1 Air Division

Trying to obtain accurate detail on the RCAF Yukons - after over 35 years - is proving to be extremely difficult. Can you help us out?

The following detail has been extracted from 1 Air Division RCAF Metz France Historical Narrative reports.

30 Nov 61

Air Division preparations were completed for the introduction of the Yukon aircraft into trans-Atlantic service for the air logistics and personnel support of the Air Division. 1 Wing, Marville, was designated as the European port-of-entry for this aircraft with 4 Wing as the alternate base. A terminal building was constructed at Marville and opened on 6 Nov 61, and dining facilities and overnight accomodation for transient service and DND personnel, and their families, has been provided through modifications to existing buildings. A hard-stand was completed at 4 Wing, Baden-Soellingen, in the event that a diversion requires the Yukon aircraft to use that base in lieu of Marville.

With the change over from trans-Atlantic surface to air transport, the RCAF Movements units in Europe were re-organized. 6 Movements Unit in Paris was disbanded at the end of 1961, and 5 Movements Unit at Langar was moved to Marville and re-designated 5 Air Movements Unit. Personnel from Langar and Paris moved to Marville to form the nucleus of 5 Air Movements Unit. This new unit is now responsible for all movements of personnel and materiel to and from Europe.

As a result of the introduction of this new means of Air Division trans-Atlantic support, an enlarged Continental and domestic transport system, between the trans-Atlantic terminal at Marville, the Air Division Wings, the United Kingdom, and the Canadian Army at Soest in Germany, will be introduced. The Dakota and Bristol aircraft of 109 Communications Flight and 137 Transport Flight, along with road transport, will be used for this purpose. Plans for the transport of this increase in personnel, baggage, and logistic support were finalized in 1961. The Bristol aircraft will continue to assist the fighter squadrons to deploy to the Air Weapons Training Installation in Sardinia for practice air-firing, and to their deployment airfields during exercises.

The introduction of direct air logistics support by Yukon aircraft has made it possible to plan for the progressive run-down of 312 Supply Depot at Langar. This run-down is being carried out gradually and should be completed by mid-1963.

15 May 61

5 Air Movements Units at Langar was disbanded and reformed as 5 Air Movements Unit at Marville. The re-location of this unit to to provide movements facilities for the European terminal of the CC-106 operation.

Background

Equal to the aging Lancaster's the RCAF was looking for replacements for it's C-54GM North Star. The new planes were primarily intended to provide personnel and logistics support for Canadian Forces in Europe. Since Canadair had already acquired a licence for the Bristol Britannia, Ottawa announced in January 1957 plans for a fleet of long range transports based on the Britannia. Canadair received a contract for 8 aircraft, later increased to 12. Canadair designation CL-44-6 and CC-106 by the RCAF.

The design used the modified Argus wings and controls. The fuselage was almost identical to the Britannia 300 with two Cargo doors on the left-hand side. The cabin was pressurized to maintain a cabin altitude of 8,000 ft. at 30,000 ft. The Yukon could accommodate 134 passengers and a crew of nine. In the casualty evacuation role it could take 80 patients and a crew of 11. The RCAF had specified the CL-44 to be equipped with Bristol Orion engines. When the British ministry of Supply dropped the Bristol Orion the RCAF decided to use the Rolls Royce Tyne 11. The roll out of the Yukon was a disaster all over. When the prototype was supposed to be pushed out of the hangar, the tail was too high. The first plane took off 15 November 1959. During test flights all kind of problems where encountered from complete electrical failure to engines shaking loose and almost falling off. Rolls Royce had problems delivering engines resulting in "Yukon gliders" being parked outside Canadair as late as 1961.

The CL-446 military transport version (RCAF designation CC-l06) had a pressurized fuselage with conventional side-loading of freight through double doors in the port side. Capable of carrying a 27433-kg (60480 lb) payload, the first Yukon was completed in August 1959 and made its initial flight three months later, on November 15. The powerplant comprised four Rolls-Royce Tyne Mk 515/10 engines, making it Canada's first turboprop-powered aircraft to attain production status. Range with maximum payload was 3800 km (2360 miles); with maximum fuel and reduced payload, this could be extended to 9090 km (5650 miles). The cruising speed of the CC-106 was 370 mph.

Twelve Yukons were built, two being allocated to No 412 Squadron of the Royal Canadian Air Force (with convertible interiors for use as passenger and VIP transports), and ten to No 437 Squadron for long-range logistic support of Canadian forces in Europe (No 1 Air Division), Africa and the Middle East.

Designed for high-speed, long-range transport duty, the pressurized Yukon could haul a 27-ton payload some 2,000 miles and a 14-ton payload nearly 4,000 miles. On the regular, scheduled trans-Atlantic trooping runs which the Yukons had been flying since January of 1962, the aircraft was arranged to accommodate 134 passengers and carried a crew of ten.

Operated by 412 and 437 Squadrons, the Yukon provided a ten-hour, non-stop trans-Atlantic service from Ottawa or Trenton to Marville, France. It was a Yukon of 437 Squadron which, in December of 1961, set a Canadian record for long-distance flight by making the 6,750 mile non-stop trip from Tokyo to Trenton in 17 hours and 3 minutes, at an average speed of almost 640 km/h (400 mph). In July 1962 a Yukon set a new record by staying airborne for 23 hours and 51 minutes. These records stayed untouched until broken by the new 747SP in 1975. Ten Yukon's flew for 437 Transport Squadron. Two flew as VIP transports for 412 Squadron.

The RCAF retired its Yukon's in March 1971 - selling 12 aircraft and spares for $1.1 million Canadian. It was time to upgrade the fleet with Boeing 707's. The Yukon's might have served longer with the RCAF but for two factors. The RCAF needed an aircraft, which could operate as an in-flight refueling tanker, and second the chronic shortage of spares. The latter problems resulted from the fact that the CL-44 had never gone into large-scale production. Consequently spare parts tended to be in short supply and relatively expensive. The Yukon flew 65 million miles, 1.5 billion passenger miles and 360 million ton-miles. All Yukon's were sold to South American and African operators since it could not be registered in Northern America or Europe since the Britannia windshields did not meet new security standards.

RCAF Yukons