Canadair
From Free net encyclopedia
Canadair was a civil aircraft manufacturer in Canada, and formed the core of Bombardier Aerospace.
History
Canadair was created in 1944 by the government of Canada as a manufacturer of PBY Canso flying boats for the RCAF for patrol duty. It was founded as a manufacturing centre for Canadian Vickers in the Montreal suburb of Saint-Laurent, at Cartierville Airport. Canadair Plant One is still there, although the airport no longer exists.
In 1946 Canadair was bought by the Electric Boat Company, which itself became part of the growing General Dynamics (GD) empire in 1952. In 1954 GD purchased Convair, and reorganized Canadair as its Canadian subsidiary.
In 1976, the Canadian government acquired Canadair. It remained a federal crown corporation until 1986 when it was sold to Bombardier as part of the privatization plan of the Mulroney government. It became the core of Bombardier Aerospace.
As part of Bombardier, Canadair lived on in the series of business jets or regional jets known as 'RJ Series' or CRJs. More recently the branding has been dropped, and new projects from all of Bombardier's various aircraft divisions are now known simply as Bombardier Aerospace.
In some countries such as France, "Canadair" has become synonymous with water bomber airplanes used in aerial firefighting.
Canadair has a record of several aviation firsts. The CL-44D was the first design that allowed access by swinging the entire rear fuselage. The CL-89 and the CL-289 were the first surveillance drones to be put into service in several countries' armed forces. The CL-84 was the first VTOL aircraft that rotated the wings to achieve vertical lift-off. The previously mentioned CL-215 was the first purposed-designed water bomber.
Canadair had diversity in other projects. One division "Canarch" was involved in curtain wall design and manufacture for a number of buildings. They also produce the cabs for many control towers operated by the FAA. Both tracked and air-cushioned vehicles were designed, but only a few samples were built. [ref "Canada - The first 50 years"]
Aircraft
- C-4 North Star/Argonaut transport/airliner
- Canadair F86 Sabre
- Canadair T-33 Shooting Star
- CL-66
- Canadair F-104
- CL-89 and CL-289 Surveillance drones
- CL-215 water bomber
- CL-415 water bomber
- Challenger
- CRJ-100, -200, -600 and -700 series
- Bombardier BRJX
- Bombardier CSeries
- CL-227 Remote Controlled Drone
- CL-28 Marine Reconnaissance
- CL-41 Tutor
- CL-84 Vertical Take-off Aircraft
- CL-44 Transport
See also
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