RCAF Comets and Caribou

Photo courtesy of Department of National Defence

Canadian Military Aircraft
Serial Numbers
RCAF 5300 to 5349
Detailed List

Photo courtesy of Department of National Defence

	Designer	Manufacturer	basic designation	variant or model	name
	company designation	company number
5301	de Havilland		Comet	Mk. 1/Mk. 1XB
	DH.106	06017
	first date: 21 February 1953 - first flight
	Taken on strength on 26 February 1953. Used for crew training in the UK from March 1953. Delivered to RCAF Station Uplands on 29 May 1953. With No. 412 (T) Squadron at RCAF Station Rockcliffe, Ontario. To Paris and London on 13 October 1953. Grounded January 1954, following airliner crashes. Converted to Mk. 1XB with pressurization removed, back in service by September 1957. Visited Torbay, Newfoundland on 10 February 1958. Damaged when dinghy deployed in flight during compass swing over Uplands at 41,000 feet on 26 February 1958, holing fuselage. Visited Whitehorse, Yukon on 29/30 March 1958. Carried Minister of National Defence to 2 Wing at Grostenquin, France, April 1958. Carried Prince Bernhardt of Holland on Canadian tour, 8 May 1958. Delivered Governor General Vanier from Ottawa to Churchill, Manitoba on 11 June 1961. To Marville, France with AVM Cornblatt July 1961. Withdrawn from service in October 1963, stored at Mountain View, Ontario. Some parts used to rebuild Comet 5301 after both aircraft were sold. Rest scrapped in October 1964, except for nose which is now displayed in Canada Aviation Museum at Rockcliffe.
	last date: 30 July 1965 - Struck off
5302	de Havilland		Comet	Mk. 1/Mk. 1XB
	DH.106	06018
	first date: 25 March 1953 - first flight
	Taken on strength on 26 February 1953, before first flight. Used for crew training in the UK from March 1953. Visited Johannesburg, via Rome, Cairo, Khartoum, Entebbe and Livingston in April 1953, on a training flight. Delivered to Canada 16 June 1953, via Keflavik and Goose Bay. With No. 412 (T) Squadron at RCAF Station Rockcliffe, Ontario. Grounded January 1954, following airliner crashes. Converted to Mk. 1XB with pressurization removed, back in service by September 1957. Flown as radar target during several training flights over Pinetree Line in January and February 1958. Carried Prime Minister Diefenbaker on Japan tour October 1961. Withdrawn from service in October 1963, stored at Mountain View, Ontario. Both Comets sold to one owner in 1963, who combined parts to build one airframe, registered as CF-SVR. Parked at Mount Hope (now Hamilton International) for several years while awaiting sale to Peru. Finally flown to Florida as N3735 in 1968. Scrapped in Florida c.1975.
	last date: 30 July 1965 - Struck off
5303	de Havilland Canada		CC-108	Mk. I / IA	Caribou
	DHC-4	1
	first date: 24 May 1960 - Taken on strength
	First prototype Caribou; first flown as CF-KTK-X. First flight, with this registration, on 30 July 1958. Originally flown with short fuselage, but modified to production standards before delivery to RCAF. Loaned back to de Havilland Canada in 1961 for engine tests leading to Buffalo program. First flight as Caribou II on 22 September 1961, fitted with General Electric YT64 engines. Completed 220 hour test program, returned to standard configuration. Delivered as a Mk. I, updated to Mk. IA configuration on 15 July 1964 while with No. 102 (K) Unit at RCAF Station Trenton. Served with No. 424 Squadron at CFB Trenton from July 1968. Sold to Tanzanian AF, their serial number JW9011. Delivered via Prestwick on 15 July 1971. Later registered as 5H-AAF. To US civil register in March 1979, as N1016N, registered to John Woods Inc. of Dallas, Texas. Reported destroyed 22 June 1979.
	last date: 15 June 1971 - Struck off, sold to Tanzania.
5320	de Havilland Canada		CC-108	Mk. IA	Caribou
	DHC-4	9
	first date: 8 August 1960 - Taken on strength
	First flown as CF-LVA. Last prototype Caribou, first flight with this registration in 1959. Completed world sales tour in 1959/1960, covering 50,000 miles and visiting 40 countries, before passing to RCAF. Had been built as a Mk. I, but updated to Mk. IA before delivery to RCAF. Passed through Gatwick, UK in September 1962, in UN markings. With No. 102 (K) Unit at RCAF Station Trenton from May 1964. With No. 117 Air Transport Unit when it received Category B damage on 27 October 1965, in a crash landing at Kakoropar, India. Repaired on site using nose from 5324. Back to No. 102 KU, renumbered No. 424 (T&R) Squadron in July 1968, at Trenton, Ontario. Also used by No. 115 Air Transport Unit on UN duties, dates not known. To Tanzanian AF, their serial number JW9012, on 15 July 1971. To US civil register as N1016P, registered to John Woods Inc. on 22 June 1979. Still registered in early 1990s, but off register by 2005.
	last date: 14 July 1971 - Struck off, sold to Tanzania.
5321	de Havilland Canada		CC-108	Mk. IA	Caribou
	DHC-4	10
	first date: 8 August 1960 - Taken on strength
	First flown as CF-LVM for manufacturer's tests. Had been built as a Mk. I, but updated to Mk. IA before delivery to RCAF. Operated by No. 102 (KU) Composite Unit from May 1964, later renumbered No. 424 (T) Squadron in 1968, from Trenton, Ontario. Operated in Egypt and Gaza in 1960, in UN colours. To Tanzanian Air Force, their serial JW9013, on 15 June 1971. To US civil register in 1982, as N1016S, owned by John Woods Inc. Later registered as N32620. Reported derelict in Djibouti in 1990s, following a heavy landing. Registration cancelled in 2002, reported destroyed.
	last date: 15 June 1971 - Struck off, sold to Tanzania.
5322	de Havilland Canada		CC-108	Mk. IA	Caribou
	DHC-4	11
	first date: 8 August 1960 - Taken on strength
	Had been built as a Mk. I, but updated to Mk. IA before delivery to RCAF. Operated by No. 102 (KU) Composite Unit, later renumbered No. 424 (T&R) Squadron, from Trenton, Ontario. Visited Dusseldorf, Germany, in UN markings, in 1965 and 1966. To Tanzanian Air Force, their serial JW9014, on 15 June 1971. Stored at Safi, Malta in 1981, registered as 5H-AAC. Later registered to New Cal Aviation as N3262X, this registration cancelled in 1986. Reported back to Malta for scrapping, fuselage used for fire training at International Fire & Safety School there in 1990s.
	last date: 15 June 1971 - Struck off, sold to Tanzania
5323	de Havilland Canada		CC-108	Mk. IA	Caribou
	DHC-4	12
	first date: 28 October 1960 - Taken on strength
	Had been built as a Mk. I, but updated to Mk. IA before delivery to RCAF. Operated by No. 102 (KU) Composite unit, later renumbered No. 424 (T&R) Squadron, from Trenton, Ontario. To Tanzanian Air force, their serial JW9015, on 15 July 1971. Crashed near border with Uganda on 15 November 1974, carrying ammunition to troops engaged on border.
	last date: 14 July 1971 - Struck off, sold to Tanzania.
5324	de Havilland Canada		CC-108	Mk. 1B	Caribou
	DHC-4	113
	first date: 23 April 1964 - Taken on strength
	Operated by No. 102 (KU) Composite unit, later renumbered No. 424 (T&R) Squadron, from Trenton, Ontario. Assigned to UNMOGIP (United Nations Multination Observer Group in Pakistan) in Pakistan and India, operated by No.117 Air Transport Unit. Strafed and set on fire by Pakistani F-86s while parked at Srinagar, India on 8 or 9 September 1965. No injuries. Wreckage returned to Canada, where nose section would be used in repair of 5320.
	last date: 17 September 1965 - Struck off.
5325	de Havilland Canada		CC-108	Mk. 1B	Caribou
	DHC-4	115
	first date: 23 April 1964 - Taken on strength
	Operated by No. 102 (KU) Composite unit, later renumbered No. 424 (T&R) Squadron, from Trenton, Ontario. Red high-vis markings on tail, cowlings and wing tips by 1967. To Tanzanian Air Force, their serial JW9006,on 28 June 1971. Later reported as 5H-AAD. To US register as N10162 by 1979, later registered as N3262Y to John Woods. This registration cancelled on 10 June 2002, reported destroyed.
	last date: 19 September 1971 - Struck off, after sale to Tanzania.
5326	de Havilland Canada		CC-108	Mk. 1B	Caribou
	DHC-4	166
	first date: 26 May 1964 - Taken on strength
	Operated by No. 102 (KU) Composite unit, later renumbered No. 424 (T&R) Squadron, from Trenton, Ontario. To Tanzanian Air Force, their serial JW9006, on 15 July 1971. To John Woods by 1979, registered first as N1016P and later N1016S. This last registration cancelled on 14 March 1980. Also on Kenyan register as 5H-AAD, dates unknown (is this confused with another Caribou?). This aircraft reported in pieces at Nairobi, date unknown.
	last date: 14 July 1971 - Struck off, sold to Tanzania.
5327	de Havilland Canada		CC-108	Mk. 1B	Caribou
	DHC-4	206
	first date: 1 September 1964 - Taken on strength
	With No. 102 (KU) Composite Unit at CFB Trenton, Ontario from 1964. Still with this unit when it was redesignated No.424 (T) Squadron, then 424 (T&R) Squadron, in 1968. Fitted with large camera fairing over cockpit in fall of 1969 by de Havilland Canada. Operated across Canada by 424 Squadron crews and the National Film Board to film documentary shown at Canadian Pavilion in World Fair at Osaka, Japan in 1970. To Tanzanian Air Force, their serial JW9005, on 28 June 1971. To US civil register with John Woods Inc. of Dallas, Texas as N10167. Also registered as 5H-MRQ, and N3760D from 3 November 1980 with this owner. Reported stored at Shannon, Ireland from 1982, scrapped there in 1990. Fuselage sold to New Cal Aviation.
	last date: 14 July 1971 - Struck off, sold to Tanzania.