Snowbird Future

[FJAG]

I suspect that, with the CF-35's fancy coating, a dedicated aircraft with a bespoke paint job will either be impossible or prohibitively expensive

Not to mention unnecessary and undesirable.

 

[KevinB]

CAF is beginning the F35 and P8 transition, posting crew to allies to get them experienced.

Fair, but I will assume those personnel are from operational CF-18 and CP-140 Squadrons.

The old A310s are not comparable to A330s; last I looked the largest users of A310s are in Iran, hardly a hotbed of aviation modernity.

For a pilot the transition should not be an issue.
Now for the supply system, ground crews, techs yes I agree there is a larger transition.

RPAS is also driving demand, nTACS will be transitioning from Griffon, modernized CH149 will be coming on line...

nTACS is when? Unless the decision to go with the V-280/MV-55 has already been made, the Griffon / Tac Hel fleet isn’t seeing any changes for at least a decade. Also it looks like disciples of @Good2Golf have taken root and Army Aviation is coming (what that means in terms of RCAF and CA relationships IDK, I am always concerned the CA is not adult enough to look after Aviation - but perhaps it will mean infrastructure, as well as a PY and $ boost for the Tac Hel side of the house.).

I don’t see the challenge for the MQ-9 adoption, maybe I am naive.

Cormorant upgrades should not be a strain on the system.

Lots going on in the RCAF.

Or is it just that there hasn’t really been anything going on for 2-4 decades, and modernization is really frightening for some.

Which honestly is a CAF wide issue after multiple decades of rust out.

Pilot throughput seems to be the RCAF’s biggest challenge currently. I remain unconvinced that the Snowbirds flying a non operationally capable air craft will help with that at all.

 

[dapaterson]

A310: hydraulic

A330: FBW

Not the same.

 

[KevinB]

A310: hydraulic

A330: FBW

Not the same.

Yes, but it appears the conversation course is IVO 2.5 weeks. Which shouldn’t be terribly problematic.

 

[Good2Golf]

Pilot throughput seems to be the RCAF’s biggest challenge currently. I remain unconvinced that the Snowbirds flying a non operationally capable air craft will help with that at all.

It will certainly easy the fighter force training/qualification challenges specifically and give more flex to instructor secondment load share across the various flying communities. For all intents, the PC-21 flies much more jet like than it does like an old school piston trainer like the Harvard (original). The digitally-controlled engine behave like a center-thrust jet, pus forward, go faster in a hurry. It won’t break the speed of sound, but neither could the Tutor.

Edit to add: if I win LottoMAX, I might ask Pilatus if they did a multi-plane discount…PC-21 for fun and PC-24 to get me down to my private island in the Caribbean.