Today, Canadair is remembered for being the Canadian aircraft manufacturer that made Canada an aviation powerhouse, even if its size and scope paled in comparison to the likes of Boeing and Lockheed, who it regularly did business with.
Operating between 1944 and 1986, the company would go from being a state-owned company, to a privatized one, only to be renationalized before being sold on and dismantled by its present owners.
Pre-Canadair: Canadian Vickers
In 1911, British shipbuilding and weapons conglomerate, Vickers, were invited by the Canadian government to establish a Canadian subsidiary, in the hopes that Vickers would begin building ships for the Royal Canadian Navy.
This Canadian subsidiary would then be known as Canadian Vickers.
Beyond establishing a Canadian subsidiary, 1911 would also see Vickers enter the world aircraft manufacturing, which had only recently sprung up in the UK. However, its Canadian subsidiary would solely build frigates for the Navy.
Although Canadian Vickers had tried repeatedly since 1911 to build both ships and aircraft for the Canadian military, they would only succeed in 1923.
Here, the newly formed Canadian Air Force awarded the company a contract to supply six Vickers Viking flying boats in Canada, whilst two more were to be built by Vickers in the UK, before being flown to Canada.
Over the next few decades, Canadian Vickers would continue to design frigates, destroyers and even submarines, as well as producing over 400 aircraft for the Canadian military.
Whilst many of the aircraft Canadian Vickers produced would be built under license from aircraft manufacturers based in Europe, like Avro, Supermarine and Fokker, the company would also design many of their own aircraft too.
Notable Canadian Vickers aircraft would include the Canadian Vickers Varuna and Vancouver flying boats and the Canadian Vickers Vedette.
On September 10 1939, Canada would join WWII, which would see the Canadian military award Canadian Vickers many lucrative contracts.
By far the most lucrative came in 1941, where they could produce Consolidate PBY Catalinas under license for the Canadian and American militaries.
Formation And WWII
Realizing that they were spread too thin producing both aerial and naval vessels during the largest naval and aerial war in history, Canadian Vickers asked the Canadian Government for help.
In response, the Canadian Government split the aircraft manufacturing and shipbuilding arms of Canadian Vickers. Vickers in Britain would continue to own the shipbuilding half of the business, whilst the government would own the aircraft manufacturing part.
Formed on November 11 1944 as Canadair Ltd. (a portmanteau of the words “Canada” and “air”) as a state-owned enterprise, the Canadian government would employ a small group of former Canadian Vickers employees to form the management of the new company.
Lead by CEO Benjamin W. Franklin (no relation to the American Founding Father), Canadair would continue to produce PBY Catalinas under license as it had when it was Canadian Vickers.
Beyond producing the Catalina, Franklin and his colleagues would successfully negotiate a deal with Douglas Aircraft to produce a new variant of the DC-4 that had entered service in 1942, becoming extremely popular with both civil and military operators.
Designated by Douglas as the DC-4M, Canadair would designate it as the North Star (with the RCAF designating theirs as the C-5 North Star). Although it wouldn’t enter service until 1946, it would prove to be quite popular, both in military and commercial service.
Postwar Years
Although the postwar years would see the Canadian and American militaries cancel most of their military contracts (including those for the PBY Catalina), the postwar years would prove to be kinder to Canadair than most other aircraft manufacturers.
You see, whilst the RCAF had cancelled their Catalina contract, it still had its North Star contract, which proved to be quite generous.
On top of this, several airlines would also place large orders for the North Star too, which allowed the company to stay at the size it was during WWII, without needing to downsize its workforce.
Much to their dismay, Canadair’s success didn’t go unnoticed.
Seeing its success, and not wanting to keep the company under state ownership, the Canadian government would put the company up for sale, hoping to sell it back to Canadian Vickers.
Canadian Vickers, however, wasn’t interested.
Although Canadian Vickers weren’t interested, the US-based Electric Boat Company was, soon entering talks to acquire the company for $10 million USD in 1946 ($137 million in today’s money), even though the company was valued at $20 million ($274 million today).
Existing as two separate entities from 1946 until 1952, the two companies would eventually merge to form General Dynamics, under the control of John Jay Hopkins (the former CEO of the Electric Boat Company).
To reflect this, all former Canadair operations would be rebranded as General Dynamics. Upon General Dynamics’ acquisition of Convair in 1954, all of General Dynamics’ Canadian operations would be rolled into Convair’s Canadian subsidiary, continuing to use the Canadair name.
Entry Into The Jet Age
During WWII, both the British and German had invented the first jet engines, and the first jet fighters to go along with them. Following the war, the Americans and Soviets would develop their own fighter jets, with them soon becoming all the rage.
Not wanting to be left behind, Canadair would purchase a license from North American Aviation to produce the F-86 Sabre under license at their factory in Montreal. Between 1950 and 1958, the company would produce a total of 1,815 Sabres.
To distinguish them from their American-made cousins (which the RCAF also operated a few of), the RCAF would designate the Canadian-made Sabres as the CL-13 Sabre, leading it to be called the Canadair Sabre by the public.
On the surface of it, it seemed great that Canada had entered the jet age. There was only one slight problem: they had no way of training their pilots on a basic jet. They simply went from a piston trainer to the Sabre – a large upgrade.
Understanding that the RCAF risked losing pilots to poor training, the company entered into talks with Lockheed about acquiring a license to build the newly introduced T-33 Shooting Star jet trainer.
Completing the deal in 1950, the company would make a few minor alterations to the T-33’s design (most notably giving the Canadian-built version a more powerful engine, as well as designating it as the CT-133 Silver Star).
All in all, the company would produce 656 Silver Stars, with them serving faithfully from 1952 until 2006, almost two and a half times as long as Lockheed had said they would (before they became too old to operate)!
Developing Their Own Jets
Spending most of the 1950’s building jets under license, the company were anxious to develop their own jet from scratch. To that end, profits from the sales of the Sabre and Silver Star went towards funding development of a new jet.
Development of this new jet would begin in 1957, with Canadair engineers soon settling on developing a jet trainer that could compliment the CT-133 Shooting Star also produced by the company.
Using what it had learned redeveloping the T-33 into the CT-133, Canadair engineers would produce a working design in record time. By the end of 1959, the company would have a working prototype.
First flown on January 13 1960, the company would designate it as the CT-114 Tutor. Entering service with the RCAF in 1963, the Tutor would compliment the Shooting Star in RCAF service quite well, with the company developing several newer variants over the years.
Although primarily a trainer, the Royal Malaysian Air Force acquired 20 CT-114s in 1966 for use as ground-attack aircraft, where they were designated as the CT-114 Tebuan (meaning “Wasp” in English).
Indeed, the Tutors would prove to be such good trainers, that they would even go on to be used by the RCAF’s Snowbirds demonstration team as their primary aircraft from 1971 until the present day (although the RCAF are looking to replace them).
Enter Military Transports
Beyond just producing the Tutor, the company would also focus on developing a line of turboprop-powered military aircraft nearing the end of the 1950’s too.
Entering talks with the Bristol Aeroplane Company just prior to its nationalization (into BAC), Canadair would acquire a license to build their famed Bristol Britannia airliner, with the company instead choosing to develop the Britannia into several more aircraft.
In 1957, Canadair engineers would develop the Britannia into the CP-107 Argus, a maritime patrol aircraft, which typically searched for Soviet submarines (remember, this is at the height of the Cold War) in Canadian waters.
Proving to be quite successful – selling 33 times in three years – the company would choose to develop the Britannia into the similarly successful CL-44/CC-109 Yukon civil and cargo aircraft, owing to the Britannia’s huge size (for the time).
In February 1959, Canadair would acquire the rights from its parent company, Convair, to produce the famed Convair CV-240 Metropolitan family in Canada, once again developing a new variant of the aircraft that was better than anything that came before it.
Taking the Convair CV-440 (the newest member of the CV-240 family), Canadair engineers would develop the CC-109 Cosmopolitan which was designed to be used as the standard VIP aircraft of Canada, serving from 1960 until the mid-1990’s!
Continued Expansion
The 1950’s had been a decade of unparalleled growth for the company. Although many critics expected this growth to subside during the 1960’s, the company would continue to grow, in no small part thanks to the ever-increasing Soviet threat.
Having served the RCAF faithfully since 1950, the RCAF began to look at replacing it with a more modern second generation fighter jet. Although not their first choice, the RCAF settled on the F-104 Starfighter.
Wanting to have them built in Canada, the RCAF would invite Canadair to buy a license from Lockheed to produce a modified F-104, known as the CF-104 Starfighter, in Canada, which they did in 1959.
First flying on May 26 1961, the RCAF would place an order for 200 CF-104s, the first of whom would enter service in March 1962. After their RCAF service, many CF-104s would be used by the Danish, Norwegian and Turkish air forces too!
Hoping to be known for more than just the RCAF’s go-to military contractor, the company would fund development of the CL-84 Dynavert – Canada’s first (and only) tiltwing aircraft – in 1963, with the CL-84 first flying on May 7 1965.
Whilst liked by the Canadian, British and American test pilots, the end of the Vietnam War, and the spending cut backs that followed it, would end the CL-84’s service life before it even began, with it being cancelled in 1974, much to the company’s dismay.
The failure of the CL-84 would crush the company’s moral. Hoping to boost it, the board would begin development of an aerial firefighting aircraft. What resulted would be the CL-215 flying boat/aerial firefighting aircraft.
First flying in October 1967, it would soon gather 125 orders from companies and governments in 11 countries, before entering service in 1969.
Indeed, it would prove to be so good that it’s still in service today and was later developed into the larger CL-415, which has been similarly quite successful!
Diversification
As with many large corporations, Canadair would begin to diversify its interests in the late 1950’s. In 1959, the company would design several armored personnel carriers, that would soon become quite popular in land armies across the world.
In 1963, Britain, Canada and West Germany would partner together to develop a surveillance drone it could use to spy on the other side of the Iron Curtain. To build it, the trio would use the CL-89 design that Canadair had drawn up in the early 1960’s.
Making its first flight in March 1964, the CL-89 would soon become an instrumental tool for the British, Canadian and West German militaries. The CL-89 would prove so good that they’d develop an improved variant, the CL-289 in 1987.
Also in 1963, the company would design and build one CL-213, an all-terrain vehicle which would ultimately prove to be a failure.
Rather strangely, the mid-1960’s would also see the company begin to produce satellite antennas. In 1965, the company would produce the CL-210 and CL-225, two satellite antennas that would be installed in Ontario and Quebec respectively.
Beyond producing satellite antennas, 1965 would also see the company produce 45 CL-218s – a license-built Flxible New Look transit bus. Due to the sheer size of the order, Canadair would take a full year to complete the order, delivering the last CL-218 in 1966.
Starting in the early 1970’s, the company would also begin to act as a subcontractor for other aircraft manufacturers. Over the course of the 1970’s, the company would build components for the Dassault Mercure, 747SP and P3 Orion among others.
Backing Bill Lear
In 1963, American aircraft engineer, Bill Lear, had developed the Learjet 23 – the world’s first business jet. Proving to be quite successful, Bill Lear’s Learjet Corporation would develop the Learjet 23 into the Learjet 24 and Learjet 25 respectively.
Whilst these jets similarly proved to be quite successful, they weren’t as successful as Lear had hoped. You see, Lear hoped that the Learjet 23/24/25 would provide him enough money to develop a larger, higher end business jet.
Still having this ambition but not the money to develop it himself, Bill Lear contacted other aircraft manufacturers to develop and produce his jet. In 1975, Lear would submit his LearStar design to Canadair, who’d never shown any interest in business aviation.
Initially distrusting Lear and his design, which the company’s management viewed as sketchy and crude at best, they would eventually evaluate the LearStar’s design against other business jets of the day, such as the JetStar, Gulfstream II, and Falcon 50.
Realizing Lear’s design would outcompete its competitors in almost every way, the company chose to back Lear and his design financially, although had their own engineers do some major modifications on the original LearStar design.
Although development had been costly for Canadair, the Challenger 600 as they called it would soon prove to be quite successful. First flying on November 8 1978, it would enter service in November 1980. And guess what? It’s still produced today!
Having funded the development of the Challenger 600, Canadair would also build the jet, not Learjet, whilst also keeping most of the profits they got from the Challenger 600 line. They would also be free to develop new variants of the jet without consulting Bill Lear.
Development of The CRJ Line
Whilst altering the LearStar’s design to procude the Challenger 600 we know today, the Canadair engineers and board noticed that the jet had an unusually wide fuselage, even for a large business jet.
Many of them began to notice that in standard airline configuration, you could fit two seats on either side of the aisle. Realizing this, many engineers began to think about how a stretched Challenger 600 would make for a great regional airliner.
However, the market at the time would simply not have allowed it. After all, regional airliners of the time were typical inexpensive turboprops, with the few regional jets that existed before having not sold particularly well.
As such, the company never seriously pursued the idea.
With that being said, the late 1980’s saw the price of oil drop monumentally. Seeing this, the company would begin to look at producing a stretched variant of the Challenger 600 that would make a great regional jet.
Although Canadair would be owned by Bombardier at this point, they’d lend their name to the name of these jets – Canadair Regional Jets, or CRJ for short, with the first CRJ100 rolling off the factory floor in Montreal in 1991.
Nationalization And Acquisition
In 1968, the Liberal Party under the leadership of Pierre Trudeau (father of current Prime Minister Justin Trudeau) would win the federal election. Losing a small amount of their majority in the 1972 federal election, they’d make most of it back in the 1974 election.
Using their clear majority and belief that the company would be better as a state-owned enterprise, the Trudeau government would buy Canadair from General Dynamics for $38 million ($28 million than they’d paid for it 30 years prior) in effect, nationalizing it.
Whilst a crown corporation (a state-owned company in Canada) the company would finance Bill Lear’s LearStar/Challenger 600, where it would consistently make a loss due to high development costs.
During this time, the company company’s main source of income was producing spare parts for the aircraft it had since stopped making and from its subcontractor contracts with Boeing, Lockheed and Dassault.
By the 1984 Federal Election, Pierre Trudeau had stepped down as head of the Liberal Party.
Replaced by the less popular John Turner, the Progressive Conservative Party, led by Brian Mulroney would win the 1984 election by the largest landslide in Canadian history (at the time).
Unhappy that Canadair was costing the Canadian taxpayers millions of dollars each year, Mulroney would seek to privatize the company, and would search for a company willing to buy it, which he would find in the form of Canadian engineering giant, Bombardier, Inc.
Acquiring Canadair for $120 million CAD (roughly $90 million USD at the time) Bombardier would merge Canadair, Short Brothers, Learjet and de Havilland Canada into Bombardier Aerospace, which is still going today!
Legacy
Although the company hasn’t been trading for over 35 years, the legacy it left is one of the largest of any aircraft manufacturer to date, with its legacy still unfolding today in many ways…
Aviation Industry
During their 42-year long existence, the company became the Canadian Government’s go-to aircraft manufacturer, with the company producing most of the RCAF’s domestically produced aircraft.
Although it mainly produced other aircraft under license, the company had a policy of upgrading the design they were given. Each aircraft they produced under license, they improved greatly, often using Canadian-sourced materials to do it.
Legally allowed to do this as a part of their licensing agreement, the aircraft manufacturers that issued these licenses would study these modifications closely, often adding them on later variants of the aircraft they produced!
Indeed, the aircraft the company produced were so good that Canadair had a virtual monopoly on producing military aircraft in Canada. The remaining manufacturers were forced to make ends meet by producing civil aircraft, or risked going out of business.
Canada
Although its southern neighbor, the United States, is world-renowned for producing some of the best aircraft currently on the market, for much of recent history Canada has been not too far behind them, mostly thanks to Canadair.
Behind the Soviets, the likes of Boeing and McDonnell Douglas viewed Canada as their largest aviation rival. Albeit in a different way.
The Soviets were developing new aircraft to threaten the security of the United States. The Canadians on the other hand, threatened the US commercially, with some of their aircraft even outselling their American counterparts!
Indeed, without Canadian Vickers, other aircraft manufacturers like Avro and de Havilland would’ve never set up a Canadian subsidiary. When their parent companies were all nationalized in Britain, these subsidiaries remained in business in Canada.
Whilst many have since gone out of business, or have merged into de Havilland Canada, their factories and/or test facilities would become property of the company as they expanded, with some still being operated by Bombardier today!
Do you remember Canadair? What are your thoughts on the Canadian behemoth? Tell me in the comments!
Featured image courtesy of Chad Horwedel via Flickr.