The Canadair CL-66 was a

turboprop A turboprop is a Gas turbine, gas turbine engine that drives an aircraft Propeller (aeronautics), propeller. A turboprop consists of an intake, reduction drive, reduction gearbox, gas compressor, compressor, combustor, turbine, and a propellin ...

version of the civilian

Convair Convair, previously Consolidated Vultee Aircraft Corporation, was an American aircraft-manufacturing company that later expanded into rockets and spacecraft. The company was formed in 1943 by the merger of Consolidated Aircraft and Vultee ...

CV-440 Metropolitan. The CC-109 Cosmopolitan or "Cosmo" in

RCAF The Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF; ) is the air and space force of Canada. Its role is to "provide the Canadian Forces with relevant, responsive and effective airpower". The RCAF is one of three environmental commands within the unified Canad ...

service became the standard VIP aircraft as well as replacing the

Douglas Dakota The Douglas C-47 Skytrain or Dakota ( RAF designation) is a military transport aircraft developed from the civilian Douglas DC-3 airliner. It was used extensively by the Allies during World War II. During the war the C-47 was used for troo ...

and the

North American B-25 Mitchell The North American B-25 Mitchell is an American medium bomber that was introduced in 1941 and named in honor of Brigadier General Billy Mitchell, William "Billy" Mitchell, a pioneer of U.S. military aviation. Used by many Allies of World War ...

in light transport duties. After a lengthy career stretching into the 1990s, the CC-109 was replaced by the CC-142 Dash 8 and CC-144 Challenger.

Design and development

With the close of production of the Convair CV-440 in San Diego, Canadair acquired the rights to the design along with the jigs, tooling and even three unsold 440s. With the availability of a

Napier Eland The Napier Eland is a British turboshaft or turboprop gas-turbine engine built by Napier & Son in the early 1950s. Production of the Eland ceased in 1961 when the Napier company was taken over by Rolls-Royce Limited, Rolls-Royce. Design and d ...

turboprop conversion, the re-engined CV-440s became the CV-540, an all-cargo variant. In 1958, the RCAF wanted to replace their aging

C-47 Dakota The Douglas C-47 Skytrain or Dakota ( RAF designation) is a military transport aircraft developed from the civilian Douglas DC-3 airliner. It was used extensively by the Allies during World War II. During the war the C-47 was used for tro ...

s with a turbine-powered aircraft. Their choice was the

Vickers Viscount The Vickers Viscount is a retired British medium-range turboprop airliner first flown in 1948 by Vickers-Armstrongs. A design requirement from the Brabazon Committee, it entered service in 1953 and was the first turboprop-powered airliner. T ...

, but the Canadian government decided against this aircraft. Instead, Canadair offered a series of CV-540 variants powered by Napier Eland turboprops. The project was given the number CL-66 and three versions were considered. The CL-66A was to be a 48/64 passenger aircraft. The CL-66B designed to be a cargo/passenger configuration with a payload of 14200 lb. The CL-66C used the Convair-built CV-440s, having only their new engines fitted at Canadair. The first CL-66 to fly was a "C" version with its first flight in February 1959; the CL-66B had its first flight in January 1960. No "A" versions were built.

Operational history

Canadair was not able to get contracts from any major airline for the CL-66. It was too expensive and other similar types had better performance. The two aircraft, both of them CL-66Cs, that had been used for extensive sales demonstrations, were sold to the local carrier

Quebecair Quebecair was a Canadian airline that operated from 1947 until 1986. Quebecair was headquartered in Saint-Laurent, Quebec, now a part of Montreal. History Early years Quebecair began as Rimouski Airlines in 1947 and flew under that name un ...

. The RCAF took ten aircraft, mainly Bs. The Eland not only proved to be unreliable, but also did not deliver the expected power, consequently, the RCAF instituted an engine upgrade in 1966–1967, installing Allison 501-D36 engines. After eight airframes had been re-engined, the company phased out further development work on the type, "orphaning" the remaining final two Eland examples, which were subsequently scrapped."Canadair CC-109 Cosmopolitan."
''shearwateraviationmuseum.ns.ca''. Retrieved: 16 June 2010. No. 412 Squadron at CFB Ottawa (S), or "Uplands" flew the "Cosmo", from 1960 to 1994 as VIP transport. The Cosmopolitan aircraft were also deployed to Europe for Canadian NATO contingent support as well as to the US in support of Canadian NORAD operations.

Operators

Military ; *

Royal Canadian Air Force The Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF; ) is the air and space force of Canada. Its role is to "provide the Canadian Forces with relevant, responsive and effective airpower". The RCAF is one of three environmental commands within the unified Can ...

Canadian Armed Forces The Canadian Armed Forces (CAF; , FAC) are the unified Military, military forces of Canada, including sea, land, and air commands referred to as the Royal Canadian Navy, Canadian Army and the Royal Canadian Air Force. Under the ''National Defenc ...

** used at

CFB Lahr Canadian Forces Base Lahr (International Air Transport Association airport code, IATA:LHA, International Civil Aviation Organization airport code, ICAO: EDTL, former code EDAN) was a military operated commercial airport located in Lahr, Germany. ...

in support for Canadian operations for

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO ; , OTAN), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental organization, intergovernmental Transnationalism, transnational military alliance of 32 Member states of NATO, member s ...

and

NORAD North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD ; , CDAAN), known until March 1981 as the North American Air Defense Command, is a combined organization of the United States and Canada that provides aerospace warning, air sovereignty, and pr ...

in Europe

Specifications (CL-66 – Eland)

References

;Notes ;Bibliography * Molson, Ken M. and Harold A. Taylor. ''Canadian Aircraft Since 1909''. Stittsville, Ontario: Canada's Wings, Inc., 1982. . * Pickler, Ron and Larry Milberry. ''Canadair: The First 50 Years''. Toronto: CANAV Books, 1995. . * Taylor, John W. R. ''Jane's All The World's Aircraft 1961–62''. London: Sampson Low, Marston & Company, 1961.

External links