The Cold War begins (1945) - part 3

FOCUS ON… THE F-86 SABRE

F-86 Sabre

The most famous aircraft of the Cold War was the F-86 Sabre. Although it was produced for the United States Air Force by North American Aviation Inc., Canadair obtained a license to produce the plane in Canada and improved upon an already great aircraft. The Canadair

Sabre Mks III, V and VI all used variations of the Avro Orenda turbojet engine for added power. In addition to serving the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF), Sabres were sold to West Germany, Colombia and South Africa.

FOCUS ON… THE CP-107 ARGUS

Throughout some of the coldest years of the Cold War, the CP-107 Argus provided stellar service in the anti-submarine warfare role, protecting Canada’s maritime approaches. The aircraft, adapted from the Bristol Britannia, was Canadian-designed and -built. At the time, it was considered the most advanced anti-submarine warfare aircraft in the world. Thirty-three entered service, beginning in 1957 and, when it flew its last mission on July 24, 1981, 31 were still in service.

Its name comes from Greek mythology; Argus Panoptes had 100 eyes, only two of which would close at any one time. The Argus replaced the maritime patrol version of the Lancaster and the CP-122 Neptune and was in turn replaced by the CP-140 Aurora.

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