Canadair CL-28

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Canadair CL-28

"CL-28 flying over the Royal Yacht" - Canadair photo
Type	maritime patrol aircraft
Manufacturer	Canadair
Primary user	RCAF
Developed from	Bristol Britannia

The Canadair CL-28 was a marine reconnaissance aircraft designed and manufactured by Canadair and was known in the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) as the CP-107 Argus.

The design was derived from the Bristol Britannia transport, having the same wings, tail surfaces and landing gear except for being "Americanised" - meaning that it used the same general design, but changing the British materials and standard parts for North American ones.

The fuselage was completely redesigned by Canadair, going from the pressure cabin of the Britannia to a non-pressurised one with bomb bays fore and aft of the wings. The powerplant was also changed from the Bristol Proteus turbo-prop engines to Wright compound (piston) engines, which had lower fuel consumption which was necessary for extended flight times.

A large amount of equipment was carried, including; search radar; sonar buoys; Electronic Counter Measures ECM); Explosive Echo Ranging (EER) and Magnetic anomaly detector (MAD). Up to 8,000 lb (3,632 kg) of weapons could be carried in the bomb bays, including; torpedoes; bombs; mines and depth charges.

There was a flight crew of five, two pilots, a navigator, a flight engineer and a radio operator. A relief crew of four was normally carried. In addition, there were equipment operators, the number of which was dependent on the mission. Two crew bunks and a galley were provided to extend the efficiency of the crew on long patrols. The CL-28 had an endurance of approximately 26½ hours.

It was replaced in the early 1980s by the CP-140 Aurora.

1 Variants
2 Operators
3 Specifications
4 Notes
5 Related content

[edit] Variants

Argus Mk 1 : Long-range maritime reconnaissance aircraft for the RCAF. This aircraft was fitted with an American APS-20 radar in a chin-mounted radome. (13 built)
Argus Mk 2 : Long-range maritime reconnaissance aircraft for the RCAF. This aircraft was fitted with a British ASV-21 radar in a chin-mounted radome. (20-built)