Harper wants a pretty white plane ...

[MP 811]

We own 5 Airbuses and 6 CC-144 Challengers (Bombardier Challenger 600)
[/quote]

We only have 4 operational CC-150 Polaris left in the fleet.  01 and 02 are normally used for VIP transport, 02 being the standby.  03 is in an air to air refueling configuration and 04 is used as a standard passenger carrying variant.  01 was put on the market awhile ago for sale...........no one was interested.  There's talk of putting it back on the market sometime this year, but who knows.

 

[aesop081]

03 is in an air to air refueling configuration and 04 is used as a standard passenger carrying variant. 

That is incorrect. The tankers are 15004 and 15005.

15004 seen here :
http://www.airforceimagery.forces.gc.ca/netpub/server.np?original=9038&site=casimages&catalog=casimages

15005 seen here :
http://www.airforceimagery.forces.gc.ca/netpub/server.np?original=7875&site=casimages&catalog=casimages

 

[Haletown]

Why are you people getting so upset, and carried away about a friggin' paintjob? Who cares? If it even provides the most minutae of protection, to whoever is flying in it, it's worth it.

I want no part of a country, or political party, that fights an upcoming election based on the colour of our planes, and anyone that votes on that criteria is a ******' moron and doesn't deserve to be given the pencil to mark the circle.

Amen bro . . . a ridiculous tempest in a paint pot

 

[The Bread Guy]

A bit more detail is creeping out, via Postmedia News:

.... Andrew MacDougall, a spokesman for the prime minister, said the aircraft is due for a paint job next year and that the government was "looking at some options."

MacKay spokesman Jay Paxton added paint jobs are restricted to the regular maintenance cycle, which is every six years.

"Minister MacKay believes that to ensure costs are negligible for Canadian taxpayers, the repainting of military assets should take place in the established maintenance cycle when the operational tempo is such that there (are) no negative ramifications on the Canadian Forces mandate," he said.

"This recommendation is agreed by all and no decision has been taken on repainting the Airbus."

I guess until the media decides to share the documents obtained, we'll just have to triangulate based on what's written and said second hand.

 

[The Bread Guy]

What the Minister said in the House of Commons in response to questions from the Liberals,

There has been no decision taken with respect to the repainting of transport aircraft. In fact, the repainting of military assets occurs on a regularly scheduled, established maintenance cycle. It is done when the operational tempo will not be affected.  I can assure the hon. member and members present that we would never do anything that would interfere with the operations of the Canadian Forces, or that would negatively impact the forces in any way.

the NDP,

.... the member should press rewind and watch the tape. The answer is the same. It is not happening.  There is a regularly scheduled maintenance program that occurs when an aircraft is in need of repainting. There has been no decision taken with respect to that.  I can assure the hon. member and members present again, nothing this government will ever do is going to impact negatively on the forces and their operations, their families, the work they do that brings so much pride and purpose to our country. The forces have a great friend in the Conservative Party when it comes to giving them assets.

and the Bloc:

I repeat that no decision has yet been made about the colour scheme. No decision will be made in this regard that will have any sort of negative impact on Canadian Forces' operations.

 

[ModlrMike]

Another pathetic attempt to manufacture scandal where there is none. Shame on the media, shame on the opposition, and shame on some of us for getting a twist in our knickers.

 

[MP 811]

That is incorrect. The tankers are 15004 and 15005.

Ok then.....I can assure you though as of last week, 03 was in an air - to air- refuelling configuration, as I did some training on it.  Never saw the 5th but I'm sure you would know more about that than me.

cheers

 

[TN2IC]

IMO,
      I say we buy the used Warsaw Pact era Helo's from Skylink company in KAF. Always seen the poo pond. And battle harden too. Oh BTW... THEY ARE WHITE!

"In Mother Russia, HIP flies you!"



Regards Comrade,
TN2IC


http://www.skylinkaviation.com/

 

[aesop081]

I'm sure you would know more about that than me.

No need to get snoty. I can read tail numbers so thats what i am going by, as per the pictures i linked in my previous post.

 

[MP 811]

lol.........I wasnt getting "snoty" at all......I truly meant you would know more about it then me as your involved with various aircraft platforms.......im not!

plus, I wouldnt have put "cheers" in my post if I was trying to be a smartass!

 

[aesop081]

lol.........I wasnt getting "snoty" at all......

Fair enough, my apologies.

Do you have any pictures of the configuration that 15003 was in when you did that training ?

I ask because i know for a fact that 04 and 05 have been modified for AAR ( i was parked next to both on 2 occasions......and pictures of them are widely available with clear serials on them) and Canada only contracted for 2 to be modified. No official DND site states that a third was modified and i cannot even locate a non-official site that indicates this would have been done. Thus, to me its a case of a) You were not on 15003 or b) The aircraft was in some other configuration.

 

[captloadie]

I can say that Cdn Aviator is correct in his comments. Having flown on the aircraft in question as crew, and lived through the reconfiguring to the AAR role, it is fairly simple to tell which aircraft have been modified. On the inside, just as you enter the upper cargo area, there will be a refueling console in a locked cabinet, with rails on the floor to install the seats. The last I had heard, 001, 002, and 003 were all still in full pax config and although 004 and 005 were in combi/AAR config, they were only being used in an AAR role. There has been some recent discussions on converting 003 back to a combi configuration, so that we would have one VIP config, one gull pax config, one combi config, and two AAR configs. 

 

[dapaterson]

Of course, given the hours we've put on the fleet in recent years, might it be a better idea to find a "newer" second-hand Airbus, and configure it for the VIP role?  It would relieve some of the pressure on the fleet.

 

[MP 811]

I didnt obtain any pictures but I know it was 03...........half the seats, large forward cargo area..plus I was down in the avionics section and walked into the front belly cargo area and saw the big fuel tank.  Sorry I cant be anymore help gents.  Only reason why I know it was 03 is we were suppose to do our work on 01 as most our work will be on that frame anyways, but it wasn't around and 02 was having engine work done.

 

[aesop081]

I didnt obtain any pictures but I know it was 03...........half the seats, large forward cargo area..plus I was down in the avionics section and walked into the front belly cargo area and saw the big fuel tank. 

Well, 15003 is not a tanker so it may have been some other configuration. On the CC-150 tankers, IIRC, the additional fuel tanks are mounted in mid-fuselage, sandwiching the main center tank.

 

[Haletown]

"walked into the front belly cargo area and saw the big fuel tank. "

hmmmmmm    . . . has anyone reported any missing beer at Trenton?  If so we may have discovered how they are getting the goods off base.

 

[Gramps]

I can say with 100 percent certainty that 03 is not configured as a tanker, I was on it today.

 

[MP 811]

can they change the config's in 2 weeks?...........anyways.  I guess it really doesnt matter.  What were we originally talking about with this thread anyways?.............lol

 

[WingsofFury]

Personally, I think the grey looks amazing in some nice light - no reason to change it at all.

 

[aesop081]

can they change the config's in 2 weeks

Not on 03.

Personally, I think the grey looks amazing in some nice light - no reason to change it at all.

i do like the grey as well. Nice photo.