the airworthy frames are in the hands of Bristol Aerospace in Winnipeg who are trying to sell them.
The Hawk I got pictures of is attached to 419 Squadron though it has no distinguishing marks to identify it as such. The Canadian Hawk aircraft rotate regularly between 419 at Cold Lake and 2 CFFTS (Canadian Forces Flight Training School at CFB Moose Jaw.
Anyway, here’s a shot I took of one of 419’s old mounts back in June of 1992
