1/72 CC-130H Hercules Canadian Forces Italeri

Sorry this is a day late, I was signing a lease on a place to live next semester yesterday and was out until late.

Well here it is, the post you have all been waiting for, the post I have been bragging about and hopefully building up your anticipation for. Most of my models I leave out the small/tiny things like tiny antennas or decals the size of dots, but not this one. I went all out. So read, look at the pictures, and enjoy as I explain how I made this bird such a beauty.

1/72 CC-130H Hercules Italeri

 Well, here is the model that has taken me forever to make. I wanted to make it as good looking as possible which is why it took so long to do. This is the 1/72 C-130 Hercules kit from Italeri with Leading Edge Models Canadian decals.

The model came with its own Canadian markings but they were older markings so I decided to purchase the leading edge decals and save the others for something else. As far as assembly goes it was exactly the same as the AC-130 Gunship by Italeri just without the guns. The model was easy to assemble with the wings being the only thing I had to use elastics on to
make them stay together. I painted the cockpit Cockpit Green with Neutral Grey seat cushions and I painted the dials on the instrument panel Flat Black. The ladder is Neutral Grey and the floor is Royal Light Grey

The cockpit after being inserted into the model. The black thing is a marble for a balast

I painted the interior the darker IJN Grey spray while the floor is Flat Aluminum which made a nice polish somewhat similar to that inside the actual thing. Overall the aircraft is the lighter IJN Grey

 
Unfortunately one of the prongs that holds the cargo door onto its hinges broke making the ramp either closed or broken off. But I refused to let that be the case so I bought a small hinge from Home Hardware and made an incision in the ramp and one in the bottom of the cargo hold of the plane and inserted the hinge into each side. Now the ramp stays in place and doesn't randomly fall off.

 

 This plane had me trying to innovate quite a bit because one marble didn't work. Problem was that I had already put the whole thing together and didn't have a way of putting a new marble in. But then it hit me that there was a lot of room in the nose wheel well so I put another marble there too. It still didn't work. So I took an empty paint thing, cleaned it out and sprayed it so now it looks like my CC-130 is transporting a large oil drum.

I built a LAV 25 and put little Canadian flags on it because it more closely matches Canadas LAV III's than any Stryker models available. I think it looks good with the CC-130

In the end the model turned out great and I can honestly say I am proud of it. I don't usually put the gear down on my models but it is a transport plane and I thought it made more sense to have the wheels down than up. I highly recommend this model even if you aren't Canadian as it comes with a huge decal sheet with markings for the USAF, RAF, RCAF, RAAF, France and Spain too I think. Was a lot of fun and every collection needs a C130 as almost every air force has one.

 Now for the technical and real life stuff. Air forces the world over use this aircraft for hundreds of purposes. Canada uses it for strategic air drops, Search and Rescue, Strategic Air Lift, Ariel Refueling, I'm not sure what it is technically called but dropping troops with parachutes.

 I took this pictures at the Kitchener/Waterloo air show where they had an H model and a J model on static display with free entry.

I doubt anything will replace this aircraft anytime soon that is not simply an updated version of this aircraft but someday there will come a need for the same kind of aircraft but more modern. The C17 is a fairly good sister plane but nothing beats the good old C130.

General characteristics

• Crew: 5 (two pilots, navigator, flight engineer and loadmaster)
• Capacity:
  
  
  • C-130E/H/J cargo hold: length, 40 feet (12.31 meters); width, 119 inches (3.12 meters); height, 9 feet (2.74 meters). Rear ramp: length, 123 inches (3.12 meters); width, 119 inches (3.02 meters)
  • C-130J-30 cargo hold: length, 55 feet (16.9 meters); width, 119 inches (3.12 meters); height, 9 feet (2.74 meters). Rear ramp: length, 123 inches (3.12 meters); width, 119 inches (3.02 meters)
  • 92 passengers or
  • 64 airborne troops or
  • 74 litter patients with 2 medical personnel or
  • 6 pallets or
  • 2–3 Humvees or
  • 2 M113 armored personnel carriers
• Payload: 45,000 lb (20,000 kg)
• Length: 97 ft 9 in (29.8 m)
• Wingspan: 132 ft 7 in (40.4 m)
• Height: 38 ft 3 in (11.6 m)
• Wing area: 1,745 ft² (162.1 m²)
• Empty weight: 75,800 lb (34,400 kg)
• Useful load: 72,000 lb (33,000 kg)
• Max. takeoff weight: 155,000 lb (70,300 kg)
• Powerplant: 4 × Allison T56-A-15 turboprops, 4,590 shp (3,430 kW) each

Performance

• Maximum speed: 320 knots (366 mph, 592 km/h) at 20,000 ft (6,060 m)
• Cruise speed: 292 kn (336 mph, 540 km/h)
• Range: 2,050 nmi (2,360 mi, 3,800 km)
• Service ceiling: 33,000 ft (10,060 m) empty; 23,000 ft (7,077 m) with 42,000 pounds (19,090 kilograms) payload ()
• Rate of climb: 1,830 ft/min (9.3 m/s)
• Takeoff distance: 3,586 ft (1,093 m) at 155,000 lb (70,300 kg) max gross weight; 1,400 ft (427 m) at 80,000 lb (36,300 kg) gross weight

Avionics
Westinghouse Electronic Systems (now Northrop Grumman) AN/APN-241 weather and navigational radar


 So there it is. My bi post about a large subject I am proud of. Don't worry, this doesn't mean I will take a year off from posting. Oh no, I have many more models to come like a CT-133, a CF-18F Canada's possible future fighter/bomber aircraft, an M1 A1 Abrams, a Mil Mi 26 and many many more. Stay tuned. I may also post some of the great wars that my models participate in. Don't worry, I don't smash them together, no I gently make them fight each other in great battles that will hopefully never come true.

(All pictures by me except the following, information from Wikipedia and the National Canadian Air and Space Museum.)

1/72 CH-47 Chinook Canadian Forces (Trumpeter)

Good day to everyone, hope all is well in your model world. Today I will be making my absolute last post before posting my large one. It will be awesome, it will be cool and you will be glad that the long wait is over. Anyways, here is one of my prouder modeling moments. Not too many pictures of the model itself because I was unsure what to show off on it

1/72 CH-47 Chinook Canadian Forces (Trumpeter)

 Here is one of my favorites from my collection. Built about a month ago, this old bird was originally designated to be American and from the Vietnam War era. But being the crazy canuck that I am, I decided to make it beautifully Canadian.

The model is by Trumpeter and stays true to my scale like my other models. It was easy to build and has a full interior including the cargo bay area. The rear door does not open unfortunately but it is still a nice looking plane. I painted it overall Nato Green with Chrome Silver rotor mounts with Black Rotors and Flat Yellow tips. The interior I painted Royal Light Gray while the cockpit itself is Neutral Grey (Like usual haha) and Flat Black/Olive Green Seats.

I used decals intended for a Canadian SH-3 Sea King from the Canadian Helicopters decal sheet from Leading Edge Models. I think it turned out great despite not being able to really find a great picture of this aircraft.

If you are relatively new at modeling, I would recommend this aircraft because the kit fits together well and has a bunch of nitpicky but easy to place antennas which can be a pain in the ass on fighter jets. If you want to make it Canadian, I say go for it.
This helicopter was designed to basically carry anything that the C130 couldn't go. It was also created to help transport heavy equipment/large groups of troops throughout Vietnam during the war. Canada uses these old choppers for the same reason as well as search and rescue as it is capable of landing on water.



General characteristics

• Crew: 3 (pilot, copilot, flight engineer)
• Capacity:
  
  • 33–55 troops or
  • 24 litters and 3 attendants or
  • 28,000 lb (12,700 kg) cargo
• Length: 98 ft 10 in (30.1 m)
• Rotor diameter: 60 ft 0 in (18.3 m)
• Height: 18 ft 11 in (5.7 m)
• Disc area: 5,600 ft² (2,800 ft² per rotor disc) (260 m²)
• Empty weight: 23,400 lb (10,185 kg)
• Loaded weight: 26,680 lb (12,100 kg)
• Max. takeoff weight: 50,000 lb (22,680 kg)
• Powerplant: 2 × Lycoming T55-GA-714A turboshaft, 4,733 hp (3,631 kW) each

Performance

• Maximum speed: 170 knots (196 mph, 315 km/h)
• Cruise speed: 130 kt (149 mph, 240 km/h)
• Range: 400 nmi (450 mi, 741 km)
• Combat radius: 200 nmi (370.4 km)
• Ferry range: 1,216 nmi (1,400 mi, 2,252 km)
• Service ceiling: 18,500 ft (5,640 m)
• Rate of climb: 1,522 ft/min (7.73 m/s)
• Disc loading: 9.5 lb/ft² (47 kg/m²)
• Power/mass: 0.28 hp/lb (460 W/kg)

Armament

• up to 3 pintle mounted medium machine guns (1 on loading ramp and 2 at shoulder windows), generally 7.62 mm (0.308 in) M240/FN MAG machine guns

Avionics

• Rockwell Collins Common Avionics Architecture System (CAAS) (MH-47G/CH-47F)

 (info from Wikipedia and the Canadian Forces website.)

1/72 CH-136 Canadian Forces Italeri

Hello everyone, hope all is well and I hope you are ready for a string of new posts as well as my large post. It will come in a few days as I am off from work and it is reading week for my summer semester.

1/72 CH-136 Canadian Forces Italeri

 I built this one about half a week ago. This is Italeri's small C-136 Kiowa helicopter model in 1/72 scale. The model is supposed to have an observational bubble above the rotors but Canada never had that kind of thing back in the 80's when these were operated.

It was a fairly easy model to build despite being smaller than a humvee. The overall colour is Nato Green with Green camo. The interior is mostly Neutral Grey with the panel being Flat Black. The rotors are Black with Silver mounts. I used decals from the Leading Edge 1/72 helicopter's of Canada set.

 Canada had these aircraft as training vehicles from the 70's on. They also provided artillery and fighter strike spotting when deployed in the field just like they do now in fire teams with America's Apache Longbow Helicopters.

That's basically it for this little helicopter. In case you didn't notice, they are basically military versions of the Bell Jet Ranger, a popular helicopter for civilian users.

Specifications:
Rotor Span: 10.77 m
Length: 12.49 m
Height: 2.90 m
Weight, Gross: 1,360 kg
Maximum Speed: 222 km/h
Service Ceiling: 5,791 m
Hover Ceiling: 1,829 m
Range: 573 km
Power Plant: Allison 250 C-18 turbine, 350 s.h.p
(Specs provided by the Canadian Air & Space Museum)

1/72 CF-104G Starfighter Monogram + hasegawa

Thank you to everyone who has visited my blog to this point. Recently I have seen a huge increase in page views (not including my own) so I just wanted to say thank you and I hope I haven't disappointed you.

I also want to say sorry for the inactivity over the past few days. I have more than enough models to tell you about, but I still have school twice a week and work two to four times a week.

I have also been working really hard on the subject of my big post as I wanted to go all out on it and show just what I can do when the subject is big and the decals can get very small and stupid.

1/72 CF-104G Starfighter

post will be a little bit different than usual as I built two of the same aircraft (essentially) and because it is my absolute favorite aircraft, and not just because I am a space nerd and the name is Starfighter. No I like it because of how it proudly wears Canadian colours, the bullet-like shape and the capabilities of the aircraft.

 The "newer" aircraft (the one on the right in most pictures) was the one I built first  about a week ago and was made by Monogram, a company I think is now owned by Revell. It only had USAF decals so, like all of my other Canadian planes, I used decals from Leading Edge Models to decorate it.

I can't say that either of these models were tough to build, just some stubborn parts was all. Anyways, the Monogram one I painted overall the lighter IJN Grey spray and used Nato Green spray for the camo. This was my second attempt using spray cans for camo and I think it turned out great. I painted the bottom Royal Light Gray with the interiors of both aircraft being Neutral Grey with Olive Green seats and Flat Black panels. The missiles are White with Black rings, the same goes for the front of the engines. The back of the engines are Gun Metal. The nose is also Flat Black

 The hasegawa is overall Silver Leaf with Red wing fuel tanks and elevators. This one came with Canadian decals so I simply used those. No point wasting money on decals when they are already provided right?

I personally think the silver and red make the hasegawa kit look better than the Monogram one, which looks much more modern.

These aircraft played a vital role in the defense of Canada from the late 50's to the mid 80's as supersonic interceptor aircraft. They were purchased, along with the F-101 Voodoo, when the Diefenbaker government cancelled the Avro Canada Arrow due to costs and what he saw as an obsolete way to protect Canada.

But this plane wasn't all rainbows and unicorns. No, this plane was a dangerous aircraft due to its small control surfaces meaning the pilot could loose control easily and crash, earning it the nickname "Widow Maker" from crews as most pilots who crashed this plane died along with the plane. These planes were replaced by our current fleet of CFA-188 Hornets (commonly referred to as the CF-18 Hornet).

I still like the plane because it looks like something from a science fiction movie that would hold off alien star ships as civilians escape.

General characteristics

• Crew: 1
• Length: 54 ft 6 in (16.7 m)
• Wingspan: 21 ft 9 in (6.63 m)
• Height: 13 ft 5 in (4.08 m)
• Empty weight: 14,000 lb (6,300 kg)
• Max. takeoff weight: 29,038 lb (13,171 kg)
• Powerplant: 1 × Orenda J79-OEL-7 afterburning turbojet
  • Dry thrust: 10,000 lbf (44 kN)
  • Thrust with afterburner: 15,800 lbf (66.7 kN)
   
  

Performance

• Maximum speed: 1,146 mph (996 kn, 1,844 km/h)
• Range: 1,630 mi (1,420 nmi, 2,630 km)
• Service ceiling: 50,000 ft (12,000 m)

Armament

• Guns: 1× 20 mm (0.79 in) M61A1 Vulcan cannon
• Other: External bombs and missiles

(All info provided from Wikipedia and the brief histories from each model manufacture printed on the instructions)

A10 "Thunderbolt" 'Warthog' 1/72 Academy USAF

Hello everyone, hope you are enjoying my posts and learning some things about how to make models look a little better than good. My last few posts were about Canadian aircraft and my next few post will probably follow the same flow. Why you might ask? Well simply because I am Canadian and damn proud to be so I am trying to build every Canadian aircraft I can find.

I recently got a really good one and am taking my time putting the decals on but it should be up in a few days. Watch for it and be excited.

A10 Thunderbolt 'Warthog' USAF

This one was a little hard to find. The A10 certainly is not too much of a beautiful plane but it sure packs an awesome punch. I built her probably a month ago after finding it at Forbes Hobbies in Cambridge and was very excited when I did.

Anyways, the A10 is in 1/72 scale (like all of my models. Must keep consistency for the wars they fight) and was a fairly easy build. I find most airplanes are. The only kind of pain in the neck part of this assembly was putting the missiles and bombs together, as well as acquiring air-to-air missiles for it. I used the lighter IJN Grey spray paint over all with Neutral Grey in the cockpit, Clear Green on the targeting computer, Black inside the engines and Metallic Blue on the tops of the tail fins. The missiles are all white with Black tips while the bombs are Nato Green. The seat is also Nato Green. The instrument panel and the side panels are Flat Black as I am not sure if the plane came with decals for those or not.

This is the first model that I used Mark Fit by Tamiya on. Essentially clear nail polish, what this does is secures your decals so they won't move or come off when handling the model

I highly recommend Mark Fit or something like it so you don't accidentally pull the decals off when having those great battles.



 So you may not be familiar with this aircraft as it is practically new. It was used extensively during the Gulf War and the Iraqi war and also anti terror operations in Afghanistan. This plane is designed for one thing and one thing only... blowing the shit out of tanks. All the missiles it packs are capable anti-tank missiles with a few air to air for self defense.

This plane is famous for its use during the Gulf war in which it, along with Apache helicopters, created the Highway of Death. As Suddams army left Kuwait in retreat, American aircraft buzzed all over the place destroying hundreds of tanks and other ground assets and killing thousands. Pictures of the highway are easy to find as the Highway of Death is probably one of the most recognizable battles of the Gulf War


General characteristics

• Crew: 1
• Length: 53 ft 4 in (16.26 m)
• Wingspan: 57 ft 6 in (17.53 m)
• Height: 14 ft 8 in (4.47 m)
• Wing area: 506 ft² (47.0 m²)
• Airfoil: NACA 6716 root, NACA 6713 tip
• Empty weight: 24,959 lb (11,321 kg)
• Loaded weight: 30,384 lb (13,782 kg) On CAS mission: 47,094 lb (21,361 kg)
  On anti-armor mission: 42,071 lb (19,083 kg)
• Max. takeoff weight: 50,000 lb (23,000 kg)
• Powerplant: 2 × General Electric TF34-GE-100A turbofans, 9,065 lbf (40.32 kN) each

Performance

• Never exceed speed: 450 knots (518 mph, 833 km/h) at 5,000 ft (1,500 m) with 18 Mk 82 bombs
• Maximum speed: 381 knots (439 mph, 706 km/h) at sea level, clean
• Cruise speed: 300 knots (340 mph, 560 km/h)
• Stall speed: 120 knots (138 mph, 220 km/h)
• Combat radius:
  
  • On CAS mission: 250 nmi (288 mi, 460 km) at 1.88 hour single-engine loiter at 5,000 ft (1,500 m), 10 min combat
  • On anti-armor mission: 252 nmi (290 mi, 467 km), 40 nm (45 mi, 75 km)) sea-level penetration and exit, 30 min combat
• Ferry range: 2,240 nmi (2,580 mi, 4,150 km) with 50 knot (55 mph, 90 km/h) headwinds, 20 minutes reserve
• Service ceiling: 45,000 ft (13,700 m)
• Rate of climb: 6,000 ft/min (30 m/s)
• Wing loading: 99 lb/ft² (482 kg/m²)
• Thrust/weight: 0.36

Armament

• Guns: 1× 30 mm (1.18 in) GAU-8/A Avenger gatling cannon with 1,174 rounds
• Hardpoints: 11 (8× under-wing and 3× under-fuselage pylon stations) with a capacity of 16,000 lb (7,260 kg) and provisions to carry combinations of:
  • Rockets:
    
    • 4× LAU-61/LAU-68 rocket pods (each with 19× / 7× Hydra 70 mm rockets, respectively)
    • 4× LAU-5003 rocket pods (each with 19× CRV7 70 mm rockets)
    • 6× LAU-10 rocket pods (each with 4× 127 mm (5.0 in) Zuni rockets)
  • Missiles:
    
    • 2× AIM-9 Sidewinders air-to-air missiles for self-defense
    • 6× AGM-65 Maverick air-to-surface missiles
  • Bombs:
    
    • Mark 80 series of unguided iron bombs or
    • Mk 77 incendiary bombs or
    • BLU-1, BLU-27/B Rockeye II, Mk20, BL-755and CBU-52/58/71/87/89/97 cluster bombs or
    • Paveway series of Laser-guided bombs or
    • Joint Direct Attack Munition (A-10C) or
    • Wind Corrected Munitions Dispenser (A-10C)
  • Other:
    
    • SUU-42A/A Flares/Infrared decoys and chaff dispenser pod or
    • AN/ALQ-131 or AN/ALQ-184 ECM pods or
    • Lockheed Martin Sniper XR or LITENING targeting pods (A-10C) or
    • 2× 600 US gallon Sargent Fletcher drop tanks for increased range/loitering time.
    
    

Avionics

• AN/AAS-35(V) Pave Penny laser tracker pod (mounted beneath right side of cockpit) for use with Paveway LGBs
• Head-up display (HUD) for improved technical flying and air-to-ground support.

So what do I think? This plane is really cool. All that armament makes it awesome even despite its rather slow speed. I think these guys will be around for a while and the only thing to really compare it to is the SU-25 which was built for the same purpose.

CUH-1 Huey 1/72 Canadian Forces

Hello everyone, hope you are enjoying the new posts. I know there is only one new one so far but I have a lot to show you so get excited.

Today I want to show you something a little different than a simple airplane as I also build helicopters and surface assets. No Naval vessels because I like to build strictly in 1/72 scale (Could you imagine a 1/72 U.S.S Enterprise air craft carrier? Would take up my whole room.

Anyways, today I will show off one of my favorite builds of the past month and a half off from school.

CUH-1 Huey 1/72 Canadian Forces

 I built this one probably about two weeks ago. the kit is by Panda Models and I utilized the decals for a UH-1 in the 'Canadian Helicopters' decal sheet pack by Leading Edge Models. The CUH-1 was basically Canada's main helicopter until adopting the Griffon not too long ago. This aircraft acted as troop transport, gunship, recon and even search and rescue.

I built it to have room for armed troops as well as two Gatling guns mounted on the sides to provide fire support for those troops. I painted the aircraft overall in NATO Green with Green camo on top. The interior is Neutral Grey with the front seats having Olive Drab on them. The instrument panel is Flat Black with the rotors being Black. The tips are Flat Yellow with the main rotor being Flat Aluminum. the guns are the same colour as the fuselage except that the barrels are Gun Metal.

 The Huey is probably the most recognizable aircraft in modern history sue to its use in Vietnam and every American conflict to date including 'Desert Storm' and 'Iraqi Freedom.' The only truly comparable aircraft is its replacement, the Black Hawk. No other aircraft, except maybe the Mil-Mi Hind, has served its purpose for as long as as well as this old bird. Many recognize the Huey from some great movies, such as 'We Were Soldiers' but many other movies and TV series depicting war have used this aircraft.




General characteristics

• Crew: 1–4
• Capacity: 3,880 lb (1,760 kg) including 14 troops, or 6 stretchers, or equivalent cargo
• Length: 57 ft 1 in (17.40 m) with rotors
• Width: 8 ft 7 in (2.62 m) (Fuselage)
• Height: 14 ft 5 in (4.39 m)
• Empty weight: 5,215 lb (2,365 kg)
• Gross weight: 9,040 lb (4,100 kg)
• Max takeoff weight: 9,500 lb (4,309 kg)
• Powerplant: 1 × Lycoming T53-L-11 turboshaft, 1,100 shp (820 kW)
• Main rotor diameter: 48 ft 0 in (14.63 m)

Performance

• Maximum speed: 135 mph (217 km/h; 117 kn)
• Cruise speed: 125 mph (109 kn; 201 km/h)
• Range: 315 mi (274 nmi; 507 km)
• Service ceiling: 19,390 ft (5,910 m) (Dependent on environmental factors such as weight, outside temp., etc)
• Rate of climb: 1,755 ft/min (8.92 m/s)
• Power/mass: 0.15 hp/lb (0.25 kW/kg)

Armament
Variable, but may include a combination of:

• 2 x 7.62 mm M60 machine gun, or 2 7.62 mm GAU-17/A machine gun
• 2 x 7-round or 19-round 2.75 in (70 mm) rocket pods
• 2 x 7.62 mm Rheinmetall MG3 (German Army and German Luftwaffe)
• 2 x .303 Browning Mk II (Rhodesian, twin machine guns mounted on port side)

All information provided by wikipedia, 'First Into Vietnam' documentary,'We Were Soldiers,' and photos provided by me and Google

BAe CT-155 Hawk 1/72 scale by Air Fix

Hello everyone,

Sorry about the long delay in a new post. I stopped constructing models for a while for many different reasons that took up a lot of my time, the main one being at Seneca for Travel and Tourism (Flight Services). That's right, I am learning to be a flight attendant.

Anyways, I am home now and will be posting a lot as I have too much free time on my hands and am not huge on drinking haha. So the posting will not lag behind. I have built an unprecedented amount of models over the past month and a half or so and I will be posting updates for as many as I feel like.

I will also be including some techniques I used for painting, constructing and decaling these models as I started this blog because I couldn't find any blogs about how to make models look as realistic as some do. I am not there yet, but I'm getting there. Also, any and all paints are by Tamiya.

CT-155 Hawk 1/72 by Air Fix

My first new post will be of an aircraft I just finished a few hours ago. Namely, the CT-155 Hawk of the RCAF. If you go out looking for this aircraft you will never find it in this scale as I combined a few things to make the model work. The model itself is by Air Fix, a company I don't usually build with as every single model I do build by them has a lot of excess plastic on it. This model didn't and I was happy about that.

I started simply by painting and decalling the interior pieces so I won't have to try and get the paint brush into tight/awkward spots. The rest of assembly went well, really good in fact. This model did not once have me swearing or leaving the table out of frustration. A great build.

I painted the interior Neutral Gray with the seats being Olive Green. The pilot's jumpsuits I painted Olive Green with Neutral Gray Helmets, Black gloves/boots/masks and Flat Black visors. I painted the aircraft overall Sea Blue with the missiles getting J.N. Gray with Blue, Red and Green stripes.

You may be wondering how I was able to make this aircraft Canadian as the kit only comes with RAF/Indian Air Force decals. I simply combined the decals I had left over from a CF-5 Freedom Fighter, plus a few decals from a T33. These decals were printed by a company called Leading Edge Models who print Canadian decals for aircraft that otherwise would not be Canadian. And being Canadian has influenced me wanting to decal the aircraft this way.

 Ok, enough with the assembly, now let's discuss what this plane is and is used for. Well, to put it simply, it is an intermediate jet trainer for Canadian RCAF pilots. The Indian Air Force uses them as light strike fighters as well as the RAF and several other countries utilize them for training as well.


For RCAF pilots these aircraft are usually the last thing they fly before graduating to the CFA-18 Hornet, which is due to be retired as soon as we (Canada) find something to replace it.


So that is basically the CT-155, where the T means trainer and the C means Canadian. If you are ever at a Canadian air show (Waterloo air show for example) you will see two pilots demonstrate this aircraft's capabilities. All of those demonstrators hail from Moose Jaw, which is a small city near Regina, Saskatchewan. A magnificent little trainer, I think it will be around for years to come.



General characteristics

• Crew: 2: student, instructor
• Length: 12.43 m (40 ft 9 in)
• Wingspan: 9.94 m (32 ft 7 in)
• Height: 3.98 m (13 ft 1 in)
• Wing area: 16.70 m² (179.64 ft²)
• Empty weight: 4,480 kg (9,880 lb)
• Useful load: 3,000 kg (6,600 lb)
• Max takeoff weight: 9,100 kg (20,000 lb)
• Powerplant: 1× Rolls-Royce Adour Mk. 951 turbofan with FADEC, 29 kN (6,500 lbf) 29 kN

  Performance

• Maximum speed: Mach 0.84 (1,028 km/h, 638 mph) at altitude
• Range: 2,520 km (1,360 NM, 1,565 mi)
• Service ceiling: 13,565 m (44,500 ft)
• Rate of climb: 47 m/s (9,300 ft/min)
• Thrust/weight: 0.65

Armament

Note: all armament is optional.

• 1× 30 mm ADEN cannon, in centreline pod
• Up to 6,800 lb (3,085 kg) of weapons on five hardpoints, including:
  • 4× AIM-9 Sidewinder or ASRAAM on wing pylons and wingtip rails
• 1,500 lb (680 kg), limited to one centreline and two wing pylons (Hawk T1)

(Information provided by Wikipedia and the Canadian Forces website)