FIGHTERS

Number Five; Avro CF-100 Canuck
I love clunks! (Better known to you as CF-100 Canucks) There, I said it and I’m proud of being out of the closet. They may have been “lead sleds” to the pilots but they were the best all weather fighter of their day. It is the only designed in Canada, built in Canada for Canadians fighter. Capable of flying long range in any weather and defending Canadian Airspace it may not have been as glamorous as some others but was our first really modern jet fighter

Specifications CF-100 Mk 5

Service Entry: 1953

Crew: 2, pilot and navigator

Length:16.5 m (54 ft 2 in)                       

Wingspan:17.4 m (57 ft 2 in)

Height:4.4 m (14 ft 6 in)

Loaded weight:15,170 kg (33,450 lb)

Maximum speed:888 km/h (552 mph)

Range:3,200km (2,000mi)

Ceiling:13,700 m (45,000 ft) 

 

Number Four: Hawker Hart

For me the Hawker Hart and its various one and two seat models, it was known as the Audax in Canadian Service, capture the romance of that flying era between the world wars. With its clean lines provided by that big V-12 engine and its aluminum frame it was the epitome of some kind of Art Deco modern world. It was the fastest, coolest plane of its time.

Specifications Hawker Hart

Service Entry : 1930

Crew: 2

Length: 29 ft 4 in (8.94 m

Wingspan: 37 ft 3 in (11.36 m)

Height: 10 ft 5 in (3.18 m)

 Maximum weight:4.596 lbs(2,089kilos)

Maximum speed: 161 kn (185 mph, 298 km/h) at 13,000 ft

Range: 374 nmi (430 mi, 692 km)

Service ceiling: 22,800 ft (6,950 m


Number Three: F-86 Sabre

Everyone loves Sabres and I’m no exception. In some ways it was the last real fighter. By which I mean its guns weighed more than its electronics, hell it actually had guns! A pilot’s airplane in which the deciding factors in a fight were skill and aggression, one of the best models was made in Canada back in the glory days when we had an Air force

Specifications: Canadair Sabre Mk.5)

Service entry: 1949                                     

Crew: one, pilot                                           

Length:37 ft 6 in (11.43m)                            

Wingspan: 37 ft 1.5 in (11.32m)                   

Height: 14ft 9 in (4.49m)
Max takeoff weight: 17,560 lb (7965 kg)
Max speed: 696 mph (1120 km/h)
Service Ceiling: 50,700 ft (15,450m)
 

Number Two: F-15 Eagle

There is just something about these big, flashy, all-American fighters that I like. Made originally for strictly air-to-air combat they now come in a variety of types, but they are all still big and mean and capable. In fact, if it was up to me I’d go down to Boeing, who makes them now, and is desperate for sales, and ask how big a check we need to write to buy seventy or eighty of the latest two seater model. Trust me, it would end up being cheaper in the long run then F-35’s.

Specifications F-15E, Strike Eagle

Service entry: 1972

Crew: 2

Length: 63.8 ft (19.43 m)

Wingspan; 2.8 ft (13.05 m)

Height: 18.5 ft (5.63 m)

Max takeoff weight: 81,000 lb (36,700 kg)

Maximum speed:  Mach 2.5+ (1,650+ mph, 2,650+ km/h)

Combat radius:  800+ nm ()

Service ceiling:  60,000 ft (18,200)

Number One: Hawker Hurricane

In some ways this is my favourite airplane. Not the glamorous Spitfire, but the tough, easy to fly, easy to repair, always ready Hurricane. This is the fighter that really won the Battle of Britain. Not as fast or as sophisticated or as sexy as others, just the one that did the job and brought its pilots home. My number one favorite fighter.

Specifications (Hurricane Mk. IIC)

Service entry: 1938

Crew: 1

Length: 32 ft 3 in (9.84 m)

Wingspan: 40 ft 0 in (12.19 m)

Height: 13 ft 1½ in (4.0 m)

Max takeoff weight: 8,710 lb (3,950 kg)

Maximum speed: 340 mph (547 km/h)

Range: 600 mi (965 km

Honourable Mention; Dassault Mirage III

The reason the Mirage III gets an honourable mention is because it’s the fighter we should have bought back in the sixties when we got Cf-104’s instead. For reasons that probably made sense at the time we decided to go with a fleet of nuclear bombers roaming over Europe as our contribution to NATO defence instead of a wing of fighters. The Mirage would have been a better choice to replace our F-86 Sabres. It may not be as great a fighter as Israeli myth makers and Dassault Aviation PR guys would have you believe, a little to much emphasis on the upper right hand end of the flight envelope (high and fast at the expense of handling), but it was a good fighter. It worked for the Australians who were making similar choices and it would have worked for us.

Specifications Dassault Mirage IIIE

Service Entry: 1961

Crew: 1

Length: 15 m (49 ft. 3.5 in)

Wingspan: 8.22 m (26ft. 11 in)

Height: 4.5 m (14 ft.9in)

Max takeoff weight: 13,500 kg (29,700 lb)

Maximum speed: Mach 2.2 (2350 km/h, 1,460 mph)

 Service Ceiling: 17,000 m (56,000 ft)

Range: 2,400 km (1,300 NM, 1500 mi)