Final flight of the RCAF CC-115 Buffalo
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- Опубліковано 26 гру 2022
- On 15 January 2022, the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) conducted its final operational flight of the de Havilland Canada CC-115 Buffalo (DHC-5A) fixed-wing search and rescue (SAR) aircraft. I was one of the select few to have the privilege to be aboard the final flights of what is arguably an iconic aircraft. The video you see here is footage from those final flights.
442 Transport and Rescue Squadron at 19 Wing Canadian Forces Base Comox, was the last RCAF squadron to operate the type. The retirement of the Buffalo comes as parts obsolescence and maintenance issues have made the platform increasingly difficult to support.
Known for their impressive Short Takeoff and Landing (STOL) capability, the venerable Buffalo was perfectly suited to the highly variable conditions encountered in the coastal and mountainous regions of British Columbia and the Yukon. The flights on 15 January were partly a farewell tour for the base and the community that supported the aircraft, but they were also business as usual as the Buffalo crews conducted hours of high-value training in coordination with the squadron’s CH-149 Cormorant helicopter, and assets from the Royal Canadian Marine Search and Rescue (RCMSAR) and the Canadian Coast Guard.
Speaking from a first-hand perspective, I can share that the mission for the final operational flights was as diverse as the geography of British Columbia. The Buffalo’s operated over mountainous glaciers, in deep valleys and over water, and in doing so dropped smoke markers, de-watering pumps, emergency communication gear, sea rescue kits and bundled drops of various other search and rescue equipment. The Buffalo’s also conducted “valley shoots”, which is a rare flight profile that sees the aircraft fly low and in between mountains so Search and Rescue Technicians (SAR Techs) can visualize tight and confined areas that would otherwise be difficult to view from higher altitudes. In addition to the great performance of the aircraft, what was most impressive was the professionalism and incredible crew coordination that I witnessed during the last operational flights.
All told, the mighty Buffalo served 55 years with the RCAF. The aircraft that 442 Squadron operated have been distributed to museums and air parks across Canada.
No tribute to the Buffalo would be complete without an acknowledgement to all the pilots, flight engineers, technicians, maintainers and SAR Techs who kept the Buffalo flying for all its years.
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#Buffalo #CC115 #RCAF #GoBold #airforce #searchandrescue #comox
what a beautiful shot ..., with the Buffalo in the foreground ..., searching; doing what she did best! Fair winds forever ...,
Thank you for watching! It was an honor to be aboard the last flights and be able to bring this historic milestone to you! I hope you continue to watch and support our channel 🙂👍 Go Bold!
I only found this video today. It's sad that it does not come up more commonly for those of us that enjoy aircraft videos. It's a great video tribute for closing out the final flights of such an iconic aircraft.
Thank you so much for the kind comment. It was an honor to be invited to fly on the final flights. I wanted to do my best to capture the event to share it with all who are interested. Please spread the link of it to friends and acquaintances and anyone else you think would enjoy the historic milestone. Thanks for watching and Go Bold! =)
Very cool plane!!
Nice!
I helped doing a C check in 1991 on 11465 in Calgary Field Avaition had the DND contract . I replaced all the outer tanks with new bladders and fuel manifolds, device boots replacement and hydraulic line , rigging control wires. Brings back good memories of avaition mechanic.
Very cool that you got to work on the Buffalo! Thank you for watching 🙂
Flew on one with the 442 squadron wonderful search platform...
Em 1976 eu ingressei na força aérea brasileira FAB e tive o prazer de voar no Búfalo, C115 aqui. Não me esquecerei disso.
Esse cargueiro militar canadense( Búfalo era pra ter sido " eternizado," pela força aérea do Brasil,mas infelizmente o comando da aeronáutica provavelmente não descobriu a beleza do design desse fabuloso avião.claro que esse povo não levam em conta a beleza das máquinas e sim sua eficiência.quando eu era adolescente ficava fascinado ao ver o avião búfalo cortar os ares.ate hoje nunca vi um avião militar pra ganhar o vencer a beleza do avião búfalo.nunca voei nele,tive muita vontade ,já voei nos emb bandeirantes da força aérea do Brasil, mas nunca voei no avião búfalo, somente apreciava com os pés no chão.
Infelizmente o Brasil não tem um incentivo para aposentam as aeronaves bem cedo né, aqui foi em 2005, lá no Canadá em 2021 16 anos depois
They should have brought these back into production.
I agree. The platform is sound and versatile. There was a initiative years ago called the Buffalo NG (Next Generation) which proposed just that. It would have had new engines and modernized the cockpit and avionics. It's a shame it didn't come to fruition.
And the Kingfisher is AWOL
It's kind of strange that the "reincarnation" of the Buffalo has not happened, as the shape of warfare, defense and aviation have changed so much, with much of the "action" happening in areas without "real" airports, where Caribou, Buffalo, and OV-10 types bring capabilities nearer to where the needs are.
You make great points. Part of what you are speaking about is dispersed operations. The U.S. Air Force is focused on an approach called Agile Combat Employment (ACE) which is all about being dispersed and unpredictable.
@@goboldwithjoeteyattariwala Hi: and " being dispersed and unpredictable" would seem to call for VTOL/STOL capability, with real rough field capability being a plus...e.g. the Swedish jets are built to use even secondary highways for operation, and quick turn-around... The Canadair CL-84, if 'upgraded' to newer technologies, materials and engines, would be an "even better OV-10".... it should have been selected, instead of the UH-1, by the US forces, but the Not Invented Here, and political power of the US defence industry, has always resulted in the destruction of the Canadian aerospace industry.
Shooooooowww
It boggles my mind how the Canadian Air Force has simply accepted having a permanent hole in their fleet, and their capabilities. What mentally numb bureaucrat decided that an airliner painted yellow could replace a purpose-built Canadian bush plane with 3x the STOL capabilities? Some one needs to lose their job, pension and everything for this.
Unfortunately it comes down to economic and budgetary reasons, we had the same situation in Australia with the Caribou and the F111. The RAAF were looking for an 'eventual ' replacement for the Caribou I believe in the late 70's to early 80's and despite numerous contenders, including and apart from the Buffalo , nothing could match or exceed the Caribou' s STOL rough field performance and this went on for a few decades until the RAAF finally settled on the CJ SPARTAN in the early to mid 2010's and whilst it far exceeds the Caribou in many respects it still doesn't fill the STOL capabilities that were once there which meant that the Caribou served for 45years nearly twice as long as what the RAAF had planned and they kept them flying all those years but it got to the point where parts availability and airframe life became factors too big to keep putting off so they just had to bite the bullet and pull the pin back in late 2009 (although service retired at that point, 2 aircraft were kept on operational standby for a few months until they too finished their service). Luckily for us we have 2 airworthy caribous at the Historical Aircraft Restoration Society that perform at airshows and significant memorial events around the country .
The F111 was another aircraft, vastly capable and filling a significant niche in the defense force capabilities , first put into service with the RAAF (the only foreign customer for the type) in early 70's and were planned for retirement in 2020 from memory, but again, the coffers and government bean counters pulled the retirement date forward by almost 10 years and apart from a very small number going to museums the rest of the inventory were buried in a massive landfill at Ipswich in Queensland
Hopefully some venture keeps a Buffalo or two airworthy for historical aircraft flying displays, they at least deserve that much
Tengo interes en uno en leasing
I need one Dhaviland Dash 5 utiliner pax cargo presurizado ready to work in lease please send me information about the aircraft tanks
Does the C 295 have the rear cabin space to fill the role?
There's not the space that the Buffalo had, but like anything, I'm confident the Air Force will make it work. We will soon post a video tour of the inside of the CC-295, so please stay tuned for that!
Hey there, we just posted a video of the inside of the new CC-295 Kingfisher.
All C 295 are built majority sitting in Spain. RCAF NOT ACCEPTING anymore planes until 2025. C295 in Comox fit for flight training not fit for task. Red 🚩!