Alright, I really want to get excited about this plane. It's going to be big,
loud and filled with polite professionals and doesn't that sound every bit like Canada.
The CAF responds to over 9,000 calls for rescue each year
and at the heart of these operations are about 140 search and rescue technicians,
these individuals encompass the most specialised rescue experts we have at our disposal.
Committed to their craft; they launch air assets in as many as 1,000 operations
annually and are responsible for saving the lives of thousands of Canadians each year.
When we're out getting lost with nature, these men and women will find us.
So it was most unfortunate when I heard that their
fleet of new toy planes will not be ready to fly this summer as planned.
Completion of this project has been delayed for a second time… I know,
Close your mouth. The C 295 Fixed wing aircraft was intended to replace the C-130 Hercules and
the similar Buffalo search-and-rescue planes which aged out early this year.
Despite the buffalo already undergoing a life extension program, there was no choice but to
remove the air frame from service as it was no longer considered a safe or effective option
and *sigh* Can anyone else feel a pain growing in the back of their head?
Hold on - I also come with good news, the C295 is renewing deliveries to Canada and so there's
plenty of reason to dive into this latest addition to the Fixed Wing Search and Rescue Program.
The C295 will lovingly adopt the name of Kingfisher.
A clever moniker taken from the common North American bird which can be found
hunting for its prey along our streams and shorelines. So It's a pretty fitting name.
In what had been described as a torturous 14-year acquisition process, the European
company Airbus was finally awarded the $2.4 billion dollar contract way back in 2016.
This contract detailed the building of 16 aircraft.
This deal includes 11 years of in-service support - which already began counting down
in 2016 - and it also gives us the option to tack on a further 15 years of service for an additional
2.3 billion and yea, let's not make this a house of lies, we will still be using them.
For reference, the Buffalo air frame was in service for 55 years.
The Kingfisher is being built in sunny Spain and Initially
we expected to have all of our planes by midpoint 2022. However due to production
woes and the flu that will not be mentioned Canada has only taken possession of 4 aircraft.
Now This original schedule was labelled as “extremely ambitious” and those are just
two words that have never had a great relationship with Canadian Procurement.
The revised timeline for final delivery will now be 2024.
So then, it's a good thing that Canadian air crews haven’t been sitting idle and have instead been
using this time to play on a Kingfisher aircraft maintenance trainer that arrived back in 2020.
This near identical training plane is considered an additional asset to the
fleet and has since made its home in Comox BC where the SAR centre of excellence can be found.
In Comox, a brand spanking new training facility was built to allow both crew
and maintainers from across the country to work through various
flight simulators while also getting a feel for how the aircraft handles.
Defined as a twin-engine, medium-range, multi-purpose transport: The kingfisher
will have the ability to fly however it wants; low and slow over rough terrain or at its max
ceiling of over 7,600 metres (25,00ft). Better design efficiency will allow the
kingfisher to reach a max range of 4,500 Km and a cruising speed of 452 Km an hour
putting its predecessor to shame. This means that our new bird of prey is
capable of responding quickly across our vast and challenging geography.
Here in the land of syrup and Drake; there is approximately 18 million km2 that we have
declared Search and Rescue responsibility for. In order to cover this much area the Kingfishers
will need to be spread out among the 4 southern bases where we deploy our SAR capabilities from.
Onboard the King you will find a modern array of sensors that will reduce the
on-scene search time it takes to cover any particular area. These include a next
generation Integrated tactical system that comes with 2 very pretty 24 inch displays.
These can overlay weather and radar information. Don’t like the weather? Switch to something else
like the electro-optical and infrared system, the surveillance radar system and more.
This new avionics suite is operated through many more on board touchscreen displays and
this system will enhance the crew's ability to cover more grid squares
to make locating its targets just that much quicker. *Blade Runner "enhance"*
Beside effortlessly working in Low-light and bad weather conditions. The King's
modern human-machine interface will include night vision goggle capability
and the new generators will provide 50% more electrical power to these critical systems.
This shiny new tech will have the incredible ability to spot missing people or objects at more
than 40 Km away. So, maybe we can fly it over Spain to locate the other planes we paid for.
The minimum operating crew is 6 personnel to include 2 pilots,
2 SAR techs, 1 Air combat systems officer and 1 flight engineer.
When operating in this configuration the King is designed to store a wealth
of mission critical equipment for those rescue operations.
Otherwise it can be reconfigured into its maximum party bus capacity of 36 people.
When a rescued patient is brought on board, seamless lighting
and an integrated wireless comms system will make those medical tasks that much easier.
It’s clear that a lot of love went into this design, infact close to one million man hours of
engineering went into developing the SAR version of this airframe and it shows inside and out.
Increased range, reduced fuel consumption,
addition of winglets which are those fancy curves on the end of the wings
and much more have gone into this baby. The design team were also very excited to have
achieved the full enclosure of the landing gear, allowing for a significant reduction in drag.
Even with these improvements, certain technical concerns remain in the final design,
one involving the centre of gravity in the standard cabin configuration
and another that might compromise the safety of the SAR technicians
when they want to parachute from the plane's back ramp. Bunch of showoffs.
The RCAF and those involved with the program are aware of these issues and are working on solutions
but at this point the military can’t say when these aircraft will be available for missions.
With an estimated life expectancy of 30 years, I’d say we need to get going sooner rather than later.
In the meantime, the military will do what it does best, adapt. Hercules aircraft out
of Winnipeg and Cormorant Helicopters will be made available in the interim.
Yet, it hasn’t gone unnoticed that the responding Hercules will need to fly considerable distances
when dispatched, putting those calling for help at
increased risk. For our Search And Rescue technicians who are patiently waiting,
it's all too clear that Fixed Wing Aircraft are essential to Canada’s emergency response.
Thanks for watching.