It is no secret that I have been pining for quite some time the return of FS16515 Voodoo Grey. Well with a big thank you the Fairy Paint Person I have some in hand.
And it is no-longer Voodoo Grey but rather Air Command Grey. With paint and Lightning Bolts in hand, here is my first build with these two items.
But first why the CF-5C?
Most non-Canadian folks may not know this but Bristol Aerospace in Winnipeg, Manitoba held the contracts for DLIR (depot level inspection and repair) for both the CF-5 and CF-101. This is a complete tear down and rebuild of an air frame. And apply upgrades as required.
In early 1981, the CAF learned the CF-18s were not going to be delivered as per the original schedule. There were some serious technical issues with the meeting the CAF’s
CRAPP requirement when the CF-18s were to be deployed at our NORAD Forward Operating Locations (FOL) thereby delaying the deliveries and eventual operational readiness. Time was of the essence as the VVS Bears were getting more aggressive in their behavior.
Our farthest north FOL is in Inuvik which is located at 68.30740°N and 133.47022°W.
Map-Inuvik by
Big Gimper, on Flickr
Yes, it can get a** freezing cold up there. Therefore
CRAPP is a mandatory CAF aircraft requirement to ensure the pilots can always pucker up in a high G environment.
And what is
CRAPP you might ask?
Cold weathe
R Anal
Pucker
Protection
Remember kiddies, fighter pilots need to pucker up when pulling high G’s so if you cannot pucker, you cannot take the G’s. You will probably black out and most likely die.
Signs similar to this are found in almost all pilot ready rooms:
- A pucker-a-day lets fight lets you fight another day!
- A good pucker means you can kill that sucker!
- If you cannot pucker, then work as a trucker!
- Have you done your daily pucker exercise? 3 repetitions of 10 puckers. Rest for 5 minutes. Repeat.
The CF-5A was already
CRAPP compliant but it did not have adequate air-to-air capabilities. The Bristol folks learned of the CF-18 delay and the possible F-20 cancellation so they did the math: F-18+F-20=F-5.
They looked at the potential of using the F-20 wings, radar and other upgraded components to build a better CF-5 without having to build a new airframe. They did some serious engineering studies fueled by poutine and pizza and built a prototype in 6 months. It worked great like many other Canadian winter inventions like the Zamboni, Skidoo, Snow Blower, Hawaiian Pizza etc.
It past all the
CRAPP testing so Bristol got a contract to modify 15 airframes and the CF-5C was born. C represents Cold. Upgraded aircraft aerial numbers were changed from 1167xx to 1169xx.
The program was called:
CANOE.
Canadian
Arctic and
Northern
Operations
Enhancements
Pilots were known as
PADLERS:
Pilots
Arctic
Defending
Lemmings,
Ermines,
Reindeer and
Seals
The other major upgrade included the engines:
- Original: J85-CAN-15 Orenda manufactured J85-GE-15 for the Canadair CF-116. 2,925 lbf (13.0 kN) military thrust; 4,300 lbf (19 kN) afterburning thrust.
- Upgraded: J85-GE-21 – 3,500 lbf (16 kN) military thrust; 5,000 lbf (22 kN) afterburning thrust.
A part of 419 SQN ”Moose” was assigned to operate the CF-5C.
So pucker up boys and girls! The Moosemen are going out to chase some Bears!
Bill of Materials:
The base kit is the wonderful 1/72 ESCI CF-5A married with leftover Hasegawa F-20 wings, drop tanks and nose.
Paint is Voodoo Grey FS16515. Thanks again to the Fairy Paint Person. To quote the Fairy Paint Person: "Voodoo Grey is sort of like Air Defense Grey's hotter sister."
Decals are from Leading Edge CF-101B and CF-5D sheets.
Painted with a hairy stick.
And how good was the F-20 wing?
The wing profile remained the same as the F-5E, but had modified leading edge extensions (LEX), which improved the maximum lift coefficient of the wing by about 12% with an increase in wing area of only 1.6%.
The original aircraft was fairly sluggish in pitch, so the horizontal stabilizer was increased in size by 30% and a new dual-channel fly-by-wire control system was added. Destabilizing the aircraft in pitch and modifying the LEX improved the instantaneous turn rate by 7% to 20°/sec.
Sustained turn rate at Mach 0.8 and 15,000 ft (4,572 m) rose to 11.5°/sec, which compared well with the F-16’s 12.8°/sec. Supersonic turn rates were 47% higher than those of the F-5E
And now on to the beauty shots.
CAF-CF-5C-01 by
Big Gimper, on Flickr
CAF-CF-5C-05 by
Big Gimper, on Flickr
CAF-CF-5C-03 by
Big Gimper, on Flickr
CAF-CF-5C-04 by
Big Gimper, on Flickr
CAF-CF-5C-06 by
Big Gimper, on Flickr