Cockpit & Avionics Upgrade to Historic F86 Fighter Jet

Kitchener Aero Avionics (KAAV) has announced the completion and delivery of a unique cockpit/avionics update to a very special Canadian aircraft– the Vintage Wings of Canada museum’s (VWoC) Canadair Sabre 5 (F86 Saber), aka the Discovery Air “Hawk One”. This aircraft is a tribute to the very special men and women of our nation’s armed forces past, present, and future and brings back many memories for all who see it.

KAAV has just completed an extensive upgrade of the cockpit of this unique and valuable piece of Canadian aviation history. This centerpiece of the installation is a Garmin G500 Integrated Flight Display System. The modification program was started in February 2011 and took six weeks to complete.

 About this Special Missions mod . . .

Before Mod Cockpit

Even though this aircraft has been operational for many years, the avionics package was extremely dated and becoming increasingly unreliable. As the aircraft has become such an important part of aviation events across the country it became clear to the operators that an update to the avionics systems would be beneficial and a worthwhile investment.

“When first approached by Vintage Wings regarding the upgrade, one of my first calls was to Garmin” said Barry Aylward. “I spoke with Jim Alpiser, Director of Aviation Aftermarket Sales at Garmin, and they knew of this particular aircraft and agreed that the G500 would be a great compliment to aid in modernizing the avionics. They immediately expressed an interest in working with us to make this project happen”.

Post Mod Cockpit w/Garmin G500 - work by KAAV

The heart of Hawk One’s new avionics suite is the Garmin G-500 Flight Display System – a significant part of the “glass cockpit” revolution. It offers most of the advantages and features of this revolutionary glass technology – like SVT™ Synthetic Vision. The G500 System includes digital AHRS attitude/heading reference & AirData capability, replacing the old Gyro Systems.

In Hawk One the installation of the Garmin G500 Integrated Flight Display System includes a Garmin radio package featuring a GNS 430W Nav/Com/GPS. In all 28 older avionics items plus wiring and support structure were removed from the aircraft in the nose, main panel and avionics bay. The new package is smaller, lighter, and more reliable, and has far more features and capability.

“It was becoming increasing frustrating to operate Hawk One with antique avionics package” explained VWoC’s President Rob Fleck. “Dispatch reliability is key to any aviation operation and we needed to improve Hawk One’s”. When the decision was finally made to upgrade Hawk One’s avionics systems, the team turned to KAAV. “I have been working with Kitchener Aero for more than 25 years and it was clear that they had the knowledge and the passion to complete this very unusual project. There was no one else we would trust with our jet”. Further, the installation of modern avionics has permitted VWoC to work with Nav Canada to develop a programme that will permit more efficient flight profiles when transiting Hawk One from show to show, yielding significant fuel savings.

KAAV President Barry Aylward concluded his comments by stating “We are privileged to have had the opportunity work with VWoC and Garmin on an upgrade to this wonderful aircraft. It was an honour, and we are all thrilled with the result”.

Dan Dempsey, a former Snowbird Team Lead and a Hawk One pilot and the Team Historian in 2009 has now assumed leadership of the team for 2011.  Dan has been extremely busy securing sponsorship, setting up the flying schedule and training a new set of Sabre demonstration pilots. Working with another former Snowbird Team Lead, Rob “Scatch” Mitchell, the two Hawk pilots have created a stunning flying display for 2011 that will honour Sabre pilots of the past and will inspire today’s youth to pursue their dreams.

Dan Dempsey who also flies for Top Aces, which owned and operated by Discovery Air, provides valuable information about the uniqueness of this aircraft. The company proudly features Dan’s historical recount of the aircraft on their website.

Sabre 23314 (far right) while on station in France, 1956

“The F-86 Sabre that was destined to become Hawk One has a distinguished history. It was the 1,104th Sabre to come off the Canadair assembly line in August 1954, bearing the RCAF serial number 23314. Built as a Sabre 5, it was one of 1,183 Canadian-built Sabres that were delivered to the RCAF between 1951 and 1957 to equip 12 squadrons in Europe as Canada’s aerial commitment to the defense of Europe in the early days of the Cold War. 
The jet served in Europe with 441 (F) Sqn following the move of RCAF 1 (F) Wing from North Luffenham, England to Marville, France. Upon repatriation to Canada, it served in a number of locations, most appropriately as one of the training aircraft for the Golden Hawks at RCAF Stn Trenton during the workups for the 1963 airshow season. Sabre 23314 flew its last RCAF sortie on December 31st, 1968. Following the removal of its six 50 caliber machine guns and several years in storage, 23314 was sold to private interests in the United States where it remained for some 35 years. Following its sale to VWoC in September 2007, it winged its way home to Canada to begin a long restoration process.”

Don Syms (right) in 1956.

While Hawk One was at KAAV, a reunion took place between the old fighter and one of its past pilots. Don Syms, now a resident of the Kitchener area, earned his first set of wings through the Air Cadets in Ottawa 1950. He enlisted in the RCAF in April 1952 and followed the usual format of the day -  trained on Harvards and T-33's - earning his Air Force wings in December 1954. He then did his conversion training for the Sabre in 1955 followed by active duty at Marville France with RCAF 441 (F) Sqn. He flew with them from 1955 to 1958. This was the same time that Sabre, 23314 (aka Hawk One) was on squadron strength with 441. Known as the Checkerboard squadron, Don flew 23314 as part of his regular squadron duties. He flew the Sabre for the last time on a practice mission on July 12,1956. The two did not meet again March 2011 at KAAV. Don was quite impressed to see a part of his past and spent some time visiting while the aircraft was being finished up. On its departure back to VWoC, Don had one interesting comment – “Funny it was never that loud in the cockpit!”

Maj. (R) Don Syms in March, 2011

Syms retired with the rank of Major from the military in 1981. He then ventured into civilian corporate/charter aviation. When officially retired from flying in 1990 he had accumulated over 12,000 hours on 24 different aircraft types. As is the case with all former Sabre pilots, the fighter seems to hold the most special and vivid of memories for him.    

The continued operation of Hawk One beyond the centennial of flight year has been made possible through various corporate sponsorships. As the “presenting” sponsor of the aircraft, Discovery Air has led the way in teaming up with Vintage Wings of Canada, the Canadian Forces, Magellan Aerospace’s Orenda Engine division, West Jet, Nav Canada and a number of like minded corporate sponsors to highlight Canada’s proud aviation heritage. There is one distinctive change to the paint scheme on the aircraft since its centennial of flight tour – the addition of the Discovery Air logo to the side of the aircraft as a salute to that corporation’s vision and leadership.

For additional information about Hawk One, see the VWoC website at: www.hawkone.ca. 

For additional information about KAAV, see their website at: www.kitcheneraero.com. 

Kitchener Aero’s 4th ENG Helicopter for CTV

The Electronic News Gathering or ENG industry has evolved a great deal from its early days with a cameraman hanging out the side of the helicopter or fixed wing aircraft trying to capture a shot and then rushing the footage back to the station for airtime. ENG helicopters and their pilots today give news organizations a rapid and direct response to quick developing and changing stories. The “News” as a business segment is intensely competitive regardless if it is local, national or international.  Being the first to reach a scene and get a story makes all the difference. As an “industry”, ENG has grown in size and importance to the point where it now holds a position as a standalone part of the rotorcraft world with its own special interest association – The National ENG Helicopter Association (NEHA). The association publishes guidelines for its industry - pilots, engineers, photographers, reporters and station management – with a goal to keeping their industry and operations safe. It works alongside other “alphabet” groups as well – bringing interaction and professionalism to the ENG job and operations.

In a nutshell – ENG is all grown up. In keeping with its maturity, it has driven its own unique technology development to answer challenges that have come along. The ability to shoot, edit and transmit multiple images in real time with announcers on-board is commonplace today. Getting there has taken time.

Just sending TV signals from a fixed location can be a challenge. ENG requires the ability to do it from a moving platform. Stabilized camera technology and microwave transmission refinement have brought the age of “real-time” ability to the ENG world. Coupled with that, lighter, more compact, higher resolution cameras and editing equipment have evolved. But like anything that comes from the technology world what is new today, will be dated tomorrow. Upgrades and changes are ongoing and every evolving.

During Q1, 2011, Kitchener Aero Avionics (KAAV) completed and delivered a new ENG helicopter for the CTV television network. This is in fact the fourth helicopter that KAAV has now modified for CTV. The current project represents another “first” for KAAV and CTV as this is currently the only High Definition capable, ENG Helicopter in the Canadian broadcast industry. It is quite likely one of, if not the most advanced and highly integrated ENG platforms anywhere in the world today. The new helicopter went into full service the end of January with CTV in Toronto.

About this special missions mod . . .

This new ENG helicopter project started with a base Bell 206L-4 LongRanger. It was delivered to KAAV in the fall of 2010 and arrived by road with the fuselage having just received an overhaul and repaint. During the ENG installation, a fresh engine and rotor blades were installed into it at the KAAV hangar.

The special ENG equipment that was integrated into this unit included a Flir UltraMedia HD Camera (Hi-Definition), MRC Strata PTX-PRO Microwave System, NAT AA97-CTV Custom Audio/ICS System, three (3) Iconix HD Cameras (Forward & Aft Talent plus a Tailcam) and two (2) Motorola 2-Way Radios.

The cockpit also received a “special missions” upgrade that included a Garmin G500H Flight Display System, which also displays ENG Video to ease Pilot workload. Other cockpit avionics includes a Garmin GNS 530W WAAS GPS/Nav/Com, King KY-196A VHF COM, Garmin GTX 327 Transponder, L3 Skywatch Traffic Systems, NAT AMS-43 Panel and FreeFlight TRA3000 Radar Altimeter System. KAAV handled the engineering, design and installation along with the avionics sales and STC for the project. The project took four months to complete.

CTV ENG Background and Comments . . .

Scott Gibson, Manager, Engineering Projects at CTV Inc. has overseen the development of all CTV ENG projects. According to Gibson, the network uses their helicopters to tune of about 600 flight hours per year.  

 

Each CTV ENG project is a step forward from the last. Scott says this HD unit started with the “TV gear” – “it was all new in this current build. One example is the multi-image display for the main monitor. We used much better talent cameras this time as well to improve the look. A new COFDM microwave system has been installed to give us better range for live transmission. The Evertz HD2020 is a piece of equipment that provides all the switching and processing of audio and video in the helicopter. In the past we would had several pieces of equipment to perform the functions that the 2020 is doing”. According to Gibson, the ENG helicopter is a news tool that helps keep their station number one “and we are always open to using new equipment and ways of gathering and showing the news.”

 

The latest CTV ENG rotorcraft is based in Toronto. It replaces one that has been in continuous service since 2003. Another Bell 206-L is based in Vancouver and was placed in service in 2004.

In discussing the scope and make-up of the overall ENG operation at all CTV stations, Gibson reports that in Toronto they have two dedicated pilots and a rotating crew of three to four cameramen/technical operators. Vancouver uses more pilots, but a similar number of cameramen/technical operators. Vancouver also uses their helicopter for some promotional work while CTV Toronto has theirs basically for breaking news, special events and the CP24 morning show traffic and news coverage. While the Toronto helicopter has not been used in community events as such, Scott says that they have had it at the last two of their very popular “open house” events at the CTV studios, just north of the downtown area. At these events they have had the public see it, sit in it and ask questions of the pilots and technicians. Given the unique qualities and capabilities of their ENG units, it begs the question if CTV makes its footage open and available to community needs – for example police investigations, Transport Canada and the like?  In response, Gibson says “We try and keep our independence from the Police and such, but will help if requested in something like a search and rescue, fire or such.” 

KAAV Background

Kitchener Aero’s focus is the corporate, commercial, and general aviation avionics markets. In the 30 plus years that KAAV has been in business, they have been responsible for many industry firsts. In addition to conventional avionics sales, installation and repair, the firm has become highly regarded as Canada’s Special Missions Specialists. The company has developed a strong niche in helicopter avionics and provides some unique mods and STC work over and above the conventional avionics sales, service and support.

For additional information about KAAV, visit them on the web at – www.kitcheneraero.com. Or feel welcome to call Barry Aylward at 1-800-928-4669.