A Brazilian Airbus C-295 did a cross-Canada tour last week visiting the three RCAF bases where the aircraft will be deployed starting in 2019. The Brazilian plane is configured similarly to the 15 C-295s that will start showing up at Canadian bases in 2019. Brazil is also in the process of getting its order filled and the Canadian trip was a familiarization trip for Brazilian pilots, who were accompanied by Airbus pilots on the trip. They went to 19 Wing Comox, 17 Wing Winnipeg and 8 Wing Trenton.
The C-295W aircraft will replace the six remaining flyable CC-115 Buffalo and the last of the RCAF’s CC-130H legacy transports that now double as search and rescue aircraft. The state-of-the-art C-295W beat the Leonardo C-27 Spartan and Embraer’s KC-390, a high wing jet, in the fixed wing search and rescue (FWSAR) competition. The first of Canada’s aircraft went on the assembly line in June.