Canadian Sea Kings causing stir
Ran across this...
Have to feel for the pilots. The SKR (Sea King Replacement) program was going on in 1982. (20 years ago) That was replaced by the NSA (New Shipborne Aircraft a.k.a. No Such Aircraft program) and so on, and so on.
In true Canadian DND tradition, the issue was studied to hell. They could have bought a nice fleet of aircraft for what was spent on studies.
When they picked the EH-101, the cost went past 13 billion, as the government turned it into a Canadian make-work program - re-inventing each systems with "Regional Industrial Benefits" in mind. By the time they de-scoped the program to 5 billion, the govenrment canned the whole thing and payed several billion in termination fees.
It took less than a year before companies were lining up to do studies again.
Nobody seems to care whether what they buy does the mission, so long as some guy in Newfoundland or NewBrunswick or Chicoutimi gets a job.
...not the first time Canada has let politics screw up a good aviation program - remember the Arrow.
AvnxEO.
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Defense Chief Unhappy Over Fake Chopper Ads
OTTAWA (Reuters) - Canada's defense minister criticized a group of military pilots on Wednesday who created fake recruiting posters to protest the government's failure to replace their aging, unreliable helicopters.
"I think it's a serious business. I think that humor is not in very good taste when one thinks of the men and women of the Canadian forces who fly in those helicopters, and (of) their families," John McCallum told reporters.
Canada's 40-year-old Sea Kings have become a bitter, standing joke among pilots for the number of times they break down. Each helicopter requires more than 30 hours of maintenance for every hour it spends in the air.
One of the fake posters -- obtained by the Ottawa Citizen newspaper -- features a crashed Sea King with the slogan: "It's more than a career...it's an adventure." Below are the words "Check the Yellow Pages under 'Lucky'."
Another reads "Why ask your grandfather what it was like? Find out yourself!" and continues "We're in the Yellow Pages under 'Antiques'."
Ottawa purchased 41 Sea Kings in 1961 and since then 12 have crashed, killing eight people.
Long-standing plans to update the helicopter fleet have become entangled in accusations of dirty tricks and political favoritism, and the Sea Kings are unlikely to be replaced until July 2006 at the earliest.
After Prime Minister Jean Chretien came to power in 1993 he scrapped a C$4.8 billion ($3.1 billion) contract the outgoing government had signed for 50 all-purpose helicopters to replace the Sea Kings, arguing they were too expensive.
11/07/02 07:55