Strana 33
CANADA 2002
In 2002, I had the opportunity to travel abroad
for the first time on business – to Canada.
At that time, I was a Flight Safety Inspector
and was responsible for investigating the
causes of air accidents at the 32nd Tactical
Air Force Base in Náměšť in an effort to
minimize their chances of happening in the
first place. This was an opportunity to see
how they do it elsewhere. The month-long
stay was paid for by the Canadian Ministry of
Defense and was called the Military Training
Assistance Program. Familiarly called the
Shadow Program after the shadowing of the
same position that I held at home. Learning
and having the opportunity to see how they do
it elsewhere was something that didn’t need
a lot of thought to jump at. And if you can also
fly with your colleagues from the FOC and have
the opportunity to compare our respective
training protocols, it was guaranteed to be an
eye opener.
The date for my stay was pegged at February
2nd to March 21st, 2002, when the average
temperatures ranged somewhere between
-20 and -40 Celsius. Equipped with two large
suitcases, in one a uniform with winter
accessories and a flight suit, in the other
enough warm clothes for a month, I set off for
the Great White North.
During my stay, I had the opportunity
to ride in the CF-188 Hornet, CT-155 Hawk,
CC-130 Hercules and CF-5B Freedom Fighter.
Unfortunately, my CF-5B flight was canceled
due to bad weather. I also had my eye on the
CT-114 Tutor, which served for forty years, until
2000, as a training aircraft and which is still
flown by the aerobatic group Snowbirds, based
at CFB Moose Jaw. Unfortunately, the Tutor
was assigned to the AETE test unit at the base
and was currently undergoing some work. As
another legendary CT-133 Silver Star flew by,
I was told that I was seeing a rarity - the last
flight from the 417 Combat Support Squadron,
where these machines had served since 1950.
They just gave me the wrong date!
The plan of the trip was as follows: The
first week of my stay was in Ottawa, where
the Air Force Headquarters is located. Here
I was given interesting lectures on Strategic
Planning, Flight Safety, and the Hornet
Modernization Program, among other things.
The Air Force itself has three levels of
command - the headquarters in Ottawa, then
the 1st Canadian Air Division in Winnipeg, and
then the individual air bases. I myself visited
the Bagotville and Cold Lake bases, the 1CAD
headquarters in Winnipeg, and I was also at
NORAD headquarters, which is the air defense
network of the USA and Canada, hidden deep
underground in North Bay.
After the first week, I finally moved on to
Bagotville Air Base, which is in the French-
speaking eastern part of Canada. The reception
at the 425th Squadron was a bit lukewarm,
looking at me as something a bit exotic and
worthy of some skepticism, but by the time we
hit the local bar in the evening, we were all good
friends. The next day I could choose the type
of mission, and I opted for BFM (Basic Fighter
Maneuvers). I wanted to see and feel how the
birds can maneuver at their mode limits. I was
assigned a young man named ‘Kraut’, but he
was already an instructor at the squadron and
the squadron commander ‘Boss’ – a very cool
older bald-headed guy who would fly against
us. I was also immediately reassured that
Kraut possessed the necessary know-how for
the task. My ‘assistant’, who put me in charge
for the duration of my stay, Captain Eric ‘Gigi’
Girard, led me to the hangar to the check seat.
He told me that he had to do his internship
at the headquarters in Ottawa and would not
be flying for a long time, so he was happy to
be able to ride along now. He returned from
France, where he flew Mirages for 3 years as
an exchange pilot. This system of exchanges in
Western air forces is intended to familiarize
members of other air forces with the training
process and mission planning where certain
standards may differ slightly.
An older lady, a specialist in seats, arrived.
I strapped myself into a seat intended for
testing and training and I was given a flash
course on the restraint systems and possible
malfunctions, as well as the process of
ejection and handling the safety devices.
There were about five mannequins hanging
next to me, crash test dummies as it were.
I was told that even though the supplied seat
is a good one, Canada was in the process of
modifying the release system and making
slight improvements. The tests were being
conducted on a specially modified old CX-133,
whose rear cockpit was modified specifically
for testing ejection seats. In other words,
similar to what we once did in the MiG-15UTI
research aircraft or later the MiG-21U.
Canada, due to its location and therefore
minimal threat, does not use individual shelters
INFO Eduard
33
September 2026
The CT-133 Silver Star served with the Aerospace Engineering Test Establishment for a full 46 years and was
being decommissioned during my visit to CFB Cold Lake. A total of 656 CT-133s were manufactured in Canada.
The last of them were retired in 2005.
CF-188B 188 927 of 425 SQN Alouette/Skylark taxis for takeoff with the author in the rear seat,
CFB Bagotville in the province of Québec.