if only i was a military pilot.....just a lonely ol' firefighter. the only profession that gets more ass than the fire service!

Haha that's still a pretty sweet posting though! Considering they could have sent you anywhere, it is a purple trade right?

not purple trade, though have a few friends who are military fire service. i am kamloops city fire. We are just lucky that we get tons of military and SAR aircraft at the airport here.

Oh wow that's really cool! Haha I thought that was an airbase for a second.

now that i had some private time with the aircraft. (sorry only have a shitty iphone6 with crappy editing)

http://i63.tinypic.com/2zzib2x.jpg

http://i64.tinypic.com/13ynrcj.jpg

http://i67.tinypic.com/20ztr7t.jpg

http://i63.tinypic.com/6fupls.jpg

http://i65.tinypic.com/29azm6f.jpg

http://i66.tinypic.com/2mys2gg.jpg

Nice pics Tegra! I have fond memories of 925 :awesom:

http://i.imgur.com/V3ACUYs.jpg

thats awesome! We get the hawks tons, but maybe only get a cf18 once or twice a year....god, it makes me jizz in my pants.....sounds so beautiful.BrokeBackBrokeBack

I just wanna sit in one, but they werent having any of it :okay: lol

fuck.. so wack the F22 isnt going to be at the airshow again this year.. uhg..

Looks like a pretty boring line up really, they really need to step it up to get more people to come out. Looks like i'll be skipping this one!

At this point id really prefer to see a 787 or even somthing like 777 or 747 than the CF18, same show every time

Are those marshalling wands used as chalks? :rofl:

Here I go take leave in Kamloops and the damn thing flys over the house. Just can't get away from that noise. :okay:

I honestly have no idea what the hell they used at chalks. It sure does look like Wands in the photo hahaha

No F22, you get the F35 instead. First time the jet has been in Canada. Hope you guys have good weather for the show this weekend.

http://i.cbc.ca/1.3718096.1471006598...w-20160811.jpg

Only a display though, no flying demo it seems?

Still gonna go have a look I think

There will be enough demos once they start flying in Canadian colors.

Is the USAF really in bad shape ? As per this article.

(CNN)A $12 billion makeover is underway for the US Air Force's 1980's-era F-15 fighter, a step towards upgrading an air fleet that one military official recently called the "smallest, oldest and least ready" in history.

The F-15 has long been hailed as the most successful dog-fighting aircraft in US history, boasting an undefeated air-to-air combat record with more than 100 aerial combat victories, according to Boeing, the plane's primary contractor and developer.
The Air Force initially planned to replace the entire F-15 fleet with the fifth-generation F-22 Raptor, but production of the stealthy aircraft was halted in 2009 and only 188 of the 749 F-22s purchased by the Pentagon were ever produced.
With rival nations like China and Russia quickly closing the technology gap that has allowed the US to rule the skies for decades and fewer F-22s than expected at its disposal, the Air Force has decided to invest in a major facelift for the battle-tested F-15 to help fill the void by extending its lifespan through 2040.


Air Force investing $12B in F-15s - CNNPolitics.com

Still don't believe air to air dog fighting ability is relevant in the future

This just in:

Liberals to buy 18 Boeing Super Hornet fighter jets to fill 'capability gap' - Politics - CBC News

i'm curious how you put something like this out for tender/competition pricing

is it because Boeing isn't allowed to sell directly so it has to go through some 3rd party arms dealer that's some how authorized by the US?

Possibly used jets through US DoD FMS - Navy/Marines, or maybe even Australia?

Reading through the article, it does say that they will buy from Boeing, so possibly Boeing will give them a good price through FMS because they want to stretch out the production of Super Hornet in hopes of orders. http://www.defenseindustrydaily.com/...-flying-02816/ & http://aviationweek.com/farnborough-...e-through-2017

I thought that Boeing had some white tails sitting around as well, these planes might be the ones that Canada are after.

The Advanced Super Hornet is intriguing if you're not looking for stealth.

No Boeing didnt' have white tails, they were going to reduce production rate a year ago.. (from their Annual report) they are producing planes to replace some Navy I think in the teens and the Kuwait order. Now since there is the Qatari order of 40 and now the 18 from Canada.. their production line is pretty much stacked till the next decade.

With all the software problems with the F35, we mind as well wait.

Five more fucking years. :lawl:

http://www.hilltimes.com/2016/12/08/...-sajjan/90420?

Canada's new search-and-rescue plane: Airbus C295


http://www.c295.ca/wp-content/upload...0-2012_HR1.jpg

Lee Berthiaume, The Canadian Press
Published Thursday, December 8, 2016 8:50AM EST
Last Updated Thursday, December 8, 2016 5:16PM EST

OTTAWA -- More than 10 years after then-prime minister Paul Martin said replacing Canada's ancient military search-and-rescue planes would be made a "major priority," the federal government has finally settled on a winner.

The Liberal government announced Thursday that Canada will spend $2.3 billion to buy 16 new military search-and-rescue aircraft from European aerospace giant Airbus, the first of which will touch down in 2019.

The C-295W will replace the Royal Canadian Air Force's Buffalo and Hercules aircraft, the oldest of which have been rescuing Canadians around the country since the 1960s and are in desperate need of replacement.

Airbus beat out Italian firm Leonardo and Brazil's Embraer to win the contract, which includes five years of maintenance and support and construction of a new search-and-rescue training centre in Comox, B.C.

The government has an option to extend the maintenance contract another 15 years, which would increase the total price-tag to $4.7 billion.

National Defence estimates the full cost of buying, operating and maintaining the planes through 2052 will be around $14.7 billion.

Public Procurement Minister Judy Foote did not reveal why the C-295W was selected over Leonardo's C-27J Spartan and Embraer's KC-390 as she announced the choice during an event at CFB Trenton, one of four military bases where the planes will be located.

But she went out of her way to list the many steps the federal government had taken to ensure a fair and open competition, which included numerous industry consultations and other checks and balances.

"A fairness monitor was engaged," she said, "and an independent third-party review was conducted to ensure the fairness and integrity of the procurement process."

Those measures stand in stark contrast to what happened more than a decade ago, when the Martin government appeared on the verge of buying the C-27J.

The Chretien government actually first started the ball rolling on finding a replacement for the Buffalos and Hercules in 2002. Two years later, the Martin government set aside $1.3 billion to obtain new planes within 12 to 18 months.

But defence contractors accused the air force of writing its requirements to favour the C-27J -- an echo of allegations levelled against the air force several years later with the F-35 stealth fighter.

Air force brass denied rigging the search-and-rescue plane's requirements, but a National Research Council report published in March 2010 backed up the allegation and called for the requirements to be rewritten.

The Conservative government subsequently took oversight of the project out of the military's hands -- as also happened with the F-35 -- and gave it to the Department of Public Procurement.

Leonardo released a terse statement Thursday saying it would not comment on the results until it been properly briefed by the government.

Defence analyst David Perry of the Canadian Global Affairs Institute said it will be important to know why the C-295W came out the eventual winner.

But on the surface, he said, the announcement appears to confirm the allegations against the air force and the need for independent oversight of military procurement projects.

"This was, in theory, not supposed to have been possible because the way the air force had written things before supposedly said there was only one company that could meet the requirements," he said.

"It legitimizes what the Conservatives launched and what this government has embraced in terms of having an outside review of military requirements."

There is still the chance Leonardo will launch some type of legal challenge, which could complicate what the Liberal government says is a good news story.

Defence analyst Martin Shadwick, who has written extensively on Canada's search-and-rescue system for decades, said litigation has become the default response for defence companies that lose major competitions in recent years.

But he said one of the few benefits of the controversy that surrounded the project, and led to its lengthy timeline, is the large amount of oversight that was imposed, which should protect it from a legal challenge.

"It shouldn't have taken 15 years," he said. "But it has been pretty thoroughly challenged already."

Foote touted the economic benefits of Airbus's bid, which include pairing with Pratt & Whitney Canada to provide the C-295W's engines, Montreal-based CAE Inc. for simulators and training, and St. John's-based PAL Aerospace for maintenance.

"Canada's leading commercial and defence aerospace companies will be able to leverage new opportunities with Airbus," Foote said as Sajjan and RCAF commander Lt.-Gen. Mike Hood stood nearby.

Sajjan described the C-295Ws as a "game-changer" for the military's search-and-rescue personnel, who respond to hundreds of emergency and distress calls across the country every year.

"Today we reaffirm our commitment to our women and men in uniform," he said. "Our dedicated SAR team embodies our military's commitment to protecting Canadians here, at home, no matter where they are."

Specs: C295.ca

I don't think US or Australia have mothballed any of their Super Hornets. The Marines had to pull some of their old Hornets.. so the US fighter gap is real.

Boeing has to get authorization from Congress to export to Canada. Also Canada traditionally want their own configurations..

F35 is too compromised for Canada's size.. single engine especially a high performance and rather temperamental one is bad news for Arctic patrol.

However politically Canada has to dance some tricky dance to get around the F35 offset.. hence they are insisting it is an "interim" solution.