Canadian Associated Aircraft was a joint Canadian-United Kingdom project to build Handley Page Hampden aircraft in the late 1930s.

History

During the build-up to the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

Fairchild Aircraft Ltd. Fairchild Aircraft Ltd. was an aircraft manufacturer active at Longueuil, Quebec, Canada in the period 1920–50. It served as a subsidiary of the Fairchild Aircraft company of the United States. History Origin Fairchild Aircraft Ltd. came ...

had joined together with five other aviation companies in setting up Canadian Associated Aircraft Ltd. The consortium was formed in 1938 to build the Handley Page Hampden for use in the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...

with Fairchild mainly contracted to build the Hampden's

empennage The empennage ( or ), also known as the tail or tail assembly, is a structure at the rear of an aircraft that provides stability during flight, in a way similar to the feathers on an arrow.Crane, Dale: ''Dictionary of Aeronautical Terms, third ed ...

. Of 1,430 Hampdens manufactured, 160 were built in Canada by the "Canadian Associated Aircraft" consortium of three Ontario ( Fleet Aircraft, National Steel Car, Ottawa Car and Aircraft) and three Quebec ( Canadian Car and Foundry, Fairchild, Canadian Vickers) aircraft companies as a so-called "educational project" to build up the Canadian aircraft industry and provide the expertise for building the four-engined

Short Stirling The Short Stirling was a British four-engined heavy bomber of the Second World War. It has the distinction of being the first four-engined bomber to be introduced into service with the Royal Air Force (RAF). The Stirling was designed during t ...

bomber (ultimately the Stirling project was dropped and the

Avro Lancaster The Avro Lancaster is a British Second World War heavy bomber. It was designed and manufactured by Avro as a contemporary of the Handley Page Halifax, both bombers having been developed to the same specification, as well as the Short Stirlin ...

was substituted).

Production

The Hampden was the only aircraft the consortium produced. They were built at

Malton Airport Lester B. Pearson International Airport , commonly known as Toronto Pearson International Airport, is an international airport located in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada. It is the main airport serving Toronto, its metropolitan area, and the surro ...

near Toronto and at St. Hubert Airport near Montreal. Of the 160 Hampdens built, 84 were shipped by sea to Britain, while the remainder came to Royal Air Force station Patricia Bay (now Victoria Airport), British Columbia to set up No.32 Operational Training Unit (RAF). Due to heavy attrition from accidents, a number of "war weary" Hampdens were later flown from the UK to Patricia Bay as replacements.

Surviving aircraft

Hampden Mk I ''P5436'' was one of the Canadian-built Hampdens. It completed only 100 hours of flying time before crashing near Patricia Bay, on 15 November 1942, while engaged in torpedo dropping practice. In the 1980s, the Canadian Museum of Flight salvaged the remains of Hampden ''AN136'' from Mt. Tuam on Saltspring Island and, later, ''N132'' from a mountaintop near

Ucluelet, British Columbia Ucluelet (, also Ukee) is a district municipality (population 1,717) on the Ucluelet Peninsula on the west coast of Vancouver Island in British Columbia, Canada. Ucluelet means "people of the safe harbour" in the indigenous Nuu-chah-nulth (No ...

. Together with the salvage of ''P5436'' in 1985, a lengthy reconstruction project was culminated in the unveiling of the composite ''P5436'' Hampden now on display in the museum. Hampden in Vancouver

Facilities

Two facilities that built CAA aircraft: *

Saint Hubert Airport Saint-Hubert Airfield is a public use airfield located near Saint-Hubert, Belgium, Luxembourg, Wallonia, Belgium. It is the second highest aerodrome in Belgium at above sea level. It has four grass runways, in two parallel pairs, almost perpen ...

, Saint Hubert, Quebec - taken over by RCAF as

RCAF Station St. Hubert Canadian Forces Base St. Hubert was a Canadian Forces Base in the city of Saint-Hubert, Quebec. The base began as a civilian airfield in the 1920s and was later also used by RCAF auxiliary (reserve) squadrons, beginning in the mid-1930s. It beca ...

beginning in 1941 * Malton, Ontario – National Steel Car, later taken over by government to form Victory Aircraft in 1942

References

{{Aircraft manufactured in Canada Defunct aircraft manufacturers of Canada Former defence companies of Canada