RCAF commander Lt.-Gen. Jamie Speiser-Blanchet welcomed the first two CT-157 Siskin II aircraft to Canada at a ceremony in Gatineau, Quebec on September 17. The aircraft, destined to replace the Canadair CT-114 Tutor used to train new military pilots, are manufactured by Switzerland’s Pilatus Aircraft Limited. The Swiss name is PC-21.
A total of 19 Siskin IIs have been ordered by SkyAlyne, a joint venture of CAE and KF Aerospace formed to undertake the 25-year contract to train future military pilots (Future Aircrew Training program-FAcT). The aircraft will be based at CFB Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan.
The two-place Siskin II is a highly manoeuvrable turboprop powered by a single Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A engine developing 1,600 horsepower. It can withstand +8 Gs and -4 Gs and attain a speed of 370 knots.
“It has an advanced cockpit and capabilities, and the design is just a very contemporary one that is used by other allies as well,” said Lt-Gen. Speiser-Blanchet at the event. “We’re very excited that we’re able to bring this on board.”
This aircraft is also designated by the RCAF to serve as the future replacement for the Tutors in the Snowbirds air demonstration team.
Why Siskin II?
The first RCAF Siskins were British designed and built Armstrong Whitworth Siskin biplanes fighters, in service from 1916 until 1939, at which time they were replaced by Hawker Hurricanes.
In 1929 the RCAF formed an aerobatic demonstration team composed of Siskins based at Camp (later CFB) Borden, Ontario that performed across Canada and into the United States. Typically performing as a group of three, they were known officially as the Siskin Exhibition Flight, but more popularly as simply The Siskins. They performed at over 100 airshows until 1932, when the financial challenges of the Great Depression shut the team down.
A siskin is a variety of a finch, a common songbird.
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