Latest news with #RoyalCanadianAirForce
CBC
5 days ago
- Automotive
- CBC
This weekend the Harvards fly again in spectacular homecoming
Social Sharing As Canada's efforts in the Allied forces mounted during the Second World War, more and more young pilots took to the skies in Harvard training planes. This weekend the Harvards, with their iconic yellow paint, will be flying above Thunder Bay. At the airport, the Northwestern Ontario Aviation Heritage Centre (NOAHC) is hosting a special event commemorating the 100th anniversary of the Royal Canadian Air Force. The event takes place both Saturday and Sunday. "I'm a lover of history," Denise Lyzun of NOAHC said. "I'm always amazed how many people are just so enthused about aircraft." The single engine aircraft was a breeding ground for effective aviation, its dual controls allowing a pilot in training to operate the plane alongside the watchful eye of a trainer. But, Harvards are not the only aircraft that NOAHC will have on display. Their event also includes a Harvard 2 courtesy of the RCAF — a modern version of a Harvard currently used for advanced training. Coming in from Tillsonburg, there will also be the Canadian Harvard Aircraft Association's FIN number 242. John Hill, also from NOAHC, will be taking a ride on that aircraft with his daughter and hopes to continue a unique family connection. "My father flew that particular aircraft when he was a member of the Royal Canadian Air Force," he said. "So we will have a third generation of Hills flying in that one airplane." Thunder Bay made Although Harvards were used for training in the Second World War, the aircraft on display this weekend were built in the 1950s to support the Korean War. One of the main production hubs for these Harvards was Thunder Bay. The Canadian Car and Foundry ("Can Car"), located on Montreal Street, was Canada's largest aircraft manufacturer during the Second World War. It would go on to maintain a production line for aircraft long after the war. This 101-year-old veteran flew in a Harvard II training plane 8 months ago A very special flight happened Wednesday at Tillsonburg Regional Airport. Ken Raven, who turned 101 years old earlier this November, got to ride in a Harvard II trainer, an aircraft he hasn't flown in since he was a young man. "There are still many people who have family members who worked at Can Car during World War II and after World War II on aircraft," Lyzun says. After the war, Can Car would keep producing Harvards for pilot training across North America. "North American Aviation Corporation did not have the production line," Hill says. "So they contracted out mainly to Thunder Bay, to Canadian Car and Foundry, and here we ended up building an additional 555 of these airplanes for the Royal Canadian Air Force and the United States Air Force." Party like it's 1959 As well as watching the aircraft in action, NOAHC's event at the weekend will also lean into history. There will be '50s music, and attendees are encouraged to dress in line with the time period. "We're trying to maintain that '50s vibe... but also it's so educational too, to learn about our history this way," Lyzun says. For Lyzun, the event also has a personal connection. "My late husband wrote a book called Aviation in Thunder Bay and it has been well received in the community," she said.
Global News
6 days ago
- General
- Global News
Hunter crushed by horse in northeastern B.C. rescued in nightime parachute drop
Crews performed the first operational night jump from one of Canada's newest search-and-rescue planes this week, after a hunter was crushed by their horse in a remote part of northeastern British Columbia. The call for help came around 10 p.m. on Tuesday, when the horseback rider was injured about 185 km east of Fort Nelson. Rugged terrain and darkness meant that no local ground or air crew could make it to the site. The RCMP called in help from the Royal Canadian Air Force, which deployed a new CC-295 Kingfisher and a CH-149 Cormorant helicopter from 19 Wing Comox. 1:55 8 Wing welcomes international visitor and gets sneak peek at new SAR plane The search and rescue team says it then completed a dark jump from the plane without flares, in order to prevent a potential wildfire, rendering the operation even more complex. Story continues below advertisement 'We had to take our time a little bit because the lightning conditions were low to see if we were able to dispatch some jumpers and, in the end, after letting go of some of our night time drift markers and some other tools we use we decided it was safe for the SAR techs to go out to drop down to the area,' CC-295 pilot Dan Faux explained. Get daily National news Get the day's top news, political, economic, and current affairs headlines, delivered to your inbox once a day. Sign up for daily National newsletter Sign Up By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy The search and rescue technicians parachuted into the area, then hiked to the injured rider where they provided urgent medical support and coordinated a helicopter extraction. 'We found a meadow about one kilometre away from the patients, we got down and got all our gear and had to hike down a valley up a river to where the patient was,' said Master Cpl. Max Honeyman. 'About two hours later, the Cormorant showed up …. We were able to provide really good care to the patient.' According to the crew the mission took about 16 hours in total. The RCAF took delivery of the Kingfishers in 2020 after years-long procurement effort to replace its 50-year-old fleet of DHC-Buffalo and CC-130H Hercules planes. 2:55 Search and rescue crews having a busy summer so far
CTV News
6 days ago
- General
- CTV News
Military rescuers extract injured hunter on parachute jump into northern B.C.
The airborne rescue marked the first operational nighttime parachute jump from the military's new CC-295 Kingfisher aircraft, and due to the risk of wildfires in the region, the mission was conducted without the benefit of flares to illuminate the area. (Handout) Military search-and-rescue technicians parachuted into a remote canyon in northern British Columbia early Wednesday morning after a hunter was crushed and seriously injured by the horse he was riding. The airborne rescue marked the first operational nighttime parachute jump from the military's new CC-295 Kingfisher aircraft, and due to the risk of wildfires in the region, the mission was conducted without the benefit of flares to illuminate the area. The call for assistance came in to the Royal Canadian Air Force's 442 Transport and Rescue Squadron, based at 19 Wing Comox, late Tuesday evening. Authorities say the injured man had been hunting with a group of horseback riders in a rugged area approximately 185 kilometres east of Fort Nelson when the accident occurred. The Kingfisher airplane and a Cormorant helicopter took off around 9:45 p.m. for the 16-hour roundtrip mission, according to Lt. Keil Kodama, spokesperson for 19 Wing Comox. 'Search and rescue technicians parachuted from the Kingfisher, hiked to the injured rider, provided immediate medical support, and co-ordinated a successful helicopter extraction,' Kodama said in a statement to CTV News. 'The clouds broke and we had a really good hole to get in there and everything kind of worked out for us,' said Max Honeyman, one of two rescuers who parachuted from the plane shortly after 1 a.m. Wednesday. 'We knew the patient had some serious injuries that could need, could need immediate attention, so we opted to jump.' The rescuers parachuted into a meadow roughly a kilometre from the accident scene, and then hiked up a river to the injured man, Honeyman said. 'We got to the patient pretty quickly, managed to get there and then about two hours later, the Cormorant showed up,' he added. 'We spent the night with him and since the moment we got there until the moment we hoisted him out… he was getting better and better and better.' The injured hunter was transferred from the helicopter onto the Kingfisher in Fort Nelson and then flown to Prince George for higher-level emergency medical treatment. B.C. Emergency Health Services has not responded to a request for information about the patient's status. The Kingfisher search-and-rescue airplanes began operations in B.C. earlier this year, replacing the decades-old Buffalo aircraft as Canada's main fixed-wing search-and-rescue platform. The federal government announced in 2016 that it was buying 16 Kingfishers to fill the search-and-rescue role in Canada following the planned retirement of the Buffalos. The air force intended to have the first of the new twin-propeller Kingfishers operating by 2020, but the rollout was plagued by delays – first due to concerns about the aircraft's operating manual, and later by the COVID-19 pandemic and legal issues around the naming of the aircraft.
CTV News
15-07-2025
- Climate
- CTV News
Military says over 1,000 people flown from fire-threatened Manitoba community
A C-130 Hercules aircraft is seen in Norway House, Man., Tuesday, June 3, 2025 as members of the Royal Canadian Air Force help evacuees. THE CANADIAN PRESS/David Lipnowski The Canadian Armed Forces says it's evacuated over a thousand residents of a northern Manitoba community threatened by a wildfire, while towns and villages in the province are welcoming cooler weather they say is helping firefighters. The military began removing people from Garden Hill First Nation on CC-130 Hercules transport airplanes on Friday, and it says that as of Sunday afternoon, over 1,550 have been flown to Winnipeg. Capt. Wyatt Shorter with Joint Operations Command says there are no more people waiting to leave Garden Hill, but a Hercules is on standby in Winnipeg in case anyone else needs a flight out. The community is about 500 kilometres north of Winnipeg and is not accessible by road. Manitoba declared its second provincewide state of emergency of the year last week as wildfires continue to rage. Prime Minister Mark Carney says in a social media post that the federal government is working with First Nations and other orders of government to fight the fires, and stands ready to supply additional support. 'Wildfires have been worsening, especially across Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and Ontario. On behalf of Canadians, my ongoing gratitude to all the first responders on the front lines of this crisis,' Carney wrote. But communities like the City of Thompson, where residents are told to be ready to evacuate if conditions deteriorate, posted on social media on Sunday that light winds, low temperatures, rain and higher humidity are giving firefighting crews time to bolster defences. The community's fire update on Sunday included an aerial photo of a nearby snowmobile shelter and outhouse, which the update said survived a low intensity burn that swept through the area earlier in the week. The update said Monday's forecast was expected to be cool, and Environment Canada's forecast says to expect a temperature of 16 C. Thompson is set to welcome 20 firefighters from Mexico to help fight nearby wildfires, and the city says an incident management team from Australia is arriving on Wednesday. The Manitoba government said Friday over 12,000 people were out of their homes, and it gave notice that it intended to use Winnipeg's major convention centre to house more evacuees. The Canadian Red Cross said in a statement Sunday that it is co-ordinating logistics for congregate shelters in Winnipeg. Canada's emergency management minister said in a statement Sunday that over the weekend she approved an additional request for federal assistance from the provincial government. Eleanor Olszewski noted the most recent assistance would be put toward humanitarian workforce support for emergency evacuation and sheltering activities. 'I am in regular contact with my counterpart in Manitoba. Our government will act fast if more help is needed,' Olszewski said. This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 13, 2025. The Canadian Press
CBC
14-07-2025
- General
- CBC
U.S. helicopter maker settles with families of 6 Canadian military members killed in crash
Social Sharing An American helicopter manufacturer has reached a confidential settlement with the families of six Canadian military members killed in a helicopter crash off the coast of Greece five years ago. The families sued Sikorsky in 2023 after a CH-148 Cyclone flown by the Royal Canadian Air Force crashed into the Ionian Sea at full speed in April 2020. Two military reviews found the autopilot took control of the helicopter during a low-altitude manoeuvre while returning to the Halifax-based frigate HMCS Fredericton during a reconnaissance mission and training. "After two mediations, almost two years of contested litigation and the exchange of tens of thousands of pages of documents, the parties have recently reached a settlement," according to the victims' families request to the U.S. federal court to approve the settlement on June 27. The crash is considered the biggest single-day loss of life for Canada's military since the Afghan war. It claimed the lives of Capt. Kevin Hagen, Capt. Brenden MacDonald, Capt. Maxime Miron-Morin, Master Cpl. Matthew Cousins, Sub-Lt. Matthew Pyke and Sub-Lt. Abbigail Cowbrough. They all were based at the Shearwater air force base in Nova Scotia. As part of the lawsuit, the victims' families shared a video with Sikorsky containing interviews with family, friends and Canadian Armed Forces members about the loss of the six military members. The families also submitted reports about the economic damages they faced, court documents said. The lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania where a now-closed facility built, upgraded and tested the CH-148, the original lawsuit said. The financial terms of the settlement were not made public. There was "little factual disagreement" between the families and Sikorsky in court that the helicopter's electric flight control system overrode the pilot's commands causing the crash, according to the request to approve the settlement. But there was "significant" disagreement over who was responsible for this design feature and if the pilot and crew played a role in the crash, the court documents said. WATCH | From 2021: Families grieve loss of 6 military members: The family and friends of the six Canadian Forces members who were killed in a helicopter crash are grieving in private today. The Cyclone helicopter went down in the Ionian Sea one year ago. The victims' families argued Sikorsky "was grossly negligent" in their design of the helicopter and failed to conduct appropriate testing or warn the Canadian military and its pilots of potential dangers. Sikorsky argued that the Canadian Armed Forces conducted testing before accepting the helicopter and that the pilots shouldn't have performed a manoeuvre that wasn't in the standard manual, according to court documents. Before reaching a settlement, Sikorsky filed a motion to dismiss the lawsuit and later asked to transfer the case to Connecticut. After the first attempt at mediation failed, Sikorsky and the victims' families agreed to try again. After a full-day mediation session on April 23, both the company and families agreed in principle to a confidential settlement. They signed the settlement agreement and Sikorsky's insurers have delivered the funds to the families' legal council, the plantiff's memo to the court said.
