FlightGlobal.com
Home
Premium
Archive
Video
Images
Forum
Atlas
Blogs
Jobs
Shop
RSS
Email Newsletters
You are in:
Home
Aviation History
1959
1959 - 1929.PDF
80 FLIGHT Canadian Aviation in 1959 ... the Orenda engine to northern commercial needs in Canada andfrom sales of the allied Brush electrical group in Canada, which markets, distributes and services its products through OrendaIndustrial Sales Ltd., a new subsidiary. Both Orenda Engines Ltd. and Avro Aircraft Ltd. have con-siderable continuing repair and overhaul work on the CF-100, and Avro's famous "flying saucer" is scheduled to take to theair next month. The so-called Avrocar which employs a novel ccntrifi-.gal system that "bends" a column of air to keep it aloftand move it faster, is under contract from the U.S. Army, which has put up the money for the experiments and final production. An interesting off-shoot of Avro's still operative "flying saucer"activity, has been the formation of a new Canadian aircraft manu- facturer to produce autogyros. Called Avian Industries Ltd. ofGeorgetown, Ontario, it was founded by Peter Payne, a senior test engineer of the "saucer" experiment and eleven other Avroengineers who were let out when the Arrow contract was cancelled. The first autogyro [page 79] is scheduled to flyin September and will cost about $10,000, or a third less than the most recent parallel U.S. autogyro. Already the company hasreceived interested enquiries from the U.S.A. and, of course, Canada. Computing Devices of Canada Ltd. Skyline Doppler computer, now being made under licence around the world (except in Canada) by Radio Division of Bendix Corporation Canadair Ltd. is in better shape than any other Canadian air-craft or industry supplier at the present time. Even without the two Lockheed awards, Canadair, which is General Dynamics'Canadian aircraft and missile manufacturing subsidiary, is rejoicing in the sale of fifteen CL-44 turboprop freighters to thetwo largest all-cargo carriers in the U.S.A. As noted in column two, Flying Tiger Line have bought ten of these aircraft andSeaboard and Western Airlines five. Both have chosen the new CL-44D-4 version incorporating the swing-tail which, whenopened, permits full-section loading of heavy freight into the rear fuselage. Powered by four 5,730 e.h.p. Rolls-Royce Tyne engines,these aircraft can carry a payload of 65,000 lb over a range of 3,150 statute miles, cruising at 392 m.p.h. These two commercial con-tracts are worth some $70m. In addition, the CL-44 line was started by an R.C.A.F. contract for eight of the military version,without the swing-tail, the first of which already has its engines hung. Canadair are in production with a very attractive twin-Elandtransport based on the Convair 440; also known as the Canadair 540 for commercial use, ten military models are being built for theR.C.A.F. under the designation CL-66. The company also have some way to go before production terminates on the big CL-28Argus sub-hunter. Canadair Ltd. has behind it a recent record of turning out1,815 Sabres, fromMk 1 to VI, and for countries as widely diverse as West Germany, Colombia and the Union of South Africa. Thecompany's later models, with the Orenda engine, were offered as better operational Sabres than those manufactured in the U.S.A.By the end of 1958, the T-33 Silver Star trainer manufacturing programme was phasing out, and by early this year, the last ofthe 656 T-33s. with the Rolls-Royce Nene engine, was rolled out. Other activities at Canadair Ltd. include development of theCL-41, an all-Canadian jet trainer for the R.C.A.F.; new produc- tion of Bomarc wings under licence from Boeing; and efforts tofind a replacement for the manufacture of the Sparrow guided missile, cancelled for the latest CF-100 Mark. Canadair Ltd.now employs 10,000, about 20 per cent of Canada's aircraft manu- facturing personnel before February, 1959. All of these will beretained under the new airframe arrangement with the Federal Government. De Havilland Aircraft of Canada Ltd. On the surface,de Havilland seems to be in the happiest spot as far as steady orders on the books are concerned (that was so, at least, untilCanadair Ltd. won the Lockheed contract). De Havilland's Beaver and Otter (Canada's famous STOL light cargo carriers)have now been sold to over 60 countries. The nature of their sales has become a by-word in Canada for an aircraft companywhich can "go it" without relying on government contracts. Yet all of de Havilland's outstanding government business terminatesby the middle or end of 1960. This includes the end of the substantial Beaver sales to the U.S. Army and the delivery of thelast Grumman CS2F-1 Tracker piston-powered anti-submarine aircraft to the Royal Canadian Navy. As for the steadying civilian influence on sales of the STOLlines, it really isn't there at all in the sense that the layman thinks. Of 1,300 Beavers delivered between 1948 and July 31 last, 918went to the U.S. Army alone, and the remainder to civilian world customers. The Otter sales picture is even more heavily weightedin favour of the large U.S. Army orders, which totalled 209 of the 300 Otters manufactured since 1952. The Caribou, launched inthe fall of last year, has moved slowly as far as customers are concerned. Only firm orders so far are five for the U.S. Army, tobe delivered early in the fall, and one on order for the Canadian Army, but not yet delivered. Commercial Aviation in Canada The varying fortunes and the sense of doom which pervadeCanadian military aviation circles this year, have hopefully not extended to commercial aviation. Interesting new adaptations ofold and new aeroplanes to meet imaginative terrain uses of air- craft in Canada's vast forest wildernesses; Trans-Canada Airlines'optimistic look to the 1960's; Canadian Pacific Air Lines' very efficient trans-continental flights, now operating from Montrealto Vancouver; and even the growth of a small used aircraft indus- try to match the booming American one, all indicate signs of freshlife in commercial aviation in Canada. Perhaps the biggest break- through of all in this field has been the sale of fifteen CL-44 turbo-prop freighters to Flying Tiger Line Inc. and Seaboard and Western Airlines. Seaboard has bought five and Flying Tiger 10. A fillip to both the used-aircraft business and to prevention ofthe ever-present summer forest fire hazard in Canada, came this July from the formation of a new Canadian company devoted towater-bombing. The company is Forest Industries Flying Tankers Ltd. and it was created by six of British Columbia'slargest paper companies confronted by some of the worst forest fires in Canada since the summer of 1950. The aircraft used areold World War II Martin flying boats, which are reportedly offered in Western Canada for about $250,000 each. Converted to"water bombers," the worthy old Martins now carry 7,000 gal of water each, and adequate spraying equipment. Both the CanadianFederal Government and all the provincial governments have traditionally always given a big boost to experimentation in aircraftdesigned or adapted to forest fire fighting. In 1947, de Havilland started on its world-wide Beaver selling programme following testoperations and final sales of the first civilian Beavers to the Ontario Provincial Dept. of Lands and Forests. In die 1930's, the oldNoorduyn Norseman was also adapted to forest fire prevention. Today, with about 400,000 acres already ruined by 1959's forestfires, Ontario's 40 odd radio-equipped Beavers maintain regular patrols over the vast forest preserves of Canada's largest province.The most recent announcement in this field is the use of schnorkel water intakes on aircraft operated by the Provincial Governmentof Manitoba. These intakes are attached in turn to the aircraft floats; thus making it possible for the machine to take on a waterload as it taxis along the lake's surface. One of the most prominent of Canada's small but growinghelicopter operators is Okanagan Helicopters Ltd., along with one of its subsidiaries, Canadian Helicopters Ltd. These operate inBritish Columbia and the Yukon. In Eastern Canada, among others, are Spartan Air Services of Ottawa and Dominion Heli-copters Ltd. at King, Ontario. All three, interestingly enough, have grown sufficiently in the last few years to offer helicoptertraining schools. Okanagan's is perhaps the most famous and now trains helicopter pilots for Canada's Department of Transport andeven the U.S. Air Force. At present, in Canada, there are about 174 helicopters doing commercial work (omitting those operatedby the Federal Government, the R.C.A.F. and the helicopter utility squadron of the R.C.N. at H.M.C.S. Shearwater, N.S.). Equally important with the work of the helicopter comcanies in1959 has been the quiet but continuing activities of the aerial survey companies in Canada. Basically unaffected by the tre-mendous changes of military aviation and by the influence on future civilian airline operations of such studies as the WheatcroftReport, the aerial survey companies continue to work out long- term, detailed surveys and air analyses for private clients and theCanadian Government. Hunting Associates Ltd. of Toronto are represented in Canadaby the following firms of this British group: The Photographic Survey Corporation Ltd., Hunting Technical & ExplorationServices Ltd., Hunting Airborne Geophysics Ltd., Renting Aviation Ltd., Renting Helicopters Ltd. and Field Aviation Co.Ltd. Apart from topographic mapping and mosaics completed in
Sign up to
Flight Digital Magazine
Flight Print Magazine
Airline Business Magazine
E-newsletters
RSS
Events
