Today was the celebration of 70 years of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police Air Service Branch. It included a flypast of the VWC Spitfire in honour of P/O Gorden Hobden RCAF / RCMP . On April 8, 1942 a spitfire The Canadian Policeman, was presented by Sir Philip Game Commissioner of the London Metropolitan Police. P/O Hobden was chosen as the Canadian Policeman’s pilot because of his service with the R.C.M.P. Sadly P/O Hobden was later killed in a flying accident.
Of the ten R.C.M.P. Air Services Branch members remembered for their sacrifices was Sgt Louis Romeo Dubuc a pilot killed in action Sept. 27, 1941 while flying a RCAF bomber to England from Ireland.
It shows you are always learning I knew little of the RCMP Air services Branch until today.
Horsemen and Spitfires what a combination.
By: K225 - 1st June 2007 at 12:04
You would of thought that the Museum would have put the Goose on display for this event. As a matter of fact John Henderson of the RCMP Air Services was giving a talk on the history there last night. So its not like they were unaware.
RCMP Air Services got its start in April 1937, with four planes, de Havilland Dragonflies with blue fuselages and yellow wings, were equipped with two-way radios and had a maximum range of more than 950 kilometres. They had eight pilots.
By: K225 - 1st June 2007 at 02:42
More detail on the RCMP fleet.
The fleet is made up of 33 RCMP-owned aircraft including:
13 Pilatus PC-12 located in Yellowknife, London, Regina,
Iqaluit, Prince Albert, Prince George, Moncton, Winnipeg,
Vancouver, Edmonton (2), Montreal and Ottawa
4 Bell 206L helicopters located in Montreal, Kelowna,
Comox and Edmonton
4 AS 350B3 helicopters located in Kamloops, Vancouver,
London and Moncton
3 Caravan 208 located in Vancouver, Ottawa and Prince
Rupert (float plane)
1 Cessna 182Q located in Winnipeg
1 Cessna U206G located in Vancouver
4 Cessna 210R located in Regina, London, Edmonton and
Montreal
2 DH-6-300 Twin Otters located in Whitehorse and Goose
Bay
1 Piaggio Avanti P180 located in Ottawa
By: JDK - 1st June 2007 at 02:27
Interesting!
And of course, perhaps the most historic aircraft the RCMP operated was the Grumman Goose CF-MPG (‘Mounted Police Goose’) which was sold by the Mounties and a fund-raising effort saw it bought by the Canadian public, and its donation to the Canadian Aviation Museum, Rockliffe.
Sadly it was only on display for a short while before heading into store. Safe, but a pity.
As the cliché has it, if that aeroplane could talk, what stories it would have.
By: K225 - 31st May 2007 at 21:46
All transport aircraft are dual-purpose and readily convertible from cargo to passenger and vice versa.
In 2002-2003, a total of 27,865,246 passenger miles were flown over 21,871 hours.
Since 2000, mileage and usage of planes has increased about 20 per cent and is expected to continue to rise.
The oldest aircraft in the fleet is a 1971 Twin Otter currently stationed in Goose Bay, Labrador. Which is the one pictured.
The newest aircraft in the fleet are the AS 350B3 helicopter and the Avanti P180 turbo prop.
There is a high degree of commonality among engines in the fleet. For example, 22 of the RCMP’s 33 aircraft contain the Canadian-built PT-6 engine.
The average number of seats per aircraft is seven. Most of the aircraft can accommodate a fully loaded advance RCMP Emergency Response Team.
The RCMP is one of the largest fleet operators in Canada.
The RCMP operates single pilot IFR (Instrument Flight Rules) with the Pilatus PC-12.
By: K225 - 31st May 2007 at 21:43
The Avanti does belong to them, In addition to the Twin Otters, there is Pilatus , and numerous Cessenas and Helicopters. Including I understand a number of former CAF Griffons soon to arrive.
By: J Boyle - 31st May 2007 at 21:39
Is the Avanti RCMP?
Aside from the PC-12 and Twin Otter, what other aircraft make up their inventory?
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May 31, 2007 at 9:22 pm