# What happened to all our Hornets?



## kermit98

I know we've only got 77 operational CF-18s left but, aside from the ground-instruction units, the gate guards and museum pieces, what happened to the rest of them?  Are they stored down in Arizona, or does Canada actually have a bone yard?  Are any of them in flyable storage?


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## aesop081

We've lost several to accidents as well.


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## GAP

wouldn't a boneyard for Hornets be called a "Hornet Nest"?


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## Occam

Here's a pretty interesting website on "Where's tail number X now?".  

http://www.ody.ca/~bwalker/post_int.html


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## Zoomie

FWIW - our "boneyard" is Mountainview.


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## aesop081

Zoomie said:
			
		

> FWIW - our "boneyard" is Mountainview.



For aircraft that fit Mountainview. The CP-140A Arcturus, for example, were sent to AMARG.


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## kermit98

Thanks for the replies.  That's a very useful link Occam, thanks.  We definitely lost a lot of planes due to accidents, but we did mothball an awful lot too.  I hope we at least got all the useful hours out of the airframes.


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## WingsofFury

cypres78 said:
			
		

> Couple of gutted ones in Trenton on the North side...



Assuming you mean the ATESS ones which are used for non destructive testing??


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## Oldgateboatdriver

Out of my lane here, but don't Hornets die after they stung? 

Since many of them "stung" in the Balkans, the Gulf war and Lybia - that would explain their disappearance.


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## WingsofFury

Oldgateboatdriver said:
			
		

> Out of my lane here, but don't Hornets die after they stung?
> 
> Since many of them "stung" in the Balkans, the Gulf war and Lybia - that would explain their disappearance.



Some of the Hornets that stung in Libya were stinging other targets over the last couple of weeks - so they didn't really disappear.


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## Good2Golf

Oldgateboatdriver said:
			
		

> Out of my lane here, but don't Hornets die after they stung?
> 
> Since many of them "stung" in the Balkans, the Gulf war and Lybia - that would explain their disappearance.



OGBD, bees die because the stinger rips from their thorax, but wasps and hornets retain their stinger and can live to sting another day.


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## GAP

soooo......never name a fighter after a bee?


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## Good2Golf

GAP said:
			
		

> soooo......never name a fighter after a bee?



Ding, ding, ding!


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## Retired AF Guy

Good2Golf said:
			
		

> Ding, ding, ding!



Here is a link listing CF-188's that were lost /damaged.

http://www.ejection-history.org.uk/Aircraft_by_Type/CF-18/cf_18_hornet.htm

If anyone is interested here is a link that has worldwide crashes by year.

http://www.ejection-history.org.uk/PROJECT/year_table.htm


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## Virtuoso

As I remember, they are either being based at CFB Cold Lake or CFB Bagotville, with rotating deployments to various bases such as CFB Comox, with two being stored there.


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## dimsum

Virtuoso said:
			
		

> As I remember, they are either being based at CFB Cold Lake or CFB Bagotville, with rotating deployments to various bases such as CFB Comox, with two being stored there.



There aren't any permanently-deployed Hornets to Comox.  They show up frequently, but not permanently.


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## Virtuoso

Dimsum said:
			
		

> There aren't any permanently-deployed Hornets to Comox.  They show up frequently, but not permanently.



Aren't there a permanent presence of CF-18s on there on a *rotating* basis, though, despite that they might not be from the same permanent bases?


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## aesop081

Virtuoso said:
			
		

> Aren't there a permanent presence of CF-18s on there



No.

There are no Hornets stored there either.


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## Virtuoso

CDN Aviator said:
			
		

> No.
> 
> There are no Hornets stored there either.



Interesting... last day I saw a couple flying above my house in that direction...


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## aesop081

Virtuoso said:
			
		

> Interesting... last day I saw a couple flying above my house in that direction...



There are no Hornets residing full-time (rotational basis or not) at 19 Wing Comox. Regular detachments to that location do occur.


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## WingsofFury

I personally like this one, found on the CBC website.....



> Canadian Forces Air Command has 79 CF-18 jets in operational use. They are based out of CFB Bagotville in Quebec and CFB Cold Lake in Alberta, *although a few are stationed at CFB Trenton, in part for the protection of Ontario's nuclear facilities.*



http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/story/2011/03/21/f-cf18-hornet-bg.html


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## Good2Golf

WingsofFury said:
			
		

> I personally like this one, found on the CBC website.....
> 
> http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/story/2011/03/21/f-cf18-hornet-bg.html



Was that one beside the story about "Harper Government forces Canadians to live 93 million miles from a massive hydrogen bomb" ?


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## WingsofFury

Good2Golf said:
			
		

> Was that one beside the story about "Harper Government forces Canadians to live 93 million miles from a massive hydrogen bomb" ?



Hehehe...thanks for the morning chuckle.   But in reality...I feel the need to do this.... :facepalm:


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## QORvanweert

Good2Golf said:
			
		

> Was that one beside the story about "Harper Government forces Canadians to live 93 million miles from a massive hydrogen bomb" ?



You know if the Left was elected, well, they would replace fusion with solar panels!


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## Good2Golf

While OP NOBEL EAGLE was intended to provide a concentrated airspace security capabity in the Southern Canadian/St. Lawrence corridor, I don't recall there ever being direction for CF-18 Hornets to support high-readiness standby specifically for Ontario nuclear power plants. If so, I would think that NB's Point Lepreau nuclear power generation station should also have been on the list warranting overhead protection by Hornets against airborne threat.

Regards
G2G


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## Retired AF Guy

Good2Golf said:
			
		

> While OP NOBEL EAGLE was intended to provide a concentrated airspace security capabity in the Southern Canadian/St. Lawrence corridor, I don't recall there ever being direction for CF-18 Hornets to support high-readiness standby specifically for Ontario nuclear power plants. If so, I would think that NB's Point Lepreau nuclear power generation station should also have been on the list warranting overhead protection by Hornets against airborne threat.
> 
> Regards
> G2G




Here in Kingston I often see Hornets flying back and forth, and a last week I saw what looked like two F-15 Eagle heading south.  If The Hornets are in Trenton, its possible the reason is to be near Toronto/Ottawa in case of a hijacking. Also, Pearson Airport is a major air hub and that southern Ontario is one of the main air corridors between North America and Europe. You also have major U.S. population centres near by such as Detroit.


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## WingsofFury

Retired AF Guy said:
			
		

> Here in Kingston I often see Hornets flying back and forth, and a last week I saw what looked like two F-15 Eagle heading south.  If The Hornets are in Trenton, its possible the reason is to be near Toronto/Ottawa in case of a hijacking. Also, Pearson Airport is a major air hub and that southern Ontario is one of the main air corridors between North America and Europe. You also have major U.S. population centres near by such as Detroit.



It's not a question of whether the Hornets are based at Trenton because the answer is simple - they aren't.

Deployed Operating Bases for CF-18's range from Goose Bay to Comox and several RCAF bases accross the country.  Within some of these bases are Q's, or Quick Reaction Alert hangers.  The CF-18's are sent to these locations to ensure that the personnel and pilots maintain the high standards of these operations.  For obvious OPSEC reasons, the timing of such training missions is never made public.

With regards to Toronto, CFB Bagotville is closer to intercept any transatlantic flights coming in from Europe should that situation ever arise.


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## estoguy

I just happened to see two Hornets fly by my house yesterday afternoon around 15:00. Heading south, but pretty low flying, 5-10,000 feet at best, going at a pretty leisurely pace.  I live on Lake St. John, about 5 minutes north of Casino Rama (about 15 KM NE of Orillia, ON for those not familiar with Casino Rama). 

So I know there are at least two Hornets flying! LOL

Considering I'm still in the waiting process, I hope this was a sign!


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## WingsofFury

estoguy said:
			
		

> I just happened to see two Hornets fly by my house yesterday afternoon around 15:00. Heading south, but pretty low flying, 5-10,000 feet at best, going at a pretty leisurely pace.  I live on Lake St. John, about 5 minutes north of Casino Rama (about 15 KM NE of Orillia, ON for those not familiar with Casino Rama).
> 
> So I know there are at least two Hornets flying! LOL
> 
> Considering I'm still in the waiting process, I hope this was a sign!



In town to do the flyby for the Toronto Indy...


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## NavyShooter

Amusing quote from this website:

http://www.ody.ca/~bwalker/post_int.html





> 28 Cyclones ordered 2004, deliveries to start in 2009, uh 2010, er 2011, um 2012,  maybe 2013.  Maybe not.


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