Around the Block
Posted by Bill Molesworth
Dean introduced his brother-in-law, Les. His father was a lockmaster and he has been a fighter pilot for 25 years, finishing in CF-18's as a Major in 1994. His wife was also in the forces and also retired as a Major. Les is a great brother-in-law because he's a plumber, electrician and carpenter. Unfortunately, he's always so busy Dean can't get him to do any work on his place.
Les said he joined a group of retired fighter pilots to form a company that outsourced support operations for the Canadian forces. They provide air combat and electronic warfare support at a quarter of the cost. They have their own air force with Alpha Jet fighters, which are used as aggressors in training against F-18's and ground troops and they have 4 twin engine jets they use for target towing and electronics testing of defense sites.
They were asked to test the effectiveness of the DEW line sites so Les took a trip. He flew to Vancouver on commercial, picked up one of the twin engines and flew 2,000 k's to Inuvik. Up there there's not a lot of air traffic control. They were told they were going off the screen and to 'have a nice day'.
Les took a lot of pictures on the trip and we followed along as he and his co-pilot flew over the vast, empty and cold spaces and then to beautiful downtown Inuvik.
The next stage was to do a triangle in the air space and then go to Rankin Inlet via Baffin Island. The photos showed the terrific visibility there - no pollution. Not a lot to see, though. Ice flows and tundra.
After another series of triangle flights they went to Goose Bay and finally to Halifax. Slowly signs of civilization started to appear.
All of this was tracked by Norad and they were satisfied to see that their systems worked as they should. This exercise will be repeated at least three times a year. He says they can catch fighters at 150 ft and can control a fighter going to investigate incoming flights. Norad's is certainly better than the civilian coverage.
At a time when Russia is planting flags on the ocean bottom and Denmark is contesting an islet, these exercises are important ways to maintain sovereignty and military presence.
From Halifax he flew commercial back to Toronto and was back from his trip around the block.
They were asked to test the effectiveness of the DEW line sites so Les took a trip. He flew to Vancouver on commercial, picked up one of the twin engines and flew 2,000 k's to Inuvik. Up there there's not a lot of air traffic control. They were told they were going off the screen and to 'have a nice day'.
Les took a lot of pictures on the trip and we followed along as he and his co-pilot flew over the vast, empty and cold spaces and then to beautiful downtown Inuvik.
The next stage was to do a triangle in the air space and then go to Rankin Inlet via Baffin Island. The photos showed the terrific visibility there - no pollution. Not a lot to see, though. Ice flows and tundra.
After another series of triangle flights they went to Goose Bay and finally to Halifax. Slowly signs of civilization started to appear.
All of this was tracked by Norad and they were satisfied to see that their systems worked as they should. This exercise will be repeated at least three times a year. He says they can catch fighters at 150 ft and can control a fighter going to investigate incoming flights. Norad's is certainly better than the civilian coverage.
At a time when Russia is planting flags on the ocean bottom and Denmark is contesting an islet, these exercises are important ways to maintain sovereignty and military presence.
From Halifax he flew commercial back to Toronto and was back from his trip around the block.