Vickers Type 952 Vanguard in Canadian Service
In January 1965 Trans Canada Air Lines became Air Canada. The airline had already decided that it preferred the jet-powered Douglas DC-8 over its turboprop Vickers Type 952 Vanguards. It was decided that the Government of Canada would purchase all 23 Vanguards then in Air Canada service. This deal was finalized in June 1966 and the first of five Type 952 Vanguards were transferred to Royal Canadian Air Force control.
One of the Vanguards had been modified to 'Cargoliner standards with reinforced roller floors and a large forward fuselage loading door. As a CC-152A Vanguard, that aircraft immediately entered service with the newly reformed No. 432 Squadron at RCAF Trenton. [1] Another, unmodified Vanguard followed to act purely as an aircrew trainer. Four other selected airframes were sent to the Air Canada heavy maintenance centre at Dorval for modification into RCAF CC-152 freighters. [2]
Bottom One of five Canadian military Vanguard transports. This aircraft is a CC-152, as revealed by its fore and aft cargo loading doors. At this stage, the newly-delivered CC-152s wore a hybrid scheme based on their original TCA/Air Canada livery. With 'CANADA' marks on its fuselage after Canadian Forces unification, this scheme remained in place until 1968-69.
In truth, the Canadian Forces were not keen on their new charges. The CC-152 Vanguard was capacious but had few other advantages over the CC-106 Yukon. Most importantly, the CC-152's range was only 3,130 miles - compared with 5,585 miles for the Yukon. Rather critically, this precluded using the Vanguards on the busy CFB-Trenton to CFB Baden–Soellingen in West Germany (a distance of 3865 miles). As result, the CC-152 fleet were employed exclusively within Canada - mainly to limit unneccessary wear and tear on the CC-130 Hercules tactical transport fleet.
'Patrol Vanguard' - The Maritime Patrol Mod
The other eighteen ex-Air Canada Vanguards were earmarked for more extensive modification. The CP-152A maritime patrol variant was given the new type name Victoria. [3] Modified by Canadair at Cartierville, the equipment/sensor fit for the CP-152A was essentially the same as that of the in-service CP-107 Argus patrol aircraft. [4] The CP-152As were to augment the CP-107 patrol aircraft - the Argus being seen as a bit of a lumbering giant.
Top Canadair/Vickers CP-152A Victoria as initially delivered to the newly-integrated Canadian Armed Forces. This livery stayed unchanged throughout the Victorias' service life.
The Argus had a phenomenal range - of 5,900 miles - but had a very slow transit speed - of only 207 mph. That low speed was actually a benefit for ASW operations but it was not ideal for NorPats (Northern Patrols over Canada's vast Arctic territories). There the CP-152A Victoria would have an edge. The CP-152A Victoria had a maximum speed of 425 mph - 110 mph faster than the Argus. The CP-152A cruised at 412 mph - more than 200 mph faster than an Argus.
While the CP-107 Argus had a cachet amongst ASW crews, the CP-152A Victoria had one key feature which endeared it to aircrews - the Victoria was pressurized. Pressurization gained the Victoria a service ceiling of 30,000 feet. Not only did aircrews flew in shirt-sleeve comfort, on NorPats, the aircraft could often climb above inclement Arctic weather. That ceiling and a higher transit speed made CP-152A Victorias the first choice for any SAR missions.
As previously-used airframes, neither the CC-152 nor CP-152A had especially long military careers. All CC-152/CC-152A Vanguards were retired by 1971 - although several CC-152s served on as commercial cargo carriers for many years. The CP-152A Victoria had a longer run - the last being retired in 1981 with the arrival of the Lockheed CP-140 Aurora.
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[1] During WW2, No. 432 Squadron RCAF had been part of No. 6 Group, RAF Bomber Command. The squadron was reformed as a CF-100 unit in the 1950s.
[2] The name Vickers Vimy - after Canada's involvement in the WWI Battle of Vimy Ridge - was to be adopted. But, it was decided, insufficient changes had been made from 'Cargoliner' to CC-152 to warrant a type name change.
[3] In a reverse decision to that for the CC-152, it was decided to adopt a new name for the 'Patrol Vanguard' modification. The name Vedette - after a Canadian Vickers patrol aircraft of the 1930s - was proposed. However, a geographical name was preferred. The name Victoria was adopted for the CP-152 - not for the capital city of BC but after Victoria Island in the Arctic.
[4] A notable difference was the mounting of the ASV-21 search radar. Whereas the CP-107 Argus housed that radar's antenna in an underslung radome, the CP-152A's ASV-21 was faired into the nose profile akin to the British Nimrod[/] MR1 installation. Coverage was better for the Argus but the Victoria installation was much less 'draggy'.