Canadair

کانادایر

(Wikipedia) - Canadair Ltd. was a civil and military aircraft manufacturer in Canada. It was a subsidiary of other aircraft manufacturers, then a nationalized corporation until privatized in 1986, and became the core of Bombardier Aerospace. Canadair's origins lie in the foundation of a manufacturing centre for Canadian Vickers in the Montreal suburb of Saint-Laurent, at Cartierville Airport. Canadair Plant One is still there, although the airport no longer exists. Canadair Canadair Fate Successor(s) Founded Defunct Headquarters

Acquired by Bombardier

Bombardier Aerospace

1944

1986

Montreal, Canada

Canadair Plant One

Canadair Ltd. was a civil and military aircraft manufacturer in Canada. It was a subsidiary of other aircraft manufacturers, then a nationalized corporation until privatized in 1986, and became the core of Bombardier Aerospace.

Canadair's origins lie in the foundation of a manufacturing centre for Canadian Vickers in the Montreal suburb of Saint-Laurent, at Cartierville Airport. Canadair Plant One is still there, although the airport no longer exists.

Contents 1 History 1.1 Nationalisation and privatisation 1.2 Legacy 2 Products 3 See also 4 References 5 External links

History

Absorbing the Canadian Vickers Ltd. operations, Canadair was created on 11 November 1944 as a separate entity by the government of Canada as a manufacturer of patrol PBY Canso flying boats for the Royal Canadian Air Force. Benjamin W. Franklin became its first president. Besides the ongoing PBY contract, a development contract to produce a new variant of the Douglas DC-4 transport, was still in effect. The new Canadair DC-4M powered by Rolls-Royce Merlin engines emerged in 1946 as the "Northstar."

Canadair Sabre in the colours of the Golden Hawks, on display at the Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum, Mount Hope, Ontario

In the immediate postwar era, Canadair bought the "work in progress" on the existing Douglas DC-3/C-47 series. In 1946, the Electric Boat Company bought a controlling interest in Canadair. The two companies merged to form General Dynamics (GD) in 1952. In 1954, GD purchased Convair and reorganised Canadair as its Canadian subsidiary.

Nationalisation and privatisation

In 1976, the Canadian government acquired Canadair Ltd. from US based General Dynamics. It remained a federal crown corporation until 1986 when, having experienced record losses during its development of the Challenger business jet, the Mulroney government sold it to Bombardier Inc. It became the core of Bombardier Aerospace.

As part of Bombardier, Canadair lives on in the series of business jets or regional jets known as "RJ Series" or CRJs. More recently the branding has been dropped, and new projects from all of Bombardier's various aircraft divisions are now known simply as Bombardier Aerospace.

Legacy

Canadair has a record of several aviation firsts. The CL-44D, based on the Bristol Britannia, was the first design that allowed access by swinging the entire rear fuselage. The CL-89 and CL-289 were the first surveillance drones to be put into service in several countries' armed forces. The CL-84 was the first VTOL aircraft that rotated the wings to achieve vertical lift-off (tiltwing). The CL-215 was the first purposed-designed water bomber.

In 1965-66 Canadair built a batch of Flxible New Look buses under license. All 50 were for the Montreal Transit Commission.

In the late 1950s the US Army contracted Canadair to develop a small light-weight all-terrain amphibious tracked vehicle. In turn, Canadair developed the CL-70 RAT Remote Articulated Track which, while not a commercial success, gave Canadair the experience for the upgraded CL-91 Dynatrac, which was a marketing success and purchased by the US Army as XM-571.

Canadair had diversity in other projects. The "Canarch" division was involved in curtain wall design and manufacture for a number of buildings. They also produce the cabins for many air traffic control towers operated by the Federal Aviation Administration in the United States. Both tracked and air-cushioned vehicles were designed, but only a few samples were built.

Products Model Name Type Crew Passengers Launch dates Notes

C-4 & C-5	North Star	Cargo aircraft/Airliner	2 or 3	52	First flight: 1946 First del'y: 1948	License-built variant of the Douglas DC-4
CL-13	Sabre	Fighter aircraft	1	0	First flight: 1950 First del'y: 1950	License-built North American F-86 Sabre
CL-28	Argus	Marine Reconnaissance	up to 5*		First flight: 1957 First del'y: 1980	Variant of the Bristol Britannia; *normal flights also included a reserve crew of four
CL-30	Shooting Star	Trainer (aircraft) / ECM / Communication	1 or 2	0	First flight: 1952 First del'y: 1952	License-built Lockheed T-33 Shooting Star
CL-41 CL-41G-5	Tutor Tebuan	Trainer (aircraft)	2	0	Launch date: 1960 First flight: 1962 First del'y: 1966
CL-43		Twin-engine logistics concept aircraft				Never built, but later influenced the design for the CL-204 (later as CL-215); based on PBV-1 Canso (PBY-1 Catalina) with two R-1340 engines
CL-44	the Forty-Four CC-106 Yukon	Military transport aircraft/Cargo aircraft	9	134	Launch date: 1959
CL-45		ASW concept helicopter			1954	Never built; joint effort with Hiller Aircraft and was to use three T38-GE2 engines
CL-52		Bomber			1956	A USAF Boeing B-47B was loaned to the RCAF and turned over to Canadair to test the Orenda Iroquois PS-13 engine for the Avro Arrow project. After the Arrow was cancelled the aircraft was returned to the U.S.
CL-60		Trainer/Transport aircraft	1 / 2	3 / 12	1952	Beech T-36 fuselage and final assembly; program cancelled in 1953
CL-61	RAT (Remote Articulated Track)	Armored personnel carrier			1959	Prototypes for the CL-70
CL-66	Cosmopolitan	Transport aircraft	2	52	First flight: 1959	Modified Convair CV-540
CL-70	RAT (Remote Articulated Track)	Armored personnel carrier			1959	Prototypes for the CL-91 Dynatrac
CL-84	Dynavert	Vertical/Short Takeoff/landing Experimental aircraft	2	up to 15 combat troops	Launch date: 1960 First flight: 1965	Late 1960s - No production aircraft
CL-89 & CL-289		Surveillance Drone	none	0	First flight: 1964 First del'y: 1969
CL-90	Starfighter	Strike fighter / Trainer (aircraft)	1 or 2	0	First flight: 1961 First del'y: 1962	License-built Lockheed F-104 Starfighter
CL-91	Dynatrac	Armored Personnel Carrier			1960s
CL-204		Water bomber			1962	Concept led to production of the CL-215
CL-210		Satellite antenna	n/a	n/a	1965	Installed at Shirleys Bay, Ontario
CL-212		Air cushion vehicle			1964-1967	Development transferred to General Dynamics Electric Boat
CL-213	Fisher	All-terrain vehicle	1	1	1963-1964
CL-215	Scooper	Water Bomber	2	up to 18 passengers (utility version)	First flight: 1967 First del'y:1969
CL-218		Transit bus	1	45	1965-1966	License-built Flxible New Look bus
CL-219	CF-5 (CF-116 Freedom Fighter)	Strike fighter / Fighter bomber	1 or 2	0	First flight: 1968	License-built Northrop F-5 Freedom Fighter
CL-225		Satellite antenna	n/a	n/a	1965	Installed at Lac-Bouchette, Quebec
CL-227	Sentinel	Remote control drone	none	0	First flight: 1980
CL-251		Subcontract	n/a	n/a	1971-1975	Wing panels and other components for the Dassault Mercure airliner
CL-252					1972	Modification of two Lockheed L-188 Electra airliners for Environment Canada ice patrols
CL-257		Subcontract	n/a	n/a	1973-1985	Fuselage sections for the Boeing 747SP
CL-281		Subcontract	n/a	n/a	1977-1994	Components for the Lockheed CP-140 Aurora and P-3C Orion
CL-415	Superscooper	Water Bomber	2	1 on jump seat, 8 on bench seats	First flight: 1993 First del'y: 1994
CC-144	Challenger	Business jet	2	8 to 19	First flight: 1980 First del'y: 1986
Bombardier CRJ		Regional jet Airliner	2*	50-90	First flight: 1980s First del'y: 1990s	-100, -200, -700, -900, and -1000 series; *plus flight attendants
Bombardier BRJX		Transport jet / Business jet	2*	80-120		*plus flight attendants

---

See also items containing :Canadair

• Canadair Sabre