Canadair CL-28 Argus

20

reply

To Ann, I remember the night of March 23rd 1965 well. We were the next flight out of Greenwood on 742 departing March 24th at 0930Z. (With Captain F /L Clarke.) We knew the plane was down.

reply

My late father was part of the Canadair design / development team for the CL28 and flew on its maiden flight. I remember asking him why they had used piston engines rather than turbo props and he said it was for economy of fuel and endurance.

As a lad I was taken into Cartierville and allowed to sit in the co-pilot's seats of one of the prototype CL28's during an engine ground run, which was quite exciting.

reply

The North Star DC4 seems to be missing from this site. Is there a reason for this, or is it an oversight?

reply

I was an ABRP1 onboard HMCS St. Laurent and both Canadian and American Navy ships were doing exercises in the area. I was on watch in the Operations Room when the aircraft disappeared. We were in the vicinity of the crash within a very short time and found some wreckage and life jackets, but nothing else. It was a very sad day.

reply

Anyone fly with a Gus Baudais out there?

reply

To help with my written memoirs, does anyone remember the names of captain and crew or crew# who successfully got Argus 712 to RCAF Chatham on November 4, 1966 with failed elevator controls?

reply

I was a navigator on the Argus out of Greenwood with 404 Squadron 1960-62, and enjoyed the comfort of the aircraft on those long, long exercises: bunk beds, galley, and smooth flying (except when Hank Marcotte was treating it like a fighter.
When I left in August '62, the crew was split up to make two new crews, one of which crashed during a exercise in Bermuda late that year. I have often wondered if I would have been on that crew if I had not left the service.

reply

I was an RCAF Communications Operator (ComOp)at Stn. Greenwood and one of two radio operators (ground) for joint Exercise Maple Spring Board, operating our station at Roosevelt Roads, Puerto Rico. The night of the Argus crash, I apparently was the last person to have radio contact with that aircraft. The next day I was to fly back to Greenwood, (the exercise having been scheduled to end), on the ill-fated Argus. It was a tragic event that affected all members, friends and family, and something I'll never forget.

reply

Hello Ann, your father Ernest Perron was a good friend of mine on 404 Squadron. Would love to tell you all about him and the other crew members that day.

reply

Hello. I certainly do remember when your dad and his fellow crewmates died. I had left flying a year before. A dreadful loss. We will remember.

reply

Hello all - thinking about my dad James Ernest Perron who died on an Argus on Marc 23 1965 off of Puerto Rico. We are very proud of the work he did looking for subs during the Cold War but our lives have been changed immeasurably - God rest his soul and the lives of others that were never recovered that night. I was five years old and my brother 7 - anyone out there remember that mission or my dad?

reply

Of course it is an Argus. I was an RO with 405 I went from the Neptune to the Argus in '58. Incidently the mk 1 had the large radom. We did I'd 26 1 /2 hrs on a flight with full armament. Cheers to others who I see here. Man, that was a long time ago

reply

That is the old girl that we all learned to love. I was an Navigator on 407 Sqn and part of the 1971 Fincastle Competition with 404,405 and 415 Sqns in Comox. We all one shot at the trophy. Our shot was on 18Jan71, in 10720 with Captain Ken Waterhouse and from t /o to landing was only 5 hrs as the nose lookout spotted a snorkel, we fly into his "cone of no view" and put in the attack that we had practicing and got a white flare...so, we won that year and as a prize we were sent to Australia to be part Jucex and LongEx @ AJASS. What a great trip and learning experience.
Cheers...John

CFB Comox-407 Sqn 68-72

reply

...spent many happy hours in them, and loved them!

reply

Those were the years ('67-'71, 415 Sqn). Piston engines for sure. I lived downtown Summerside and when the engineer did his pre-takeoff run-up on a quiet early morning one of the tea cups would start to rattle in its saucer. I think the earlier comment about a late 60's exercise was Ex Spark Plug out of Jacksonville. On our first sortie a huge front moved across Forida dumping so much water on the inner tarmac that the techs were able to smim. We diverted to Glenco after another a /c dropped 1500 feet trying to pass through the front. I was a fan of the APS-20. You could detune the receiver to reduce sea clutter and also run down the tx power as you homed in and more than once we got a visual before the sub figured out what was happening. Spent a month practicing radar homings on a stake in St Margret's Bay, got to the competition at Comox only to ignore the sub periscope for 15 minutes thinking that it was a surface contact. KD Murphy came home with the bombing trophy though. Great memories.
(F /O) Ian Snow

reply

It's an Argus alright. I flew in them as a Radio Officer with VP405 (Greenwood) and VP 407 (Comox). It was a great anti-submarine aircraft with top notch crews. My first mission was over 20 hours over the North Atlantic. Best NATO exercise was out of Jacksonville, Fl in the late 60's when four Argus crews "outkilled" two Orion squadrons. I was flying with Ken Branch on a make up crew and we got two confirmed "kills" in 30 minutes and got a commendation from CinCLANT - Admiral Wheatly. Some of the commenter's here were old squadron mates and seeing their names brings back some great memories of a golden age of learning about aviation.

reply

I had three tours on the Argus as a pilot in command and as a flight instructor. It was a superb aircraft in all respects and the crew coordination and pleasures realized were awesome. The best crew of course was 405's A2 1959-62.
Before getting checked out on the Argus I was a pilot instructing from the back seat of the Harvard and Chipmunk. The Argus was more stable than either and easier to fly.

reply

I flew the fleet of 32 Argus from '65 to '74 from Summerside, Comox, and Greenwood.

reply