Canadair CL84 vs V22 Osprey

cantom

cantom

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Watch this video on the Canadian designed and built Canadair CL84. Look at how good it was and ask yourself if it would have been useful in Afghanistan and elsewhere for our forces.

It would have been great for search and rescue as well, it was fast and long ranged.

Note the firing tests with a minigun pod....a very versatile aircraft that could have been a great gunship.

Note that it was amply demonstrated to the Americans, including carrier landings and landing at the Pentagon.

I remember ads for this aircraft in Sentinel magazine in the early 70's.

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This is from a time when Canada still had some technological and cultural independence from our southern neighbour, now, all our geniuses go work in the states.
 
I remember when I was a kid in the early 1970s I saw a clip on the news about an aircraft that could take off like a helicoper and turn its wings to fly like a normal plane. I told my uncle about it and he said it was nuts and I must have dreamt it.
 
Pretty incredible engineering when you consider this is from before the days of electronic control systems.

Cams!

What killed it, I believe, is the same thing that roadblocks every modern canadian military purchase. The CL84 wouldn't benefit US industry, technology, or economy. So how would it be sold to politicians? It might be useful for the man on the ground (or at sea) but that is far from the primary concern in government.. lol.
And of course even today there is some debate about the utility of the osprey.
 
Who knows? Probably wrong place and wrong time. The mid 70's was a bad time for procurement, either in the US or Canada. If that thing was viable in 1965 with Vietnam just kicking off, I bet the Yanks would be all over it as a rescue craft. Not so much by 1972.

The Osprey is a fun ride, hell of a rotor wash though! Same for the exhaust. It's fond of picking up small rocks and flinging them in your face, and it can blow you clean over if you're not careful! Either way, even with a full load of troops it was like an express elevator ride to 1000 ft, up and gone.
 
Developement work on CL84 must have been in the mid 60's. My parents gave me a plastic model kit of this A/C for Xmas when I was still in High School. Finished HS in 67. Have got no idea what company produced the kit but would probably be a collector's item now. Same paint scheme as in video. Was there more than one prototype?
 
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I have to admit, the Osprey would make one heck of a good gunship for very close support. Higher speeds, longer loiter times and much higher weapons and ammunition capacity. Half a dozen mini guns and a couple of 30 mm's and you've got a lot of support in a fast maneuverable package.
 
My dad is a retired aviation engineer..worked most of his life for the federal gov't designing airports in the north......he has never gotten past the cancellation of the Avro Arrow.

A conservative his entire life...still is......but mention Diefenbaker in his house and you will earn yourself an early exit. Not kidding...if you want to see a rather mild 73 year old make you feel afraid for your personal safety...bring up the Arrow project.

I get the overall politics and economics of it all....still, what a shame. Feels like the '50s were Canada's last chance to become something great.
 
vermintrex said:
My dad is a retired aviation engineer..worked most of his life for the federal gov't designing airports in the north......he has never gotten past the cancellation of the Avro Arrow.

A conservative his entire life...still is......but mention Diefenbaker in his house and you will earn yourself an early exit. Not kidding...if you want to see a rather mild 73 year old make you feel afraid for your personal safety...bring up the Arrow project.

I get the overall politics and economics of it all....still, what a shame. Feels like the '50s were Canada's last chance to become something great.
Click to expand...

^^Yes, we really blew it. Now we're fetchers of water and hewers of wood...crap.

The CL84 is another example.
 
vermintrex said:
My dad is a retired aviation engineer..worked most of his life for the federal gov't designing airports in the north......he has never gotten past the cancellation of the Avro Arrow.

A conservative his entire life...still is......but mention Diefenbaker in his house and you will earn yourself an early exit. Not kidding...if you want to see a rather mild 73 year old make you feel afraid for your personal safety...bring up the Arrow project.

I get the overall politics and economics of it all....still, what a shame. Feels like the '50s were Canada's last chance to become something great.
Click to expand...

I totally agree sir. Even though my dad served with the RCN in the Atlantic Theater on "barf boats" (Corvettes) and went on to be a civilian administrator on an ammo depot, any mention of "Dief the Chief" will be followed with a "F-that turd" reply.

That f*^k sold us out bigtime in the case of the Arrow, and that other turd Paul Hellier who emalgamated the Canadian Forces should have been strung up as well.

Happy 95th. birthday Dad!
I still hold up the White Ensign!:D
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