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Canadian
Military Aircraft |
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When non-military flying operations were transferred to
the Air Board's Directorate of Civil Air Operations in 1927, some hoped it
would allow the RCAF to focus on its military capabilities. In fact, the
civil operations took most of the money, most of the aircraft, and most of
the trained staff. Some RCAF histories refer to the next few years as the
lean years. |
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A few new operational aircraft were procured from the UK
and the US in 1927 and 1928. Along with the aircraft left behind by the DCAO,
these received RCAF serial numbers starting at 1. This new registry of RCAF
serial numbers was started in early 1928, but the exact date of renumbering of existing aircraft is not always
clear. These early numbers appear to have been allocated in no
particular order. When the Depression hit Canada, the slim Air Force funding
was cut even further. Staff levels dropped, procurement of new equipment ceased,
and flying was at a minimum in 1932 and 1933. The deteriorating political
situation in Europe led to small increases in 1934, and procurement of
relatively modern aircraft began again. As the European situation became
worse, RCAF funding increased, and large scale procurement and Canadian
production began. The RCAF budget underwent dramatic changes during this
period, from less than $5,000,000 in 1931, to $1,700,000 in 1932 and 1933,
then back up to $7,000,000 by 1936, and to
nearly $30,000,000 in early 1939. By the end of 1939, a multi year budget of $350,000,000 had been established
for the RCAF's role in the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan alone. |
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Starting in 1928 and 1929, the RCAF began using three
digit serial numbers, allocated in blocks by aircraft function - see the table below. (The descriptions are my own, I
haven't found an official description of the various blocks.) At the
same time, some of the surviving one and two digit aircraft were remarked
with the appropriate three digit number. (Note that RCAF serial number
1000 was actually the last aircraft in the block starting at 901.) The
last few Air Board aircraft still carrying civil registrations were given
RCAF 3 digit serial numbers, or disposed of, by 1936. |
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Obviously, different blocks filled at different rates, so
the relative ages of RCAF aircraft from this period cannot necessarily be
determined by comparing the serial numbers. When Finch 1001 was
delivered by Fleet on 27 October 1939, several
of the 3 digit blocks were still not full. The outbreak of World War 2
resulted in most of the blocks filling in a very short period, although not
all serial numbers in these blocks were allocated. It appears that the
RCAF became less particular about what types of aircraft used each block as
procurement speeded up. The last three digit RCAF serial numbers
allocated were probably ex RAF Dakotas 993 and up, taken on strength from the
RCAF Overseas in July and August 1946. From late 1939 4 digit RCAF serials, and eventually 5 digit RCAF serial numbers, were used for
most new procurement. |
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During the years before the Second World War, the RCAF
made a deliberate effort to align its procurement, policies, and organization
with the RAF. As a result, when photos of RCAF operations from this era are
seen, one is struck by the similarity to photos of the RAF in the same
period. The aircraft and most markings are often identical. The ground
equipment, the uniforms, the buildings and even the haircuts are identical.
The one feature that allows a photo to be positively identified as RAF or
RCAF is the serial number marked on the aircraft. Canadian aircraft always
bore a pure number, with no letter prefix (except for a very few RAF aircraft
loaned for evaluation - more about them in a future revision of these pages).
Even when camouflage became increasingly common in 1938 and 1939, the RCAF
was kind enough to mark their distinctive serial numbers in large characters
on the lower wing surfaces. |
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Almost all of these aircraft were only used in Canada,
with a few notable exceptions. Bolingbrokes, Kittihawks, Geese and Lodestars traveled to Alaska, in
response to the Japanese invasion of the Aleutians. A few Liberators
and Dakotas regularly visited the UK on long range patrols, or carrying mail
and cargo. When the first RCAF squadrons deployed to the UK in 1940,
they took with them a few of the original Hurricanes (serials in the 300
range), and some Canadian built Lysanders (serials
in the 400 range). These were found to not be up to the latest
RAF modification standards, and were traded for up-to-date equipment with the
RAF. Most of these RCAF aircraft were
brought up to UK standards, and eventually used by various RAF and RN
units. Some received RAF serials, while a few Hurricanes continued in
RAF service still carrying RCAF 3 digit serials. |
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Some of the aircraft listed here survived the war, and
continued in RCAF service. In particular, a few Dakotas and Norsemen
continued in use for SAR, photo survey, transport and training duties.
The Norsemen were all retired or sold prior to 1960, but a few 3 digit
Dakotas lasted to unification in 1967, and received CAF
serial numbers in 1970. At least one of these Dakotas was still in
regular use with the CAF when the fleet was retired in the late 1980s, over
forty years after it first received an RCAF serial number. A handful of
Dakotas, Norsemen, and others found their way onto various civil registers,
and some were still airworthy at the beginning of the
21st century. When I can find information on the subsequent
lives of these aircraft, I include it in the database. |
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The
table below will connect you to two types of listings of these aircraft. The
"Brief lists" present a minimum amount of information about as many
aircraft as I can fit on a reasonably sized page. Use these lists to identify
individual aircraft, or to quickly scan a large range of serials. The
"Detailed lists" contain all the information currently in my
database, and are broken into many more pages to keep the data manageable. |
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Detailed
lists |
Description |
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RCAF
1 to 1000 |
1
to 50 |
51
to 100 |
the
lean years |
|
101 to 150 |
151 to 200 |
||
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201
to 250 |
251
to 300 |
Trainers |
|
|
301
to 350 |
351
to 400 |
Fighters
(and later light transports) |
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401
to 450 |
451
to 500 |
Army
Cooperation (and later light transports) |
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501
to 550 |
551
to 600 |
Single
engine bombers (and later patrol bombers and transports) |
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601
to 650 |
651
to 700 |
Photographic
survey aircraft |
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701
to 750 |
751
to 800 |
Multi
engine bombers (and later light transports) |
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801
to 900 |
Single
engine flying boats (and later fighters) |
||
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901
to 950 |
951 to 1000 |
Multi
engine flying boats (and later transports) |
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This data has come from a variety of
sources, and may contain all sorts of errors. In the future, I will add a
complete list of references. For now, some recent Internet references can be found
at the links below. I would welcome any corrections or additions you may
have. Contact me using the link below.
© 2004, 2005,
2006, 2008, 2010 by R. W. R. Walker
All rights reserved under the copyright laws.
This is an amateur site - please don't rely on any of this data for anything
important!
Created 25 April 2004. Updated 5 February 2010.