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.

 

[FSTO]

Paul Wells - GoC grow a pair!!!

Meet the Roulettes

What kind of penny-ante country would replace jet aerobatics with turboprops? Australia.

paulwells.substack.com

 

[captloadie]

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

Just like it shouldn't take long for a tank crew commander to go from a LEO 1 to a Abrams M1A2 and learn how to effectively fight it right?

And, while the RCAF transitions to new fleets, we still need to maintain and fight the current fleets. The CP-140s, CC150s, CF18s, and the CH146 all still need to meet the operational demand with fewer people due to the retraining on new fleets. The only actual operational aircraft that we have sunset during this period is the CC130H, which should have been gone years ago.

And for the RPAS, that is a whole new capability that is taking away qualified pilots, ACSOs, and ground support from other fleets, further aggravating transition timelines, and depleting the number of trained personnel to do operations.