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Acquiring historic Yukon proves to expensive for RCAF Museum
Trentonian - Ernst Kuglin
Wednesday, May 31, 2006 - 10:00
Local News - Landing another historic piece of Canada’s military aviation history at the RCAF Memorial Museum in Trenton has proven too costly.
Last year museum officials flew to Ecuador to acquire the last remaining Canadair CC-106 Yukon, once the backbone of the air force’s Air Transport Command during the 1960s.
Number 932 now sits on the tarmac at Simon Bolivar Airport in Guayaquil, Ecuador.
Initially the Ecuadorian Directorate of Civil Aviation donated the Yukon to the museum in Trenton. The task began last year to find a way to ship the Yukon to its new home at the museum.
Timing was a factor. The civilian side of the airport at Guayaquil was under construction.The museum faced June 5 deadline by the local airport authority to remove the Yukon from the tarmac.
“I guess they didn’t want an old aircraft beside a new airport, said museum executive director Chris Colton. “We were basically told to move it or lose it, or the aircraft would put the aircraft up for sale, to be used for scrap.
The air gods intervened.
Instead of shipping the Yukon home to Trenton, museum officials now had to find a way to save the aircraft from the scrapper’s torch.
Through diplomatic channels, Colton arranged to gift the Yukon to the Ecuadorian Air Force.
“We had to look for another option,’’ said Colton, “or the Yukon would have to be scrapped and melted down.’’
The Ecuadorian Air Force shares the airport with the civilian authority. It will now be on display as part of the military air field.
Colton said there may come a time, when funds are available, to repatriate the Yukon.
Shipping the aircraft home also proved too costly. By the time the Yukon is dismantled, crated and shipped to Canada, the museum would have faced a price tag of about $500,000.
Colton said the museum’s main focus is completing the expansion.
“It’s extremely unfortunate. The project was a great idea, but we couldn’t afford it. Shipping the aircraft home is outside our capability right now,’’ said Colton.
The long, slender turbo-prop aircraft was a common sight in the skies above Trenton. The Yukon was flown by 437 Squadron on missions around the world.
It’s estimated the fleet of 12 Yukons flew roughly 65 million miles until they were retired from service in the early 1970s, replaced by the Boeing 707.
The aircraft was a VIP transport for military and political officials. Colton described the aircraft as the Canadian version of Air Force One.
When the fleet of Yukons were retired from military service they went to a boneyard in Saskatchewan.
All 12 aircraft were sold to a private company. The company then turned around and sold the aircraft to various South American countries.
While in civilian use two of the aircraft went missing, believed crashed somewhere in the Andes. They were never found.
Number 932 found a home with Andes Airlines as a civilian aircraft, flying thousands of more miles from 1974 to 1986. It was an ironic twist. The Canadian Department of Transportation refused to allow the Yukon to be flown in Canada as a civilian aircraft because of its windscreen design.
In 2000, the aircraft was taken on by the Ecuadorian Air Force, eventually to be sold to a scrap dealer for $3,000 Cdn.
Yukons made what amounted to daily flights across the Atlantic during the 1960s to supply Canadian Forces personnel stationed at bases across Europe.
But the Yukon was also a star attraction of the air force. It was the first military aircraft to overfly Canada’s provinces and territories, setting records for distance and time.
While in service, the Yukon was noted for its long, sleek appearance, powered by four turbo-prop engines.
Regards,
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