Here are a few pictures taken at CFB Trenton Mountainview Detachment… As I indicated in another thread, this facility is one of the main locations that aircraft go to, generally, once out of service. There are also some airframes, as you will see, that are still in limited use and may be there for parts for the remaining serviceable aircraft. The airframes are stored in one capacity or another until such time as they are sold or dismantled and destroyed.
The F-5’s stored inside are all flight worthy with a little maintenance and have been on the selling block for some time. They had all received avionics upgrades in the mid- 1990’s prior to moving to Mountainview and at one time were being actively pitched to Greece. The guys at Mountainview all predict they will be cutting them up with electric saws and smashing the bits with sledge hammers as they do not believe they will ever sell.
The picture of the Tutors in the hangar is a shot of what are the replacement airframes for the Snowbirds. As the Snowbirds pile on the hours, these aircraft get prepped to swap out for the current aircraft. There are some of the retired airframes still painted with the Snowbirds scheme stored outdoors.
The picture of the helicopters is thrown in for interests sake. There were initially 36 or 37 of them and they were bought privately when taken from service but subsequently involved in an illegal International arms deal and confiscated by the RCMP. Once impounded they were moved to Mountainview for storage. They have since been bought and are being sent down to Florida where they are being refurbished and have been sold to both Costa Rica and Australia.
The Buffalo is kept at Mountainview as a parts airframe for the ones used in British Columbia. They are having a hard time finding a viable aricraft to replace the Buffalo in the mountainous environment out west.
By: Peter - 8th August 2004 at 00:46
Great pics Glenn any more?? Any identification on that snowbirds cockpit??
By: Glen_RCAF_Fan - 7th August 2004 at 13:40
There are a couple of Tutors outside that are cut up into many pieces and laying about. When I climbed up and looked into the giant dumpster, there were numerous tailpipes and other pieces of Tutors all cut up and disfigured from the lads smashing them with sledge hammers. These pieces all end up going to a smelter where they are sold for weight as scrap metal and recycled. There was also numerous complete Tutor airframes stored outside, some with Snowbirds markings on them. Also, as evidenced above and below, there are a good number stored inside that are all basically good to go and will be repainted in Snowbirds livery as their current aircraft get too many hours on them. In one area of one of the hangars there are jet engines for Tutors and for F-5s all sealed up in giant white, plastic bags. The bags are filled with Nitrogen gas once the motors are encased and then sealed. This is to prevent oxidization and corrosion of the motors while they are being stored. I would estimate there must have been 20 F-5 engines and perhaps 40 Tutor engines stored on shelves and/or on the floors sitting on palettes.
There are a good number of F-5s still on the site and they came here just after undergoing an avionics upgrade. Of 72 retired, 13 went to Botswana (to patrol the large wild life parks so they said!) and the rest came to Mountainview. They are still for sale, though some have since been scrapped. The F-5’s in the above pictures you see with the wings off and covered in Tyvek (the white insulating plastic for houses) are all able to be returned to flight status as well should they need to be.
As a note all the aircraft you see are for sale. All the Thunderbirds on the flight line are all flight worthy and are available cheap!
This facility is Non-public. In fact, even if you are in the military they want to know a good reason why you want to go to the facility. Luckily I was able to access the right people to get a tour for myself, Doughnut (Paul) and another friend on mine. I had a ton of fun checking things out and could have easily spent another hour or two.
I will add a couple extra photos for your perusal to this post as well.
By: Peter - 7th August 2004 at 12:19
Mountainview pics
Excellent pics Glenn thanks for posting! I am currently putting a database together of all the tutor aircraft that served with the snowbirds at one timeor another. Do you have any pics of the tutors that show serials? There also was a rear fuselage laying on its side on aonther forum did you see it when you were there?
By: merlin70 - 7th August 2004 at 09:24
Glen
Thanks for posting. Looks a superb facility. Is open to the general public or are their access restrictions?
By: Manonthefence - 7th August 2004 at 09:17
Cracking photos Glen thanks for sharing.
When I was last at Trenton in 98 there were a number of F-5’s in store there. Is that still the case of have they moved?
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August 6, 2004 at 10:15 pm