Canadian military aircraft : finish and markings, 1968-2004

151 Pages·2004·150.21 MB·English

by  Patrick Martin

CANADIAN MILITARY AIRCRAFT
Finish and Markings 1968 - 2004
Patrick Martin
CANADIAN MILITARY AIRCRAFT
Finish and Markings
1968 - 2004
Patrick Martin
Canadian Armed Forces
Aircraft Finish and Markings
1968-2004
by
Patrick Martin
Third Edition
Copyright
2004 artinSlide
Allright re erved. 0partofthi publicationmayb tor dillaretrieval y tem,tran mil/ed,orreproducedinanyway,includingbutnotlimited
tophotocopy,photograph, magneticorotherrecord, I'Gil olh rmean withoutprioragreementandwrittenperini ionoftheauthor.
INTRODUCTION Dedication
To my two biggestsuppOt1ers-my parents, who Iam sureall th seyearsago, wondered when theday would arrive, that Iwould beableto
puttwosentencestogether.
My intere ts inaircraftbegan,andresultedfrom ahi toryofbeingan"AirForcebrat"at everalRoyal anadian AirForceStation and later
CanadianForce Ba esfrom 1957throughtomy father'sretirementin 1976. Therewerefewairforceevent toattendbuttheskieswerealways
filled with militaryaircraft. With theadvanceoftime and the endingofthe Cold War,fewer ofthe e ubject graced the skies. ighting of Acknowledgments
marking een on thoseaircraftremained in memory till theday the intere tand hobbywascoupled with akeyboard.
Thisbookwouldnothavebeenpossiblewithoutthemajorcontributionsof: William Burns(editing), Ross Keating(DTA 4-5C2),IreneMartin
Inthewritingofthisbook,haifadozen flyingtour weredonewith the Force,anotherhalfdozenoversea trip weretoob erveoperational
(editil/g), JeffRankin-Lowe,Steve Sauve(Canadian ForcesJoint ImageryCentre),Tony Stachiw,and JelTY Vernon.
ite and overahundred basevisits weredonetogatherinfonnation.
Abigthankstothosewhosephotographswereused: WG Acgencr,Gary nderson, BobArcher,CL Baldwin,Eric Banworth,Bryan Beaton,
Thi bookha been written toallowthereaderto hare in theknowledgegatheredon both the fini hand themarkings thathavebeendrawn
PeteBergaginin,John Blatherwick,John Bradley,Tom Brewer,Kenneth Buchanan,AndrewCline,VinceCotrell,SteveCox, David Davenport,
and applied to the aircraftofthe Canadian Armed Force ince 1968. Followingthe introduction thereaderwill find five ection . Thefir t,
Stefan Degraef, Eric Dumigan, Frank Ertle, Bill Ewing, auro Finati, Peter Foster, Micheal Fournier, Ian Gates, J-L Gaynecoetchc, Andy
Fini h,dealsthewith theoverall appearanceofaircraft. Thi i thegeneraloverall,colourlook-even ifnatural metal. Thi chaptercover the
Graham, Richard Girouard, Derek Heyes, Denis Hughes, JP Hoehn, John Kimberley, Peter Kirup, Peter Lakotosh, GeoffLebaron,Jim Lyzun,
variousfini hfeature andrea on whyCMhavetheappearance theyhaveused. ThisisfollowedbyMarking chapterthatdeal withmarking
Rob Macllreith, Duncan Macintosh, lain MacPherson, Michael McGowan, Les Mack, Sgt Pat McNorgan, Pat Mar1in Sr., Dcnny May, Larry
appliedoverthe finish. The fini hand marking, togethermakeupthe" cheme"ofanygivenaircraft. SpecialRoles aircraftfollow with their
Milberry,GWMinert,AlecMoulton,MarkMunzel,PaulOsborne,GerryParker,FredParadie,Neil Parnell, William Peak,FHPrior,JeffRankin
requirement. Thecolour ection include everal pagesofcolournote photograph, followed by theAircraftType ection. The eareca e
Lowe, DouglasRemington,AlainRioux,Charles Robbins,JSanvik,HJSchakelaar,EASioot,J. AllanSnowie,DanielSoulainc,DavcSoutham,
tudies intoeachtypeoperated by(orfor the edays) the anadian Armed Force. Thede criptionsofthevariousschemes,which makeupthe
Don Spering,Tony Stachiw, Arnold Swanberg, HenryTenby, LutzTonne, Bill Upton, Scott Van Aken, TW Van Geffen, Jcrry Vernon, Gary
bulkofthis work, are followed through by theprogre ion ofall the features noted in both Finishand Markingschapter. The ehaveall been
Vincent, Tom Walker, Gerards Woereen, PeterZa trow, AETE, BAE Systems, Boeing Canada, Eurocopter, GB Aircraft Slides, Shearwater
broughttogethera drawn and applied to the etypesofaircraft. The Appendix follows with notesreferred to with thetextofthi book.
Museum,Trenton Museum, NoAI0, NoA27, NoA39 and 0.441 squadrons.
Athanksforassistancein thetextalsogoesto Pte. Anderson,JohnBradley, MCplCrane,CaptCummings,Mcpl WayncGray,JanctLacroix
(NationalDefenceImageryLibrary),LouiseLafrance(8MAETE),Capt.RichardLanglois,GerryMaginess,Capt.JeffManning,LcsMack(Field
Aviation),Capt. Ariane Mat1in (SO /-IRAETE), Elizabeth Mat1in (cartoons), Emily Mat1in(cartoons), Col Bill Werny (COAETE),along with;
AETE,Airbus Industries, EHI and FTC. Thiswork wouldnothavebeen possiblewit outthehelpofthenumerousCanadian Forcesmembers
thatweredragged outonto flight linesso Icould photograph line ups ofaircraftthat, tothecasualob e.cvcr,a1 looked thesame. This history
offinish and markings belongsto them.
Phraseology
CAF Era The first CAF markings period, drawings issued be ween 1968and 1973.
Camouflage Intenton reduced conspicuousness.
Finish The general overall painted aspectofaircraft, basiccolourapplicati n.
FIP Era Third CAF markings period, drawings issued 1983onwards.
FS.595 Colourstandard bookofthe United Statesgovernment, replaced Canadian system in 1983.
High-visibility Intenton visibility, oppositeoflow-visibility.
Markings Meansofaircraftidentification, to beapplied overfinish.
Last-two Lasttwo digits ofserial numberdisplayed.
Last-three Lastthree digitsofserial numberdisplayed.
Low-visibility To reduce visual perception, tone down.
Maple Flag Large aerial multi-national exercise held almostannuallyat CFB Cold Lake
Overall Acomplete, orpredominate colourofan aircraftfinish.
Roundel-ident Fuselage marking used in second marking period combining standard roundel and titles.
Scheme Combination offinish and markingsofagiven aircraft.
Symmetrical Era Second markings period, drawingsissued between 1973and 1982.
Variegated Drawingtermfordisruptivepatter oftwo ormore colours.
Wrap-around Variegated pattern thatcontinues nderside ofan airframe.
CGSB1-GP-12 CanadianGovernmentStandardsBardcolourbook;version1-GP 12bissuedin1957andupdateduntil 1-GP-12c
issued dated January4, 1963, cancelled in 1983.
-
Canuck100782and 100784of 0.414 Squadron on paradeduringAugust 1974,atCFB North Bay. Bot lire it;! natural metal with ymmetrical Era
markings. Canuck100782remainedin uscasatrainingaid(A791 IIntil1993and 100784rcmainspreservedatAirCommandHQ.PhotoPMMarlinSr.
-2- -3-
Table ofContents H-34A ....... 184 Skylane L-182 237
CANADIAN MILITARY AIRCRAFT Iroquois ..................... 185 Starfighter 238
JctRangerIII ................................ 188 Tracker 254
Finish and Markings 1968 - 2004 K ng Air 200 IC90A ............................... 191 Tutor 258
Kiowa . .............................. 192 Twin Huey 2
INTRODUCTION 2 SPECIAL ROLES 48 abrador . ............................... 198 Twin Otter 270
Dedication 3 DisplayAircraft 49 Voyageur ............................... 202 Vertol H-21AI H-44 27
Acknowledgments 3 Search and Rescue 52 Musketeer ............. 206 Voodoo 277
Phraseology 3 Search and Rescue Markings 53 Neptune .................................................... 208 Yukon 282
Table ofContents 4 Search and Rescue Band 53 Nomad .......................................................... 209
Glossary . 5 FirstPhase SAR 1968-1970 54 Otter ................. . 212 APPENDIX 284
The NewBeginning 6 Second Phase SAR 1970-1977....... 54 Polaris ............. 215 Notes . 285
Photo captions 7 Third Phase SAR 1977-Current 55 Sabre ............. 218 Rogue Photos . 285
Drawings 10 Tow-Target 56 Soa King ...... 218 Maple Flag Photos . 286
Scheme Descriptions 10 Training . 57 SilverStar ........................... 224 Serials . . 288
Drawing numbers 11 United Nations 58
Revisions 12 VIP Transport 59
Distribution 13
Charts 13 CAF COLOURS 60
Aircraft Designations 14
1-GP-12c 61
Serials 15
FS.595 64
ColourConversion 65
FINISH 16 ColourCaptions 66
High Visibility Schemes 17 Air Defence 69 AirCombat Manoeuvring tAT International AirTattoo
Blue, Red and White Helicopters 17 Display......................................... 70 AirDefence Command ICPS InstrumentCheck PilotSchool
The Natural Metal Look 17 Europe 72 Aerospace Engineering Test Establishment KLu Koninklijke Luchtnacht(NetherlandsAirForce)
MaritimeGrey........... 18 Maritime . 73 Air Force Base(USAF) KU Composite Unit
TransportGrey 19 Search and Rescue 74 AerospaceMaintenanceDevelopmentUnit(CFB LGB LaserGuided Bomb
Voodoo Grey 20 Tactical Fighter 75 Trenton) LIAS London International AirShow
Black 20 TacticalGroundSupport 76 AirMaintenance Squadron MAD MagneticAnomaly Detector
White 20 Training 76 AirNational Guard (USAF) MEPE Maritime Experimental and Proving
yellow 21 Transport 77 Air National Guard Base (USAF) Establishment
Blue 21 Auxiliary PowerUnit MOT MinistryofTransport
Low Visibility Schemes- Camouflage 22 AIRCRAFT TYPES 80 Airborne Sensing Unit MPEU Maritime Proving and Evaluation Unit
Brown and Green 22 Albatross 81 Anti-Submarine Warfare NATO North AtlanticTreatyOrganization
Green 22 Argus 82 AerospaceandTelecommunicationsEngineering NFTC NATO Flying Training in Canada
Variegated . 22 AuroraIArcturus 84 SupportSquadron (CFB Trenton) NORAD North American AirDefence (Command)
Two-Tone Grey.......................... 23 AirTransport Unit NTS NotTo Scale (drawings)
Bird Dog 89
Aurora -TwoGreys 24 Avionics Upgrade Project OT OperationalTraining
BK117 91
GreyGhost 24 Airborne Warning And Control System OTU OperationalTraining Unit
Boeing 707 92
Canada One 24 BattleDamage Repair RAAF Royal Australian AirForce
Boeing E-3AAWACS 96
One Grey....... 25 Canadian AirDivision RAF Royal Air Force
Buffalo 98
Hercules Grey 25 Canadian Armed Forces RCAF Royal Canadian Air Force
Canuck 106
Two Green 25 Canadian AirGroup, 1 RCMP Royal Canadian Mounted Police
Caribou 108
Canadian Aerospace Training Centre RCN Royal Canadian Navy
CF-5............................................ 109
MARKINGS 26 Central Experimentaland Proving Establishment RCNAS Royal Canadian Naval AirStation
Challenger 124
Era Markings 27 Canadian Forces Base RIAT Royal International AirTattoo
Chinook 130
CAF Era , 30 Canadian Forces Flying Training School RU Rescue Unit
Chipmunk 132
Full ShadowTitles 30 Canadian ForcesAir Navigation School SAC StrategicAirCommand
Cormorant 133
BlackTitles 31 Central Flying School SAR Search and Rescue
Cosmopolitan 136
CAF Abbreviation 31 CarrierOnboard Delivery SAREX Search and Rescue Exercise
Dakota.................................... . 139
Formation Titles 31 CombatSupport(Squadron) TAM Tactical AirMeet
Symmetrical Era 32 Dash 7 142 DepartmentofNational Defence TDAN Technical Data Action Notice
Roundel-indent <••••••••••• 32 Dash 8 " 144 ElectronicCounterMeasures TWM Tactical Weapons Meet
CANADA 33 Dynavert 149 Federal IdentityProgram UN United Nations
CAFt\bbreviation 33 Expeditor ~ 151 Flying InstructorSchool USA United StatesofAmerica
FIP Era 34 Falcon 152 FrontdeLiberation de Quebec USAF United StatesAirForce
Canada Wordmark ......... 36 FireflyT67C3 154 Foreign ObjectDamage USAFE United StatesAir Forces in Europe
Signature ....................... 37 Griffon 155 FlyingTraining School USN United StatesNavy
Marking features . .......... 38 Harvard II 160 HerMajesty's Canadian Ship VFR Visual FlightRules
Roundels . 38 Hawk 162 International Airport
Flash 44 Hercules 164
Flag ........................ 45 Hornet 172
Letters& Numbers ......................... 47 H04S 183
-4- Canadian MilitaryAircraft Canadian MilitaryAircraft -5-
The New Beginning Photo Captions
On the first day ofFebruary 1968, the Royal FrontCover Photos
CanadianAirForceceasedtoexistwiththefinal act FollowinganearcollisionbetweenagreySilverStar
ofthe unification processofCanadian Forces. The and acivilian Boeing737on the westcoastin theearly
three armcd services of Canada were unified, a nineties, thecombatsupportsquadrons were to adopta
processthathadbeganwiththe 1964DefenceWhite gloss overall black finish to increase visibility. Silver
Paper. More changed than the conversion ofall Star 133446and 133564are in the black scheme, while
uniforms to green. Conversion drawings for all 133446is in thcslightlyoldcrsinglcdarkgrcyschemc.
types ofaircraft were completed by March 1968. All three are from No.414Squadron, seen on February
The finish offormer RCAF and Army aircraft did __ 13, 200I, above Vancouver Island. Photo: Patrick
..:=~:::;;;;;;;~~~~~~~~~~~;;U~~:=~J
not change much as aresult, but the markingsdid.
Martin.
However, the finish of the former RC aircraft Hornet 188744comestoahaltatAviano AB, Italy,
changed almostcompletely. All aircraft markings ',1"1l1l ht·ighta-vris1i3b3i2li6ty6alatnOkstt.aPwhaotloA:PRewgaeslltonDealolfsetwreoaltl.rialaircraftpaintedinthetwo-tonefinish after a combat patrol over Bosnia-Hertzegovina. A
were to change to the new unified marking detachmentofHornetfighterswasmaintainedatAviano
standards. All fonner titles were to be removed Voyageur10411 infullcolourCanadianArmymarkingsandallwhitelettersandnumbers.Photo: I •~l,rtinginAugust 1997. ThisFIPpaintedHornethad 0.410Squadronmarkingsinstandardtwo-greyfinish,onJuly II, 1998. Itwasrotated
J-L Gayllecoetchecollectioll. anada beforethe March 24, 1999,openingdayofthesuccessful bombingcampaigntodriveSerb forces from Kosovo. Photo: Patrick
making way for the newstandards. The processofconversion
took several months for the majority of aircraft. The RCN
generallyrepaintedtheentireairframeandmarkingsatthesame
time, by theendof1968.
:::;::;;;;~~~~~:::=--
Ifthisbookprovidesyouwithanunderstandingofpost1968
Canadian military aircraft finish and markings, then the aim of
this publication has been met. Much ofthe earliercontent has
been covered in a limited form in "Canadian Armed Forces
AircraftFinish&Markings 1968- 1997." This volumeupdates ntario
andrepresentsleapsinformatpresentation,similartotheprequel an ther
"RoyalCanadianAirForceAircraftFinishand Markings 1947 J m r 3,
t:::::~~;;;;~~~;i.~~~~
1968" published in 2003. Even with the three examples of
ttl kMartin.
Labrador 11311 at home baseofCFBComox,threeweeks beforeit was destroyed aircrafton this pageofthesameaircraft in CAF,alongwith the I) lari 15002 retullls to ----------------------'
rollingdownaglacierafterlosingpower,nearBellaCoolaon April30,1992.Photo: former appearance in Army, Navy and Air Force markings I III r nton from an unknown ThefirstTigerStarfighterfortheCAl'was 12833,seendisplayedatthe1969TigerMeetatIlAFWoodbridge,hosted
PatrickMartill. illustrates how much things were to change shortly after It· ,III n, in the overall light bythe1'-100SuperSabreequipped USAFE79TFS. Photo:PMartill collection.
h me,withlow-visibility
, IIIkill ,plusaU rectangleon thetail. Photo: Brian Blatherwick.
I II ~ ingbriefu eofaredandwhiteBaseFlightSARscheme,theremainingIroquoiswerepaintedyellowinlinewithotherSARroletypes.
I.."IIII)IS II 104is een in u ewith 0.4J7Squadron atCFB Cold Lakeon May3, J985. Photo:Patri kMartin.
Iwin Huey 135140ofVU32, preparestodepartfrom the homebaseatCFB hearwater. Ithas theearlyoverall green scheme, withared
'"'1I1 .h u ingand full colourSymmetricalEramakings. Photo:John Blatherwick.
III\uli' BackCover
I \ a 136234 leads a econd ...------------------------------------..,
',11 11'1 quadron example during a
,," battle, that included armour,
The same Tracker seen on June 8,1988, at the LIAS in FIP Era "'111 I , ngineer and infantry,during
markings. II was removed from inventoryin January 1991. Photo un I , 1981, Flugtag(public air
PMarrill collectioll. I I B Baden-Soellingen. It is r---.;..;.;----..
Tracker1568in RoyalCanadian Navymarkingsafterapplicationofthenewflagin ,\ nin typical two-tone wraparound
1965,stillretainingthepre1965(RCN)roundels,butbeforeunification markingsin III I d finish and Symmetrical Era
early 1968.Photo:J-LGayllecoetche collectioll. I In ofthe period. Photo: Palrick
"IIl.
Ih
Labrador'10414atCFBTrentononAugust24,1970,inIheoverallgreenfinishandCAl'Eramarkings.Photo:
John Blatherwick.
tarfighter 104770atCFB Baden-Soellingen in May 1984, was typical inappearanceofthe fleet, late in ervice, with thetwo-tone
I dcamouflagefinish andSymmetrical Era,low-visibilitymarkings. .L.ikesomanyotherex-I CAGStarfighteraircraft, itwenttoTurkey
Starfighter 104751 landingoverthewireatCFBBaden-Soellingen
'lguntil preserved in 1996at tPhoto: PMarlin collection.
on June 17, 1981, in the standard two-tone camouflage with low .........~ ~~
visibility Symmetrical Era markings. This aircraft went to the
Starfighter12751 with IAIRDIV,carriesIhestandardRCAI'markingsoftheearly Turkish Air Force in 1986 and was lost on April 16, 1991 at :Q=~~~ftV~0~a .
sixties. Photo:J-LGayllecoetchecollectioll. Eskisehir. Photo:PatrickMarrill.
he c
unification. The last Army type to survive was the Voyageur, in 2003, in the converted guise ofLabrador CH-113A when replaced by the
Cormorant. AlmostimmediatelyafterunificationtheseaelementlosttheHMCSBonaventure. TheTrackerswerereassignedtosovereigntyduty, This Voodoo was later
sheddingtheASW role beforeretiring in 1990. TheSea Kingcontinuestoserve, (sinceOctober 1963')with the28 SikorskyCH-148Cyclone
replacementsselected atthe endof2004. TheCanadian Armed Forces has been inastateofdiminishingquantitysince unification. This was
not unique totheairelement,all branches havecontinuedto bc the targetofnumerouscutsand erodingcapabilitieswithexpandingroles.
-6- Canadian MilitaryAircraft Canadian MilitaryAircraft -7-
Title Page(page I) (page 66) HMCS Bonaventure departs Halifax
Hornet 188785 awaits use at Aviano AB, harbour, with Meaghers Beach light house on
Italy,onJuly4,1999, in thedays followingthe Me abs Islandbehind. Whileatsea,thecrewheard
Balkansconflict. Thisaircraftisknowntohave the ship was to paid off (by CBC radio) on
released six LGBs on targets and a seventh September 20, 1969. The last an-ested landing,
classified,buthadsomethingtodowithabridge number 20,590, occurred with a Tracker on
and river. Photo: PatrickMartin. December 12, 1969. The last four launches, on the
IntJ'oduction (page2) ameday, were unassisted(withoUlcatapult)asthe
NoA09 Squadron Voodoo 10I034, along carrier II aloeuvrin in the Bedford Basin at the
with 101010, 101035 and 101050 prepare to nOl1h endofHa 'fax ha bour. HMCS Bonaventure
perform at Paine Field, Washington State, on wasusedforheavysealiftuntilJuly 1970,whenshe
July 16, 1983. All werefinished inoverallgrey was payedoff. Photo: DNDSWC69-373.
with full colour Symmetrical Era markings. (page 67) Six NoA21 Squadron Starfighter
This aircraft was to be persevered at the aircraft in formation with the Red Indian special
Western Canada Aviation Museum. Photo: 104805 in 1983. Photo. DNDBAC88-202-4
Patrick Martin. (page 68) NoA27 Squadron Griffon 146469
(page3) An unknownChinookarrives ina arrives at home base Velika Kladusa on November
wooded area during an exercise. The 15,2000. All Griffon helicopters weredelivered in
camouflage and all black markings were the two-green finish with FIP markings. A
standard. When the type was withdrawn from detachment of six helicopters was maintained in
serviceaspartofabudgetcut,theyweresoldto Bosnia-Herzegovina in support of the ATO
the etherlands. Photo: DND /£C88-0/37. tabilization forces. Photo: PatrickMartin.
Aurora140I03from 0.407SquadronisdisplayedattheCFBComox2003openhouseonJuly27. The TableofContents(page4-5) (page79) OnMay3, 1973,thethreeStarfighter
Aurora,contraryto1'1Pstandardsdidnotcarrythelast-three01'theserialabovethestarboardwing. Cormorant 149904of oA42 Squadron is quadrons, NoA2I, oA39 and NoA41, were
Pita/a:MarkMllllzel. seen at home base ofCFB Comox on July 12, handed theircolours,totheyoungestofficerineach
2002. Theaircraft introduceda fewchangesto quadronbyHRH PrincePhilip. Thegrandfinaleof
the R cheme includinga non-constant-width red SAR band, along with the full colourangled anadian Flagand serial presentation. The the presentation was this fly past of 36 I CAG
ormorantpr videdthe force withagreatleap in SARcapabilitiesoverthe LabradorCH-113/A. Photo: PatrickMartin. tarfighteraircraft. Photo: PatrickMartin.
PhotoCaptions AircraftTypes(page80)
(page7) The four Voodoospecials 101043 Hornet 188733 departs a HAS at Aviano AB, Notsubjecttocoveragein this bookare unmanned aerial vehiclesand drones,butas ataste...
SagemUAV·161161001 awaitsuseoutsidetheQueen'sPalaceinAfghanistanonApril 19,2004.
Lynx One from oAI6 Squadron CFB Italy, on July 6, 1999, for a combat patrol. The
Thedroneis painted in a green similar to the brighter green on the Griffon with a light blue
hatham,"10I057HawkOne(reallythe econd) aircraftis instandard fini hwithFTP Era marking.
undersurface,whitewingstripesandallblackmarkings. Pltoto:JohnBradley
from oA09 Squadron FB Comox, JOI067 Duringthe conflict, thi aircraftdropped six 2 000
ElectricjetfromNoAI4 quadron CFBNorth lb. LGB-I0, fifteen 500 lb. LGB-I and five standard
~~~~~Bay and 101014 Alouette UnelLark One from 500 Hi. Mk.82 bombs. This Hornet had also received
oA25 Squadron atCFB Bagotville, gathered f< urweapondrop markings uringthe 1999GulfWar,
at FBNorth Bayin J9 4. a oneoffifteenaircrafttoseecombatjnbothconflicts..
lIII!.ii.....
~~
=- ... (page8-9) A HercuJe liftsofffrom Kabul, Photo: PatrickMartin.
~~~~ Afghanistan in 2003. Theforeground Ilyu hin ppendix (page284)
Voodool0104J from 0.425 quadronatCFBColdLakeonMay23,1983,attheendofACMmissions 11-76MD CCCP-78780 was hit by a Labrador I1310 con es il 0 la d in e C mox
duringMapleFlag. Thisaircraftwaspreservedat BangorlAP, Maine. Pita/a:PatrickMartill. Mujahideeen rocket, just prior to boarding of Valley on May 28, 1992, to pick up the author in this
evacuatingRu ianembassy taffonAugust27, stagedshot. Thi helicopterwearsthestandardoverall
1992. Itwasde troyed in theresulting fire. Photo: DND.via Fred Paradie. yellow SAR finish along with the red SAR band and
Finish(page 16) blacktwo-tierand languageSARtitles. Photo:Patrick
Hawk 155203and 155206 fly in formation overthe prairies. The Hawk was to replace the remainingTutorjettrainer atCFB Moo eJaw
Marstin' I d 1··11' ML884d' I h DG*Z d. Otler9420on eptember16,1979,in theCFBDownsview hangar. ThisOtterjoined most
startinginJuJy2000and lateralso used inthefighter lead-in trainingroleatCFBCold Lake. Insel1, Hawk 155213displaysundersidemarkings. underan ISP ay t e co eaD- . .. k Ph B B
. otherex-CAF IteraIrcraft onthec~\'lhanmar et. oto: ryan eaton.
Photos:BAESystems. used with NoA22 Squadron. The aircraft i 1eavlllg •
Markings(page26) Pembroke Dock onDecember8, 1944. Photo: DND PL-04/279.
SeaKing I 431 operatingeastofSuezduring-G erations Apolloand Athena in late2003. Photo: DNDAPD-538-29. Wellington II W5537 LQ*OofNoA05 Squadron.Thisaircraftwas
Special Role Aircraft(page48) damaged by an MeII0 on June 16, 1941, and ju t repaired when this
Special scheme Hornet I 8724'from oA41 June 26 photo was taken. At least four squadron aircra t were lost 28
Squadrontucksuptl ~g ar~ndeparturefromCFBCold day later,whileattackin th ;;-battlecruiserGneisenauin Brest
LakeonSeptember I ,2003. In erts: ShOl11yafterfirst Harbour. Photo: DND PL- 4-369.
paiming 188724 at CFB C Id Lakeon May 31, 2000. n unknown Spitfire XIV 21*W from 0.443 Squadron, at
Photos: Patri k Martin. Theair raftwas transferred to indhoven, etherlandson April S. 1945.Photo: DND PL-043/28.
BE·1t
No.416 quatiro inearly2004,w en oA41 operated BeaufighterTF.X NE355 from NoA04 Squadron in 1944,
nly the upgraded Hornets. Photo: DerelcHeyes. atBanff,ScotlindPlrolo: DNDPL-04/049.
CAFColours(page60) 16049 B from 0.4Air Ob erver School, at London, on
AETEoperatedCF-5AI16754atCFBColdLakeon I, 1941, before conversien to Mk.lII. This aircraft was the
Buffalo115463from 0.424SquadronendsitsperformanceatRAFGreenhamCommon,on May 24 1983. In addition to regular features this er~ R3527 and was oneof1,522 Anson trainers shipped to
Ju~e22,1981,duringtheInternati~nalAirTattoo..Theaircraftis~nishedintheoverallwhite aircraft 'has formation stri Ii hting installed and CanadaduringtheSecondWorldWar. Photo:DNDPL-004209.
fiDlshthatallowedforeasyconverSIOntoUNmarkll1gswhenreqUired.Photo:PatrickMartin. . d' Th fi . Ph g h · d d
unpamte wmgs. e mls was ot erwlse stan ar SpitfireL.F.VIIIAN*UfromNo.417Squadron,probablyatBellaria, Tracker12169fromVU33atCFBComOllatthesouthsideofVancouverlAP
withSymmetrical Eramarkings. ThislaterAUPmodifiedCF-5A wentto Botswanain 1996. Photo: PatrickMartin. ItalyonDecember29, 1944. Photo: DNDPL-041301. duringthehandoverofaUUPhelicopterfromtheBritishColumbiaInstitute
Tracker1548isloadedprior10departureonexerci e"MapleSpring ofTechnologytoamuseumonJune8,1983.Photo:PatrickMartin.
1969",onJanuary 21. Photo:DNDSW69-0/18.
-8- CanadianMilitaryAircraft Canadian MilitaryAircraft -9-
Drawings Drawing Numbers
he RCAF drawing number system was continued past
The Royal Canadian ir -orce
~~~5~~~~~~~~:~~~
started using binary drawings in 1964. unification with five digits, lasting until August 1969, when a
new system was initiated. All were to start with the letter C,
These were issued in sets, with the
finish details on one set and the DIlowed by the last-twodigitsoftheyearin which thedrawing
wa completed in,alettertosignify papersize,then afive digit
markings on the other. The use ofthe
drawingnumber,ofwhichthefirsttwowereusuallyzeros. This
two(or a thirddrawingforspecialized
systemlasted untilSeptembcr 1976,whentheprefix DDDSwas
markings)would make upthecomplete
u ed followed by six digits. Another system was started in
scheme of a given aircraft. With
November 1979, wherethe first twodigits were the last-twoof
unification, only the markings drawing
theyearthe drawing was initiated in. Mostaircrafttypes used
needed immediatealteration to the new
standards. -- several drawings systems during tenure, specially if they
ThcfirstCAFaircrafttyperedrawn remained in service through more than a single markings Era.
was the former RC Tracker, with The m/3l'kings arc nearly all applied on Silver Star 133577,according to drawing The Buffalo, CF-5, Cosmopolitan, Hercules, Labrador (and
drawings dated December 12, 1967. 940000. Theexceptioninthiscaseisthecommercialhclivica"577"onthenoserather Voyageur),SeaKing,SilverStar,Tracker,Tutor,TwinHueyand
The former two-grey finish was to be than theforcesstandard formal. Pholo:DND. TwinOtter,allspannedthethreemarkingseras. Forexamplethe
replaced by a new overall light grey following are known SilverSta..r...d.ra.w-in-gs.--------.
with CAF marking. The Sea King CAFEra Ir-"'TT-n--~;;;:I:=-:~
51769 Finish
drawings were followed by the Tutor,
51770 Markings
Iroquois, eptune(usageneverproven) SilverStar 133577 is illustrated at the AMOU located at CFBTrenton, in the first stage ofrefinishing, the 51843 FinishTow-target
and fonner R H04 -3 (never u eel) removal ofpreviouslyapplied finish and markings. Photo:DND. SymmetricalEra
cn
F00313 FinishandMarkings
byJanuary5, 1968. II othertypeshad
C72F00314 FinishTow-target
beenc mpleted by theendof priI1968. Specific markingsfeatures, includingthe roundel and titles hadseparatedrawings completed. cnF00315 Camouflage(green)
h .. inish"drawing continued theirrole inspecifyingtheoverall coloursthataircraftwere to be painted. Smallertypes werecompleted 00S014525 Camouflage(variegated)
na 'ingl h tdrawing, with the larger more complex types, such as the Hercules taking several drawing sheets to complete. The second FIPEra
mp n I1t rthe binarydrawing wa the"Identification Markings"drawing. This wouldshow placementofspecific markings features such 8540350 Tow-targetSilverStar
8540351 Camouflage(variegated)
a' nags,r undel ,titles, letter and numbers. In thesepagesall havebeencombinedtosavespaceexcepttheTutorwhich illustrates both finish 8540353 FinishandMarkings
and m,rking parately,a an example. Theprimary reason forthesplitting, wastoallowthe "Identification Markings" usageon morethan a 8840178 Tactical(two-grey)
9440000 Tactical(sem-glossonegrey)
single" ini h cheme." F re ample theSilverStarmarkingsdrawingcould be used with the finish sheet in "standard" usagc plusthe"Tow-
8540352revJ(S&M) Blackhigh-visibility ThisunidentifiedTutorattheAMOU,fromdetailsvisible,tobepaintedinapre-revisionOofdrawing
arget" fini h cheme.
C72F00337,duringtheSymmetrical Era. Photo:DND.
In early 1973,coupledwith the tartoftheSymmetrical Era markings,acompletely new mergeddrawing for eachschemewas introduced,
replacing all previous drawings. Each title began with the prefix "Finish Scheme and Identification Markings" and was to give a complete
overviewofanygiven finishscheme. Drawingtitles in thiswork,havethisprefix removed, leavingjustthedescriptivetitlealsoused inthetitle.
The new title prefix was followed the type name.
Inrecentyears,drawingshavefollowedafterpaintschemeapplication. Thisisincontrastwithearlieryearswheretheprocesswasverymuch
theotherwayaround.
Scheme Descriptions
Drawing titles, in all Eras, would contain a basic description of the
scheme ifany role was specific to the scheme. As a general rule, ifthe
scheme,wastobethestandardhigh-visibility(non-camouflage) finish, then
no characterization or modifier would be used in the title. Colour terms
could be used in the title, for example, for the ilver Star C72F00315;
"Finish Scheme and Identification Markings, Camouflage (Green), Silver
Star CT-133 Aircraft." Forexample, the tenns Camouflage (variegated),
Searchand Rescue,Tactical,TowTarget,Trainingroleand United Nations
(Direct Support) could be used as descriptive titles. Ifthe scheme had a
disruptive pattern, the term, "variegated" was used (wilhin brackets).
Modifyingterms,suchas"Grape","Lizard","Faux Pas"and"Ghost"were
also used to describe the colourful CF-S aggressor schemes. The term
"Canadian One" was a parity of the USAF term "European One", for a
combinationofgreensandgrey. Theterm"tactical"wasused forjustabout
anynon high-visibilityscheme. "EW"initialswereused forthe"Electronic
Warfare"Challengerand Falcon roles, as they had drawingsseparate from
thestandard"executivetransport" role.
After the overall Grey 36173 finish has been applied and has dried,
maskingisappliedwithstencilsforthepaintingofmarkings(il/cludil/g Allofthesewordsandmodifierswouldmakeforlongdrawingtitles. To
the mil/ute service al/d mail/Iel/al/ce markil/gs.) The starboard rear ease reading, "overall" and "wrap-around" terms are used. "Overall"
fuselage 16-inchroundel(al/ds&marrow)willbepaintedinGrey36118. characterizes asingle colour usage finish scheme. Examples of"overall"
SilverStar133577hasbeen paintedfromdrawing9440000,adoptedon would be the yellow Chipmunk orgreen Starfighter. The "Wrap-around"
April26,1994. Photo:DND. term was used when a "variegated" scheme includes the underside ofan \rt I'trialsinMarch 1977,theStarfightCl'fleet adoptedthetwo-tonecamouflagefinish andlow-visibilitymarkingsfromdrawing00S001396. Linedup
1"\1priortoperformingatthe1981 (ATonJune27,atRAFGreenhamCommonare104749(destroyediI/hal/garfirCFBBadel/·Soellil/gel/March2,1984),
aircraft. The drawing title "camouflaged (variegated)" has been replaced 104756(toTurkey1986),104822(BDRCFBBadel/-Soellil/gel/),104826(toTurkey1986,crashedJal/uary10,1989),104827(destroyed/ollowil/gcollisiol/with
with"wrap-around"to reduce lengthy titles.Thedrawingtitle"Finish Schemeand Identification Markings"and theaircraftnomenclaturehave • fmal/lightaircraft01/July29, 1982)and 104862(toTurkey I986Jorsparessource). AlsoattendingtheIATwere:SilverSIal'133393, TigerStartighler
beenomitted for thesame reason. 1()4 6andsupportOash8132001,plusfrom acrossthe pond,Aurora 140110and Buffalo 115463.Photo: PatrickMartill.
-10- Canadian MilitaryAircraft Canadian MilitaryAircraft -11-
Revisions Distribution
Theprocesswasnotoverwiththecompletionofanewdrawing. Changesweremadetonearlyeverydrawingatsomepoint. Whenavariation Completed and approved drawings were
(orcollectionofchanges) was thought majorenough,arevision to thedrawingwasdone. This was in fact adated modificationoftheoriginal ent to units or refinishing establishments
drawing. Oncecompleted,adrawingcould becontinually modified until thescheme was retired. Many, but notall, drawings would have the affected by revisions. More recently the
lastrevisionasthecancellationnotice. Achangecouldbeforasingletypeoramarkingschangecouldresultinrevisionsforseveralaircrafttypes. distribution hasbecomefUl1herrestrictedasthe
Revisionscouldbecausedbyasinglesmallmeasurementchange,anewmarking,acolourchange,newinfonnation,akeynotechangeoramajor number aircraft and refinishing establishments
revision toeitherthe finish ormarkings. havebeenreduced,withcontractorsassuminga
moredirectrole. Thelagtimebetweendrawing
completionandaircraftre-paintcouldbemonths
beforethe firstexamplewasseen. Anexample
of this was the few sightings of Labrador
airframes with the FIPEra markings, when the
drawings had been in circulation for a For~shortperiod,Hornetdr~wingsh~dtheuppercolourextendeddownthenoseand~widerle~ding
edgeonthet~ilfin ofthes~mecolour. Hornet188794is~rmed ~nd le~ving for~ncomb~tsortie,with
considerabletime. Othertimes the processha
No.425 qu~dron m~rkings onJuly II, 1998,~tAvi~no AB, 1t~ly. Phoro:PatrickMartill.
worked the opposite way around, with aircraft
seen with features before drawing completion.
Itwas rare for testaircraftto be painted. There
was astory ofa verydark overall Aurora, as it
had been painted in the wrong colour. Many
aircrafthavebeennotedwith mixedfeatures,as
touch up work was done. Many ofthe Twin
Huey helicopters had some FIP Era markings
applied very late in service, but most did not
uror~ 140109h~s been p~inted with non st~nd~rd m~rking positions,seenatCFBComoxon April 7, 1992. NotetheI~rge nose roundel, re~rfusel~ge ••II!I.ii
signatureand anad~ wordm~rk. Photo: PatrickMartill. havethe full markings"suite". When viewedat Cjiji~iiMii~~i.N."iI~
Mountain View storage facility, many had I
uringthe " "ra,markingsfeatures,sucha roundel andletters trangecombinationsofmarkings. ewfeatures 1- ;",..,; ,;..... ...;... --'
Hornet 188742from No.433eSquadron le~vingCFBB~gotville onJuly26,2000,displ~ys thedarker
iz were noted directly on the markings binary drawing. With the c uld also be added to airframes still flying in upper greyce~sing ~t the gun port ~nd n~rrower us~ge on the le~ding edgeon the t~il fins. Photo:
,dvent fthe ymmetrical ra,drawingshadablocklistingall marking IdeI' schemes. The large nose positioned last- PatrickMartill.
c mponent u ed tocompletethescheme. These varied in detail from three of Hornet serials, were introduced with
the t ck number, toadimensioneddescription. revision (G)onJanuary 12, 1989, butwasalso retl·o fitted toall aircraft.
Charts
TheRCAF,andthentheCAF,usedtwochartstoassistwith
h~;;"':'2.;r7.~i\i~~1iii[ji]
iioo The title block ofI Hornet drawing 81400990I .shows method of drawing finish and markings. These were a matrix of schemes and
upd~ting. Notesheettwo-w~s not revised with revision B. features laidouttoassisttherefinisher. Thefirst"AircraftChart
Finish Scheme and Processes 51675", ran two-pages, listing
In nearly all cases,drawings were followed by revisions, noted as colours used,cross referenced all types andschemes. Thefirst
revision (A). Drawings would contain the original date but added postunificationeditionwas51675AC. Therevisionnotesgave
Another ex~mple oftest painting is Kiow~ 136207 from 3CFFTS ~t CFB revisiondatestotherevisiontableonthedrawing. Forexample,Hornet goodclueswhen features wereaddedorremoved from use. As
Port~ge I~ Pr~iric on December18, 1972. 11 I~cks theroundel-identofthe drawing820099had revisions(A)through (L)between 1981 and2004, thenumberofchangestoallaircrafttypeswashuge,paperspacc
Symmetric~1 Er~~nduses~whiteoutlinedroundel.Photo:DNDPCN72-362. omittingtheletters(I)and(0). Thesetwo-letterswereomittedtoavoid on the drawing filled rapidly. Revision BE, for example
any confusion with the numbers "I"and "0". In the Hornetexample, removed Red 509-102 from all aircraftdrawingson February8,
therewere II revisions(or /2drawingsets). Aleastthreewereredonecompletely, omewithjustanewrevision letterandothersanewdrawing 1971. Thechartreached revision BJ before it was replaced by
number,withrevisionsstartingagainat(A). Severalschemesbeganasrevision(A)asthefirstissue. Thefir tpageofamulti-pagedrawingwould the new chartC72F0060on November8, 1979. Drawings for
haveatableshowingwhich revisions hadaffected eachofthe pages. Forexample,arevision to upperwing markings would result in changes theTutor, Buffalo,CF-5,Falcon,Tracker,Hercules,SilverStar,
to thesheetwith the uppersurface views. The first page would have to be reissued todisplay the revision on thetable. Butthe pagewith only Twin Huey, Kiowa and Boeing 707,all removed references to
lowersurfaces would remain as before. Thusadrawingset for revision Ccould haveone page noted as revision B. this chal1 between July 30, 1979and March 21, 1980, without
.~ I '} I 1 From pre-unification until April 1982, 1==~~!B"""~""~""~"!!!'~0~==~ referring to a replacement. The last chart for this purpose,
-~'-T:-r.,"~_, ~':'''0::3::':':'-' '0000<'--........-.,N~CH SeENOT( • :::>:6.'":.. hreavnidsioconrsnwerooulfdthbeednraowteidnginanand ubeppfeorllroiw.g.....hetd- I0...~~,rA.,l.~·.~t\~J.~~-'tlt-H~~,,"~~c.iO:.-.,' ~"..- Iltialortfeidghbtyer"M10o4x71N7ixi"n,Ithheems~ts~cnodtarfdorotvheer~M1I~rgcrhee1n97f2inibs~hsewfietshtivCitAieFs~Etr~CFmBaBrkaidnegns-, drawingnumber7940030wasaltered byTDAN, upto revision
,2 ,.) "82'.43032,)22·,2' C'0A0H0Ir/0)4<AH' HAC '200'IHteO><! byaverybriefandoftenabbreviatednoteon II ~::1,:'":~-t:·~,'.~":~~~.'~.~:~'~::"~"~~"'I.: It IJoarlaIdineg~etn.CFABctBuaadlleyn-itSoiseltlhinege~nr.m~Mm~ennyt osfecthtieosnennoo~~ttsdwureirnegbuthileto~nnnbuo~1mbF~tsroclhlienygs
8".'" """''''' v_ F whatwaschanged. Fromthehistorical point e:~;'i\:~:0",°., I andp~rticip~ted inoutlyingtownsp~rades. Thereal 104717wenttoNorwayin 1973
,, •'."0."000,9.' CSlC"'H'''"'"W,eO.RcOr 110000-- S((NO" • obefvdieowne, thtois ablalockw-eddaterevderrasweiennggsiniefereianrglietor LI '_:;:~;T'i;'''I''"':';~~"~C~",I'I:.V-~,.~"!' .. i',; lind I~ter toatechnic~1 collegeinSolo.Photo:PatMartillSr.
.....,..\ S,v .....K>ICS version could not be found. All previous o,~mD'~JJf"G..'N(I",n:t:(~0:5i~,. !.1!.H1'E-".'.-' ~-•,. .I onJune8, 1982.
Hornetm~994.)r4-40k0001i22n·-1gscom~""t"p'''~o'.'i..n..RC.e~nAckHrtJO\8;l8''iG/'s'cS''tr'.i,'e'nS'a'lgsJHMTfE;rOom dr~ws$ieCetnNNgOOT'8ee1110240099J-..~." hmreisovtdioseriroynnosdfrrecamhwaainnigngee.dcaoTmnheedrcianhwatinhngegesftoporrmothveiodmifnogthreea ._[''_I.,"_~:';O.)_"·N_'\,"I_~N\:,Ei;rt_C.tlO";.'(E_-IQO;fHM(C!P~'_"'lO''!~_~.r~f.:-."<.,(-r:''.[',"_".,_T••"tvD_'E"'·_'."._"•:~tJ_._. III 7Ta6ihr.ce"rasIftetclisosctnheddemdmeecasatrwlisxe,rlecethntaeorrtste,dwmaaacsrrko"isnAsgistrhcaernadtfotpnuComhfbatehnresIdtdoreanbwetiifnaigpc,aptlwiioeindthtoMmaaairrrkkcriinnafggtss.
standard letterrevision butonly referred tothe"Technical DataAction otice"(TDAN). TheTDAN was the Typical revision notes as Ihey aturessuchasroundels,fla handlettersizeslistedvertically. Theintersection
document that triggered the revision. Thus adrawing revision Ewould give no clues to what priorchanges ~ppear on Iroquois dr~wing \ uld listthenumberofthe featurerequired, i.e. two flag Thecharthadfive
were. TDA werenotseenoutsidethedrawing/engineeringstaff Theadvantage wasthatpagesofnotesand 52752E. page listing all marking items used externally on Canadian Armed Forces
drawings could be used within the ameTDA coveringseveral types ofaircraft foracommon revision, like lircraft. The revisions notesgavegoodcluestochanges. Postunification, the
afleet widechangeofcolour,all withoneTDAN number. II' trevision was Pon April 10, 1968,and usccontinued until at leastJuly 6,
1970with revision AF. Thes~me~ircr~ft displ~ys theport·sidemarkingswiththeCAFin
theforw~rd position. Photo:PatrickMarrill.
-12- Canadian MilitaryAircraft Canadian MilitaryAircraft -13-
Aircraft Designations Serials
Priorto unification, the Royal anadian avy had it'sown aircraftserial system (ifit couldbecalledthat) as did the Royal Canadian Air Anew serial system for
Force. TheArmyaircraftwerelookedafterbythe R Fforadministrativepurposes. In 1970,anewaircraftdesignationandserialsystemcame anadian Armed Forces
intoeffectforall aircraft in the unifiedservice. Thi ystem wastouse atwo-letter"aircraftroledesignator"followed byahyphen andthenew aircraftcame with the 1970 J
threedigit"aircrafttype"designator. Thiswassometimes followed byasuffix. Thedesignations wereall tobeginwith"c"forCanadian. The designation system. The
second letterwasto identifythebasicroleoftheaircraft. ThefollowingprefixeswereusedbytheCanadian Armed Forces: C-Cargo/transport, new three digit type
E- pecialelectronic installation,F-Fighter, H-Helicopter,0 -Observation,P-Patrol, R-Searchand Rescue,T-Trainerand X-Research. de ignation was to be
followed by the last-twoor
la t-three (and in theory
last-fourinonecase)ofthe
prior serial. The system
was to be fully in place by
1971. The H04S-3 and
abre did not receive new
designations nor serials as Dakota 111/3F972 carriesoneofthe last uses oftheSecond World War RCAF serial system used within Canada. This
their days were numbered. systemdisappeared when thenewsystem was introducedin 1970,with this Dakota becoming 12955inJune 1970. It was
The Albatross, Caribou, withdrawninDecember1970andwaslaterpreservedattheAirborneMuseumatCFBPetawawa.Photo:J-LGayllecoetche
Dynavert, xpeditor, H- collection.
4A, Neptune, Vertol H
21/44 and first batch of
Voodoointerceptors,though
in service after the cross ---,
ver date, did not receive
TheCanadianaircraftdesignationsysteminmanycasesparallelledthe1962 SDoDsystemwherepossible. TheUSCH-47ChinookwasdesignatedCH
147 in the anadian system. No.447 Squadron Chinook 147003 isseen at CFB Namaoon May 17, 1986. Likeall remaining Chinook helicopters,this the new serial range due to
examplewenttotheKLu in 1994. Photo:PatrickMllrtill. theirpendingretirement.
t
-=~;::;~~~i~~~~~~:~;~
Tenaircrafttypes used an additional suffixtodesignation different DakTohtae,LAarbgruasd,orC,hSiepamKuninkg,
sub-modelsofagiven types. Thesewerenotedas: Voodoo-CF-I0IB, and Tracker, wereall given
F-I0IF(dualcontrol);Starfightcr-CF-I04single-seat, F-I04Dtwo new five digit serials using
seat;Labrador-CH-I 13,Voyageur-CH-113A(bothmodifiedandlater the last-two of the prior
designatedas LabradorC/-I-113/A postJune 1985); CF-5 -CF-I 16A erial. The Musketeer •
single-seat, CF-I16D two-seat; ea King - CH-124, CH-124A, CH changing to six digits in
124B, CH-124C; Hercules - CC-130B , CC-130E, CC-130NT, CC 1973), Boeing 707, Twin
130H, CC-130HT, CC-130H30; Musketeer - Musketeer I T-134, tter and Polaris were 117505
Musketeer II CT-134A; Aurora -CP-140 Aurora, Arcturus CP-140A; added to the inventory with Starfighter 12862 was to see service in Europe
Challenger-CL-600CC-144A,CL-600C -144B,CL-604CC-144C; five digit serials. The with the early five-digit serial until the official
Falcon 20505 changed serials to the 117 prefix in May 1970 with the StarfighterJune2,1970,serialchangeoverdate,
and the Hornet-CF-188 single-seat,CF-188Btwo-seat. tandard six digit serials othersixaircraftinserviceat thetime. Likemostotherex-CAFFalcon when repainted as 104862. ItwenttoTU"keyin
Scven types continued the post-war British system ofusing·'Mk." were assigned to all other aircraft,itwenttoFlightRefuellinginthe K.Photo:J-LGaynecoetche I986.Photo:J-LGIlYllecoetchecollectiollalldTW
This was followed by a Mark numberand possibly a letter sub-mark TheDynavertand laterChallengeraircraftweretheonlydesignationsofar type. Seven digit serials collectioll IIl1dTWWillGefIell. vanGefIell.
designator. The following were noted into the tenure ofCAF usage: to usethe CX designation. CX-131 8401 hovering at the Canadair Dorval were assigned, but never
Canuck -Mk 5, Mk 5C, Mk 50; StarfighterCF-I040(two-seat) - Mk plantin1968,withCAFmarkings. ThisexamplewaslostduringUSNtesting appliedtoabatchofOtteraircraft(123940Ito 1239427),whichcontinuedwithpriorserials(940Ito9427)untilretirement. Therewasasequence
I, Mk 2; Argus Mk I, Mk 2; Caribou - Mk IA, Mk IB; Expeditor atPatuxentRiveron August8,1973.Photo:CalladairviaBillUptoll. to theconversion ofserials, in ordertoavoid aconflictofdifferent types havingthe last-threeofserial/call-sign use.
Mk.3N, Mk.3NM, Mk.3 M(T), Mk.3 MT, Mk.3TM; the Sabre with
Mk.1 through the Mk.6 and the Dakota had no less than 19 different sub-designations in RCAF service, but were rarely noted as such after
unification as mosthad long retired from use.
The following three-digitdesignations were used afterthe 1970 reorganizationofdesignations:
CF-100 Canuck CF-116 CF-5 CC-130 Hercules CH-143 Bell212 (notused)
CF-101 Voodoo CC-117 Falcon CX-131 CX-84 CC-144 Challenger
CF-104 Starfighter CH-118 Iroquois CC-132 Dash7 CC-145 KingAir200/C90A(no/used)
CC-106 Yukon CO-119 L-19/L-182 CT-133 SilverStar CH-146 Griffon
CP-107 Argus CT-120 Chipmunk CT-134 Musketeer CH-147 Chinook
CC-108 Caribou CP-121 Tracker CH-135 Twin Huey CH-148 Petrel (notused)
CC-109 Cosmopolitan CP-122 Neptune CH-136 Kiowa CH-149 Chimo (no/used)
CSR-110 Albatross CSR-123 Otter CC-137 Boeing707 CH-149 Cormorant
CT-111 Firefly (notused) CH-124 SeaKing CC-138 TwinOtter CP-150 Polaris
CH-112 Nomad CH-125 H-21A CH-139 JetrangerIII CT-155 Hawk115
CH-113 Labrador CH-126 H-34A CP-140 AuroratArcturus CT-156 HarvardII
CH-113A Voyageur CH-127 H-44 CC-141 Starlifter (no/used) CF-188 Hornet
CT-114 Tutor CT-128 Expeditor CC-142 Dash8
CC-115 Buffalo CC-129 Dakota CH-143 BK117 102,103,105,151-154,157-187 (notused)
The Labradorand Voyageurboth used theCH-I 13 designation,the L-19and L-182 becameCO-119and thesole BKI17and the proposed
fewBel1212weretohavebeendesignatedCH-143. TheproposedStarlifter(CC-14I),Petrel(CI-I-148)andChimo(C/-I-149)didnotenterservice,
he 1970newdesignation andserialsystemfinallydidawaywiththeremainingaircraftusingthe UKserialsystemstilladorningaircraft usedsincethe
though therevived Cormorantlaterusedthe H-149designation. TheOtterchangeddesignation mid 1976,to CC-123. TheChallenger, while econdWorldWar,includingDakota4MSTKN291 (ex44-76208)to12911. Italsocarriedtheincorrectserial 10291 forashortperiod,beforewithdrawn
in service, used CC, CE, CP and CX prefixes, while some modified Silver Star aircraft had used the CE prefix. Limited use ofthe CT-I II from usein December1971.Photo:J-L Gayllecoetchecollectioll.
designation was noted forthe Fireflyand CT-145 for the KingAirC90A,though both were neverofficiallydesignatedassuch.
-14- Canadian MilitaryAircraft Canadian MilitaryAircraft -15-
High Visibility Schemes
FINISH heCanadianArmed Forceshaveusedmanydifferenthigh-visibilitys h me overtheyears,eachdeveloped fordifferentpurposes. Several
ofaircrafthaveswitchedschemes,bothasaresultofchangingr I andthrough progressive finish developmentforthesamegeneral role.
Ih intentofahigh-visibilityfinish (andmarkings)wastoallowthesubje taircrafttobeseen. Thereareseveral reason forthis. In thetraining
The finish ofCanadian Armed Forcesaircraftcan bedivided intotwogeneralcategories: high-visibilityand low-visibility. Theintentofthe
n ir nmentitwouldverydesirabletohaveallparticipantsbeabletoseceachother(atleastintheearlierstagesoftraining). SearchandRescue
two was fairly obvious: to eitherattractthe visual attention with high-visibility features or,conversely, hideor blend thesubjectaircraft intoa
1r raftarealso required to beseen, notonly from theground,butbyotheraircraftoperatingwithinconfinedairspace. Thesamecould besaid
given background. Theoverall finish ofan aircraftcan be tailored forthesetwogoals. In theearlysixties, when the RC Freplaced theSabre
r,ircraftoperatingwithin thetermsofUnited Nations use. Trainingaircraftanddisplayaircraftoughttobeseen bygroundobserversas well
fleet in Europe, the newStarfighterwas notto havethe proposedcamouflagefinish applied. The Freighterwas the lasttosoldieron in Europe
~ tho ealso involved inaerialdisplay. Crewsofaircraftutilized in thetowingoftargetswould find itverydesirabletobeseen. Fromtheview
incamouflage,until itfaded, priortotheunificationprocess. Camouflagewasno longerin voguewith theintendedgoalofconcealment. RCAF
intofSAR,the findingofalostaircraftwouldbevisuallyeasierwithoutcamouflage. Thus,in peacetime,high-visibilitymarkings,and better
aircraftweregenerally leftin natural metal, with theexceptionofspecial purposeschemessuchas: overallyellow fortraining; theblue, redand
till, theentireairframe finish, was moredesirableon alostaircraft.
white helicopter finish for Mid Canada Line work; ortheoverall white for work with the United Nations.
enerally,mosttypesinthiscategorywouldnotbeconsideredas"deployable"intoacombatzone. Thiswouldincludesometransport,search
With unification,theAirelementofthenewCanadian rmed Forceswasto focus
Ind re cue, and training types. Sometypes did have paintschemes in line with the low-visibility issues, butcarriedcontrasting high-visibility
closeron theneedsoftheground forces. The Buffaloand CF-5 weretoenterservice
markings like the Voodoo. In manycases, factors includedtheoperatingenvironment. Forexample,the MaritimcTrackerand ea King were
with thisgoal in mind. TheCanadianArmy hadmandatedthe useofcamouflagedon
paintedinoverall lightgreyasacamouflagebutwith full-colourmarkings until replacedbyadarkeroverallgreyand FIPmarkings,latein 1985.
all aircraft to be flown near what would be the front line. These schemes were
In2004,high-visibilityfinishschemeswerewornbytheBuffalo,Challenger,Dash8,Firefly,HarvardII,Hawk,JetrangerIII,KingAirC90,Silver
continued post unification, with the Iroquois and laterthe Kiowa and Twin Huey in
tar,TutorandTwin Otter.
overall green. On all type,camouflagewasdependanton theenvironment in which
operations wereto takeplace.
Blue Red and White Helicopters
Initiallydesigned for useon helicoptersconstructingthe MIDCanada Lineand Labradorhelicopters, the blueand redschemewasdesigned
t rnaximi e visibility ofthesubjectaircraft. The H-34A and Vertol H-21/44 retired with the schemeshortly after unification, leaving thesix
LabradorSARhelicoptersremainingin this finish. Thecolours had been FluorescentRed-Orangeupperpylons,White 10-2uppercabinandthe
1\ cr fuselage Blue 2-12. The fluorescent colour was changed to Red 9-2 in 1965, when RCAF SAR markings had also changed from the
lu re cent Red-Orange toOrange8-5. As this was late in service, notall aircraft may have beenconverted before unification.
Labrador 11303arrivesatanAbbotsford AirShowon August9,1973. Ithasthestandard bluelowerfuselage,white uppercabinand red rotorpylons.
'Ih chernewas replaced byoverallyellowstartingin 1977.PhOTO:DOl/glasRemingTon.
The Natural Metal Look
:
LikemostoftheinheritedRCAI'aircraft,Starlighter12796displaysanaturalmetallinish. pperwingsandtailwereWhite513-1Olandlowerwingserey
01-109. ThisaircraftwenttoTurkeyin 1986. PhOTO:J-L GaynecoeTchecolleCTion.
-16- Canadian MilitaryAircraft Canadian MilitaryAircraft -17-