Royal Canadian Air Force

by **Trooper** Sun 15 Oct 2017, 10:44 am

Royal Canadian Air Force

Royal Canadian Air Force

by **RazzorSharp))** Sun 13 Dec 2020, 4:07 pm

RCAF announces pilot for 2021 CF-18 Demonstration Team

December 7, 2020

News Release Here: Pilot for 2021 CF-18 Demonstration Team

by Jackson Tue 22 Dec 2020, 8:51 am

Ottawa eyeing second-hand market to replace VIP and cargo fleet

Daniel Leblanc · CBC News · Posted: Dec 22, 2020

Royal Canadian Air Force Trudeau-davos-20180122

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau walks toward his plane as he departs Ottawa for Davos, Switzerland, in 2018. The Canadian government wants to replace its aging fleet of VIP and cargo planes and is considering whether a deal can be struck with commercial airlines seeking financial relief.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/ottawa-second-hand-market-planes-1.5850140

by JAFO Tue 22 Dec 2020, 11:45 am

Ofcourse the oldest aircrafts in the fleets would end up being sold to DND. But if DND wants new I'm pretty sure Boeing is having a huge discount sale on their new Boeing Max!

by Ironman Fri 01 Jan 2021, 9:49 pm

The War in the Air

The War in the Air

by **Stargunner** Fri 19 Feb 2021, 8:51 pm

Junius Lyman Edward Hokan: An extraordinary RCAF officer

News Article / February 17, 2021

http://www.rcaf-arc.forces.gc.ca/en/article-template-standard.page?doc=junius-lyman-edward-hokan-an-extraordinary-rcaf-officer/kkei8fo6

by Covert Sat 03 Apr 2021, 9:20 am

C-130 Hercules flyover in Edmonton celebrates Second World War veteran’s 100th birthday

By Caley Ramsay Global News
Posted April 2, 2021

https://globalnews.ca/news/7735768/edmonton-second-world-war-veteran-100-birthday-flyover/

by Matrix Sun 25 Apr 2021, 9:20 pm

Pilot training, spare part shortages among challenges military facing from COVID-19

Lee Berthiaume, The Canadian Press
Published Sunday, April 25, 2021

https://www.cp24.com/news/pilot-training-spare-part-shortages-among-challenges-military-facing-from-covid-19-1.5401710

by **Proctor** Sun 09 May 2021, 9:20 pm

RCAF turns to foreign pilots to help with shortage as commercial aviators stay away

May 09. 2021

https://www.baytoday.ca/national-news/rcaf-turns-to-foreign-pilots-to-help-with-shortage-as-commercial-aviators-stay-away-3763131

by **Spider** Sat 05 Jun 2021, 10:03 am

RCAF CC-177 fleet prepares for upgrades as it
approaches 50,000 flight hours

BY CHRIS THATCHER | JUNE 2, 2021

https://skiesmag.com/news/rcaf-cc177-fleet-prepares-upgrades-approaches-50000-flight-hours/

by **Proctor** Tue 29 Jun 2021, 2:07 pm

Second World War veteran donates $2.4M to MRU to
fund scholarships for Indigenous and women pilots

Published Tuesday, June 29, 2021

https://calgary.ctvnews.ca/second-world-war-veteran-donates-2-4m-to-mru-to-fund-scholarships-for-indigenous-and-women-pilots-1.5489934

by XTYF--33 Fri 05 Nov 2021, 7:55 am

Local veteran reflects on time spent in the Royal Canadian Air Force

Kajal Dhaneshwari
Publishing date: Nov 05, 2021

https://www.devondispatch.ca/news/a-local-veteran-shares-his-story

by Covert Fri 10 Dec 2021, 6:46 am

Leah Mosher, 1954-2021: Pioneering RCAF Hercules pilot later became schoolteacher

Andrew Duffy
Publishing date: Dec 09, 2021

Ottawa Citizen

by **Spider** Wed 29 Dec 2021, 9:45 am

Air Force reporting progress in fight for pilots as COVID-19 ravages airlines

Dec 29. 2021

OTTAWA — The commander of the Royal Canadian Air Force is reporting progress in his long-running fight to recruit and retain enough pilots to fly the military’s planes and helicopters.

Yet Lt.-Gen. Al Meinzinger says it's unclear how much the slowdown in hiring by commercial airlines during the pandemic has helped his cause. And he admits to having concerns that some of the air force's gains could be temporary if airlines resume poaching from the military.

“The efforts that we put into retention writ large, and also specific to pilots, they have helped,” Meinzinger said in an interview.

“I'm a realist as well. I recognize that the commercial aviation sector has suffered significantly during the pandemic. … I'm optimistic we'll see a strong bounceback in the commercial sector, but that will also reintroduce some pressures.”

The Canadian Press was the first to report in 2018 that the air force was dealing with a critical shortage of aviators, which has since been identified as a significant issue by both military officials and outside experts such as the federal auditor general.

While the air force is supposed to have about 1,500 pilots, Meinzinger said he is currently short about 90 aviators. That represents significant progress from May, when it needed 130 pilots.

While no one factor or initiative is responsible, Meinzinger suggested several new retention and recruitment measures rolled out over the past two years have helped address the problem, including new training efforts and a pay increase.

The air force has also implemented better support for military families, increased certainty for pilots in terms of career progression and made a concerted effort to keep aviators in the cockpit and away from desks and administrative work.

Yet Meinzinger also acknowledged the pain felt by commercial airlines during the pandemic has also helped him by reducing the civilian sector’s need for pilots.

While many experienced military pilots have previously hung up their air force uniforms to fly commercial planes in the past, the airline industry has been battered by travel restrictions and other factors during the pandemic.

“We'll just have to continue to manage that,” Meinzinger said of dealing with a resurgence in demand for pilots from the commercial sector. “But I think we're in a better position today than we were two years ago.”

Meinzinger has previously said how a shortage of experienced pilots was forcing the air force to walk a delicate line between keeping enough seasoned aviators available to train new recruits and lead missions in the air.

Fixing the problems created by the shortage will become especially critical if the air force is to be ready for the arrival of replacements for the CF-18s. The list of potential replacements was recently narrowed to two potential fighter jets: the F-35 and Saab Gripen.

Meanwhile, to better ensure the military has enough pilots in the medium and long term, the air force recently changed how long new pilots stay in uniform. Aviators were previously required to stay seven years, but that number is now 10.

“Based on the investments that we make in training, it's a very significant investment,” he said. “So we believe that an obligatory service period of 10 years made much more sense, and is in fact very much consistent with our allies.”

The air force actually reported needing 275 pilots in September 2018, but was able to reduce that number extremely quickly through a reorganization that saw a number of planning and support positions — desk jobs — previously filled by pilots moved to non-pilots.

Yet officials have yet to fill all of those non-flying positions. While the air force is aiming to have more than 190 so-called “air operations officers” to plan and co-ordinate missions rather than flying them, it currently has only 29. Another 47 are in or awaiting training.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 28, 2021.

Lee Berthiaume, The Canadian Press

TIMES COLONIST

by Covert Fri 15 Jul 2022, 7:52 am

Canada moves forward with the acquisition of aircraft for the Royal Canadian Air Force

July 14, 2022 – Ottawa – Department of National Defence / Canadian Armed Forces

News release

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