Canadair North Star
Encyclopedia
The Canadair North Star was a 1940s Canadian
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

 development of the Douglas
Douglas Aircraft Company
The Douglas Aircraft Company was an American aerospace manufacturer, based in Long Beach, California. It was founded in 1921 by Donald Wills Douglas, Sr. and later merged with McDonnell Aircraft in 1967 to form McDonnell Douglas...

 C-54 / DC-4
Douglas DC-4
The Douglas DC-4 is a four-engined propeller-driven airliner developed by the Douglas Aircraft Company. It served during World War II, in the Berlin Airlift and into the 1960s in a military role...

 aircraft. Instead of radial
Radial engine
The radial engine is a reciprocating type internal combustion engine configuration in which the cylinders point outward from a central crankshaft like the spokes on a wheel...

 piston engines found on the Douglas design, Canadair employed Rolls-Royce Merlin
Rolls-Royce Merlin
The Rolls-Royce Merlin is a British liquid-cooled, V-12, piston aero engine, of 27-litre capacity. Rolls-Royce Limited designed and built the engine which was initially known as the PV-12: the PV-12 became known as the Merlin following the company convention of naming its piston aero engines after...

 engines
Inline engine (aviation)
In aviation, an inline engine means any reciprocating engine with banks rather than rows of cylinders, including straight engines, flat engines, V engines and H engines, but excluding radial engines and rotary engines....

 in order to achieve a 35 mph faster cruising speed. The prototype flew on 15 July 1946 and the type was selected by various airlines as well as by the RCAF. It provided reliable, if noisy, service throughout the 1950s and into the 1960s. Some examples continued to fly into the 1970s as converted cargo aircraft.

Design and development

Canadair Aircraft Ltd.
Canadair
Canadair Ltd. was a civil and military aircraft manufacturer in Canada. It was a subsidiary of other aircraft manufacturers, then a nationalized corporation until privatized in 1986, and became the core of Bombardier Aerospace....

 took over the Canadian Vickers Ltd.
Canadian Vickers Limited
Canadian Vickers Limited was an aircraft and shipbuilding company that operated in Canada during the early part of the 20th century until 1944. A subsidiary of the UK parent, it built its own aircraft designs as well as others under licence. Canadair absorbed the Canadian Vickers Ltd...

 operations on 11 November 1944. Besides the existing Consolidated PBY
PBY Catalina
The Consolidated PBY Catalina was an American flying boat of the 1930s and 1940s produced by Consolidated Aircraft. It was one of the most widely used multi-role aircraft of World War II. PBYs served with every branch of the United States Armed Forces and in the air forces and navies of many other...

 Canso flying patrol boats in production, a development contract to produce a new variant of the Douglas DC-4 transport, was still in effect. The new Canadair DC-4M powered by Rolls-Royce Merlin engines emerged in 1946 as the "North Star." More than just an engine swap, the North Star had the Douglas DC-6
Douglas DC-6
The Douglas DC-6 is a piston-powered airliner and transport aircraft built by the Douglas Aircraft Company from 1946 to 1958. Originally intended as a military transport near the end of World War II, it was reworked after the war to compete with the Lockheed Constellation in the long-range...

 nose, landing gear and fuselage shortened by 80 in (2 metres), DC-4 empennage
Empennage
The empennage , also known as the tail or tail assembly, of most aircraft gives stability to the aircraft, in a similar way to the feathers on an arrow...

, rear fuselage, flaps and wing tips, C-54 middle fuselage sections, wing centre and outer wing panel, cabin pressurisation, a standardized cockpit layout and a different electrical system.

Canadair built 71 examples under the designations: North Star, DC-4M, C-4 and C-5. With the exception of the single C-5 (which had the Pratt & Whitney R-2800 engines, as fitted to the Douglas DC-6
Douglas DC-6
The Douglas DC-6 is a piston-powered airliner and transport aircraft built by the Douglas Aircraft Company from 1946 to 1958. Originally intended as a military transport near the end of World War II, it was reworked after the war to compete with the Lockheed Constellation in the long-range...

), these variants were all powered by Rolls-Royce Merlin engines and 51 of the production examples were pressurized.

Operational history

Trans-Canada Air Lines
Trans-Canada Air Lines
Trans-Canada Air Lines was a Canadian airline and operated as the country's flag carrier. Its corporate headquarters were in Montreal, Quebec...

 (TCA), the Royal Canadian Air Force
Royal Canadian Air Force
The history of the Royal Canadian Air Force begins in 1920, when the air force was created as the Canadian Air Force . In 1924 the CAF was renamed the Royal Canadian Air Force and granted royal sanction by King George V. The RCAF existed as an independent service until 1968...

 (RCAF), Canadian Pacific Airlines
Canadian Pacific Airlines
Canadian Pacific Air Lines was a Canadian airline that operated from 1942 to 1987. It operated under the name CP Air from 1968 to 1986...

 (CPA) and British Overseas Airways Corporation
British Overseas Airways Corporation
The British Overseas Airways Corporation was the British state airline from 1939 until 1946 and the long-haul British state airline from 1946 to 1974. The company started life with a merger between Imperial Airways Ltd. and British Airways Ltd...

 (BOAC) were the principal operators of the "North Star", with the CPA
Canadian Pacific Airlines
Canadian Pacific Air Lines was a Canadian airline that operated from 1942 to 1987. It operated under the name CP Air from 1968 to 1986...

 examples known as the "Canadair Four" and BOAC
Boac
Boac may refer to:* Boac, Marinduque, a municipality in the Southern Philippines* Boac , an American rapper* British Overseas Airways Corporation, a former British state-owned airline...

 examples known as the "Argonaut".

RCAF service

The RCAF North Stars were unpressurized and were used on a wide variety of general transport duties. Like other North Stars, they were also unfortunately notorious for the high level of interior cabin noise caused by the Merlin engines (since the Merlin engine is supercharged using a two-stage geared engine-driven supercharger, its exhaust is not run through a turbocharger
Turbocharger
A turbocharger, or turbo , from the Greek "τύρβη" is a centrifugal compressor powered by a turbine that is driven by an engine's exhaust gases. Its benefit lies with the compressor increasing the mass of air entering the engine , thereby resulting in greater performance...

, and thus exits the exhaust manifold in high-pressure bursts).

The sole C-5 variant was consequently powered by Pratt & Whitney R-2800
Pratt & Whitney R-2800
The Pratt & Whitney R-2800 Double Wasp is a two-row, 18-cylinder, air-cooled radial aircraft engine with a displacement of 2,804 in³ , and is part of the long-lived Wasp family....

 Double Wasp engines (that were considerably quieter). The only C-5 was delivered to the RCAF in 1950, entering service with No. 412 Transport Squadron in Uplands, Ottawa. In RCAF service, the C-5 was specially outfitted for the transportation of VIP passengers. It was then used to transport the Canadian Prime Minister, the Queen
Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom
Elizabeth II is the constitutional monarch of 16 sovereign states known as the Commonwealth realms: the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Jamaica, Barbados, the Bahamas, Grenada, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Belize,...

, and numerous other dignitaries on various high profile missions. It served faithfully for 17 years, later becoming a crew trainer before being retired and sold in the United States.

North Stars were also employed by 412 Squadron from Ottawa
Ottawa
Ottawa is the capital of Canada, the second largest city in the Province of Ontario, and the fourth largest city in the country. The city is located on the south bank of the Ottawa River in the eastern portion of Southern Ontario...

 on various VIP transport duties and, overall, the aircraft provided valuable and reliable long range transport services for the RCAF. From 1950 to 1952, during the Korean War
Korean War
The Korean War was a conventional war between South Korea, supported by the United Nations, and North Korea, supported by the People's Republic of China , with military material aid from the Soviet Union...

, RCAF North Star aircraft were employed ferrying supplies to Korea across the Pacific Ocean
Pacific Ocean
The Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth's oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic in the north to the Southern Ocean in the south, bounded by Asia and Australia in the west, and the Americas in the east.At 165.2 million square kilometres in area, this largest division of the World...

. They flew 599 round trips over the Pacific and delivered seven million pounds of cargo and 13,000 personnel on return trips. They flew 1.9 million miles without a fatal crash and outhauled the USAF
United States Air Force
The United States Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the American uniformed services. Initially part of the United States Army, the USAF was formed as a separate branch of the military on September 18, 1947 under the National Security Act of...

 C-54 on the Korean run. After 1967, the remaining North Stars were assigned to No. 426 Transport Squadron initially deployed to Dorval, Quebec
Dorval, Quebec
Dorval is a city on the island of Montreal in southwestern Quebec, Canada. As of the 2006 Canadian Census, the population increased by 2.2% to 18,088. Although the city has the largest surface area in the West Island, it is among the least densely populated...

 and then to Trenton, Ontario
Trenton, Ontario
Trenton is a community in Southern Ontario in the municipality of Quinte West, Ontario, Canada. Located on the Bay of Quinte, it is the main population centre in Quinte West....

. Gradually, their service life diminished in the 1970s and most were declared surplus.

TCA and BOAC operations

In commercial operations, the North Star had a relatively lengthy career as a passenger airliner. TCA
Trans-Canada Air Lines
Trans-Canada Air Lines was a Canadian airline and operated as the country's flag carrier. Its corporate headquarters were in Montreal, Quebec...

 received their fleet of 20 DC-4M-2 North Stars during 1947 and 1948 and operated them on routes within Canada and to the USA until 1961. The North Stars were replaced on TCAs routes to Europe from 1954 onwards by new Super Constellations. In an attempt to deal with constant complaints about noise, T.C.A. engineers developed a special cross-over exhaust that was only a partially successful in reducing noise levels.

BOAC
British Overseas Airways Corporation
The British Overseas Airways Corporation was the British state airline from 1939 until 1946 and the long-haul British state airline from 1946 to 1974. The company started life with a merger between Imperial Airways Ltd. and British Airways Ltd...

 ordered 22 DC-4M-4 aircraft and named them as their "Argonaut class", each aircraft having a classical name prefixed with "A". The Argonauts were delivered between March and November 1949; they flew to South America, Africa, the Middle East and the Far East from London Airport (later Heathrow) until 1960.

Later service

After service with TCA and BOAC, the surplused North Stars and Argonauts had long careers with secondary operators like British Midland
British midland
British midland may refer to:*British Midland Airways Limited, also referred to as bmi and formerly as British Midland*The English Midlands, the central region of Great Britain...

, Overseas Aviation and other charter companies. Cargo conversions of available airframes also lengthened the service life of Argonauts and North Stars.CF-UXA,ex-RCAF 17510 was the last DC-4M in airline service, carrying out its final flight 19 June 1975 at Miami, Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...

. Despite the onset of jet airliners
Jet engine
A jet engine is a reaction engine that discharges a fast moving jet to generate thrust by jet propulsion and in accordance with Newton's laws of motion. This broad definition of jet engines includes turbojets, turbofans, rockets, ramjets, pulse jets...

 in the 1950s, the rugged Canadair North Star found a niche in both military and civil use.

Variants

  • DC-4M-X North Star: The initial prototype that was later part of the TCA order.
  • DC-4M-2/3 North Star: Four-engined civil transport aircraft for Trans Canada Airlines, powered by four Rolls-Royce Merlin 622 piston engines. A total of 20 built for Trans-Canada Airlines. Also known as the North Star M2-3.
    • DC-4M-2/4 North Star : Four-engined civil transport aircraft for Trans Canada Airlines, powered by our Rolls-Royce Merlin 624 piston engines. Also known as the North Star M2-4.
  • C-54GM North Star Mk 1: Four-engined military transport aircraft for the RCAF, powered by four Rolls-Royce Merlin 620 piston engines. A total of 24 built for RCAF transport use, (the first six actually modified DC-4s).
    • North Star Mk 1 ST : North Star Mk 1s converted into passenger transport aircraft.
  • DC-4M-1 North Star Mk M1 : Six aircraft operated by Trans Canada Airlines, on loan from the RCAF.
    • North Star Mk M1 ST : North Star Mk M1s converted into passenger transport aircraft.
  • C-4 Argonaut: A total of 22 built for use by BOAC
    Boac
    Boac may refer to:* Boac, Marinduque, a municipality in the Southern Philippines* Boac , an American rapper* British Overseas Airways Corporation, a former British state-owned airline...

    .
  • C-4-1 Canadair Four: Four aircraft identical to BOAC
    Boac
    Boac may refer to:* Boac, Marinduque, a municipality in the Southern Philippines* Boac , an American rapper* British Overseas Airways Corporation, a former British state-owned airline...

    's Argonauts built to Canadian Pacific Airlines
    Canadian Pacific Airlines
    Canadian Pacific Air Lines was a Canadian airline that operated from 1942 to 1987. It operated under the name CP Air from 1968 to 1986...

     specifications.
    • North Star C-4-1C : North Star C-4-1s converted into freight or cargo aircraft.
  • C-5 North Star: One RCAF VIP transport version powered by four Pratt & Whitney R-2800 radial piston engines.

Civil operators

Aden
Aden (colony)
The Colony of Aden or Aden Colony was a British Crown colony from 1937 to 1963, and consisted of the port city of Aden and its immediate surroundings The Colony of Aden or Aden Colony was a British Crown colony from 1937 to 1963, and consisted of the port city of Aden and its immediate...

  • Aden Airways
    Aden Airways
    Aden Airways was a subsidiary of British Overseas Airways Corporation based in Aden. It was in operation from 1949 to 1967.-History:In 1947, a proposal to form an airline in Aden using a pair of Bristol Wayfarers did not materialise...


Burundi
Burundi
Burundi , officially the Republic of Burundi , is a landlocked country in the Great Lakes region of Eastern Africa bordered by Rwanda to the north, Tanzania to the east and south, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the west. Its capital is Bujumbura...

  • King of Burundi
    Mwambutsa IV Bangiriceng of Burundi
    King Mwambutsa IV Bangiricenge was the king of Burundi from December 16, 1915 to July 8, 1966. He was given the title of Mwami,King. He succeeded Mutaga IV Mbikije. Like other Burundian kings, he was an ethnic Ganwa. During the early part of his reign, Burundi was transferred from Germany to...


Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

  • Canadian Pacific Airlines
    Canadian Pacific Airlines
    Canadian Pacific Air Lines was a Canadian airline that operated from 1942 to 1987. It operated under the name CP Air from 1968 to 1986...

  • National Research Council
  • Trans-Canada Airlines
  • World Wide Airways

Denmark
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...

  • Flying Enterprise

Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...


Kenya
Kenya
Kenya , officially known as the Republic of Kenya, is a country in East Africa that lies on the equator, with the Indian Ocean to its south-east...

  • East African Airways
    East African Airways
    East African Airways Corp. was an airline jointly run by three countries in East Africa: Kenya, Tanzania; and Uganda, which were then part of an East African Community. The airline was headquartered in the Sadler House in Nairobi, Kenya...


Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...

  • Líneas Aéreas Unidas Mexicanas

Panama
Panama
Panama , officially the Republic of Panama , is the southernmost country of Central America. Situated on the isthmus connecting North and South America, it is bordered by Costa Rica to the northwest, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north and the Pacific Ocean to the south. The...


United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

  • Air Links
  • BOAC
    Boac
    Boac may refer to:* Boac, Marinduque, a municipality in the Southern Philippines* Boac , an American rapper* British Overseas Airways Corporation, a former British state-owned airline...

  • British Midland
    British midland
    British midland may refer to:*British Midland Airways Limited, also referred to as bmi and formerly as British Midland*The English Midlands, the central region of Great Britain...

  • Derby Airways
  • Overseas Aviation
  • Transglobe Airways

United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

  • Aircraft Salvage of Dallas

Venezuela
Venezuela
Venezuela , officially called the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela , is a tropical country on the northern coast of South America. It borders Colombia to the west, Guyana to the east, and Brazil to the south...

  • Linea Expressa Bolivar

Military operators

  • Royal Canadian Air Force
    Royal Canadian Air Force
    The history of the Royal Canadian Air Force begins in 1920, when the air force was created as the Canadian Air Force . In 1924 the CAF was renamed the Royal Canadian Air Force and granted royal sanction by King George V. The RCAF existed as an independent service until 1968...


  • Air Force of El Salvador
    Air Force of El Salvador
    The Salvadoran Air Force the air force of the Armed Forces of El Salvador, and is independent from the army and navy. It was formed on 20 March 1923 during a period of heavy interest in aviation in El Salvador. In 1947 after signing the treaty of Rio...


 Rhodesia
  • Royal Rhodesian Air Force
    Royal Rhodesian Air Force
    The Rhodesian Air Force was the air arm of the British colonial state of Rhodesia. It existed between 1935 and 1980 under various names, and is now the Air Force of Zimbabwe.-History:...


Accidents and incidents

  • 8 April 1954, a Royal Canadian Air Force
    Royal Canadian Air Force
    The history of the Royal Canadian Air Force begins in 1920, when the air force was created as the Canadian Air Force . In 1924 the CAF was renamed the Royal Canadian Air Force and granted royal sanction by King George V. The RCAF existed as an independent service until 1968...

     Canadair Harvard collided with a Trans-Canada Airlines Canadair North Star over Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan
    Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan
    Moose Jaw is a city in south-central Saskatchewan, Canada on the Moose Jaw River. It is situated on the Trans-Canada Highway, west of Regina. Residents of Moose Jaw are known as Moose Javians. It is best known as a retirement and tourist city that serves as a hub to the hundreds of small towns...

    , killing 36 people on the aircraft and one person on the ground.
  • 21 September 1955, a British Overseas Airways Corporation Canadair C-4 Argonaut
    Canadair North Star
    The Canadair North Star was a 1940s Canadian development of the Douglas C-54 / DC-4 aircraft. Instead of radial piston engines found on the Douglas design, Canadair employed Rolls-Royce Merlin engines in order to achieve a 35 mph faster cruising speed. The prototype flew on 15 July 1946 and...

     traveling from Rome to Tripoli crashed on its fourth landing attempt in poor visibility and strong winds. A total of 15 of 40 occupants died after the aircraft descended too low, struck trees approximately 1,200 ft short of runway 11, subsequently impacting the terrain.
  • 24 June 1956, a BOAC Canadair C-4 Argonaut G-ALHE crashed shortly after taking off
    1956 BOAC Argonaut accident
    The 1956 BOAC Argonaut accident occurred on 24 June 1956 when a British Overseas Airways Corporation four-engined Canadair C-4 Argonaut airliner registered G-ALHE crashed into a tree on departure from Kano Airport in Nigeria, three crew and 29 passengers were killed.-Accident:At 17:21 the...

     from Kano Airport, Nigeria into a thunderstorm, killing 29 0f the 38 passengers and 3 of the seven crew
  • 9 December 1956, a Trans-Canada Air Lines Flight 810
    Trans-Canada Air Lines Flight 810
    Trans-Canada Air Lines Flight 810 was a Canadair North Star on a scheduled flight from Vancouver to Calgary . The plane crashed into Mount Slesse near Chilliwack, British Columbia, Canada, on 9 December 1956 after encountering severe icing and turbulence over the mountains...

     crashed into Mount Slesse on a flight from Vancouver to Calgary
    Calgary
    Calgary is a city in the Province of Alberta, Canada. It is located in the south of the province, in an area of foothills and prairie, approximately east of the front ranges of the Canadian Rockies...

    , killing all 62 people on board the aircraft. Among the dead were five Canadian Football League
    Canadian Football League
    The Canadian Football League or CFL is a professional sports league located in Canada. The CFL is the highest level of competition in Canadian football, a form of gridiron football closely related to American football....

     players, including four members of the Saskatchewan Roughriders
    Saskatchewan Roughriders
    The Saskatchewan Roughriders are a Canadian Football League team based in Regina, Saskatchewan. They were founded in 1910. They play their home games at 2940 10th Avenue in Regina, which has been the team's home base for its entire history, even prior to the construction of Mosaic Stadium at Taylor...

     and one member of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers
    Winnipeg Blue Bombers
    The Winnipeg Blue Bombers are a Canadian football team based in Winnipeg, Manitoba. They are currently members of the East Division of the Canadian Football League . They play their home games at Canad Inns Stadium, and plan to move to a new stadium for the 2012 season.The Blue Bombers were founded...

    , as well as one CFL official on their way home from the annual All-Star game played the previous day at Empire Stadium in Vancouver.
  • 27 August 1964 - Former Trans Canada CF-TFQ of Keegan Aviation was damaged beyond repair by Hurricane Leo at Miami, Florida, United States.
  • The Stockport Air Disaster
    Stockport Air Disaster
    The Stockport Air Disaster was the crash of a Canadair C-4 Argonaut aircraft owned by British Midland Airways, registration G-ALHG, near the centre of Stockport, Greater Manchester, England on Sunday 4 June 1967. 72 of the 84 aboard were killed in the accident. Of the 12 survivors, all were...

     occurred when a Canadair C-4 Argonaut aircraft owned by British Midland Airways, registration G-ALHG, and operating a holiday charter flight, crashed near the centre of Stockport
    Stockport
    Stockport is a town in Greater Manchester, England. It lies on elevated ground southeast of Manchester city centre, at the point where the rivers Goyt and Tame join and create the River Mersey. Stockport is the largest settlement in the metropolitan borough of the same name...

    , Greater Manchester
    Greater Manchester
    Greater Manchester is a metropolitan county in North West England, with a population of 2.6 million. It encompasses one of the largest metropolitan areas in the United Kingdom and comprises ten metropolitan boroughs: Bolton, Bury, Oldham, Rochdale, Stockport, Tameside, Trafford, Wigan, and the...

    , United Kingdom
    United Kingdom
    The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

     on 4 June 1967. Fatalities included 72 of the 84 aboard; 12 others were seriously injured.

Surviving North Stars

A small number of surviving airframes are still in existence including an RCAF C-54GM example (17515 ) which is currently undergoing restoration at the Canada Aviation and Space Museum, Ottawa, Ontario.

Specifications (DC-4-M2 North Star)

See also

External links

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