March 12, 2019 | Local, Aerospace

Simulating the ‘SuperScooper’

The Viking CL-415 “SuperScooper” is more akin to a pick-up truck than a sports car.

It's a hardworking, amphibious turboprop that was built to fight wildfires.

It flies low, battling blistering heat and blinding smoke, before releasing 13,500 pounds of water in six seconds – and then returning to a nearby lake where it skims the surface to reload.

Introduced in 1993 by Bombardier, the CL-415 was essentially a turboprop version of its predecessor, the piston-powered CL-215. Today, there are close to 170 CL-215/415 aircraft in operation, mostly in Europe and North America. They are now supported by Viking Air, which acquired the program from Bombardier in 2016.

Pilot training in the CL-415 has historically been done in the aircraft, but TRU Simulation + Training says that due to the unique mission it performs, those training flights can be dangerous.

The South Carolina-headquartered company is a division of industry giant Textron Inc., and was formed following the amalgamation of several specialty flight simulation and pilot training companies, including former Montreal-based Mechtronix.

About two years ago, TRU's commercial aviation division in Montreal began designing the world's first CL-415 full flight simulator (FFS) with the capability to replicate operations not only in the air, but also on the water. The company was able to draw on its recent experience of successfully building a Series 400 Twin Otter FFS for Canada's Pacific Sky Aviation in Calgary, Alta. – the world's first seaplane simulator with water-handling capabilities.

“Before the Twin Otter project, hydrodynamic modelling is something we hadn't done before,” acknowledged Thom Allen, TRU's vice-president of Technology and Innovation. “It's like a boat simulator because you're modelling the buoyancy of the floats or the fuselage in the water. Interestingly, our engineers working on the Twin Otter program actually went to the library and researched how boats work on the water. Mixing the boat sim with the aerodynamic sim is the whole package.”

He said the CL-415 experience took things one step further by adding the mission component – scooping the water – to the Twin Otter build.

“From a safety point of view, the types of missions you do in a waterbomber are quite a bit different from a commercial aircraft. When you're scooping water and dropping it over a fire, training in those conditions is very dangerous. The tradeoff has always been between the quality of the training and the danger of doing that sort of training.”

TRU's CL-415 FFS was delivered to Ansett Aviation Training in Milan, Italy, in September 2018 and certified by the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) in December to Level D standards. Although training courses have yet to be completed in the simulator, the hope is that both initial and recurrent pilot training will be done exclusively in the device.

Allen said the operational characteristics of a CL-415 are complex and unique.

“When you're flying over a very hot fire, you drop your water and the mass of the aircraft is cut in half. The turbulence effect is quite significant when you hit the updraft. The fire is creating turbulence, smoke, reduced visibility – and pilots are dropping every five or 10 minutes repeatedly, usually in rugged terrain at low altitudes. This is the part that made this project something new.”

To gather accurate performance data, TRU rented a CL-415 and equipped it with flight test instrumentation.

“We weren't doing fire drops with our engineers on board, but we did all the manoeuvres around that, and we brought in a number of senior CL-415 pilots to evaluate our work.”

The result is the world's first high fidelity CL-415 simulator with the capability of replicating not just air and water operations, but various types and intensities of forest fires and changes in related environmental conditions. The cockpit noise level is accurately reproduced by a secondary audio system that – like the real aircraft – requires crewmembers to wear a noise-cancelling headset.

Full article: https://www.skiesmag.com/news/simulating-the-superscooper

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January 14, 2019 | Local, Land

New logistics trucks delivered to Valcartier
January 14, 2019 – Valcartier, QC – National Defence / Canadian Armed Forces Today, Families, Children and Social Development Minister Jean-Yves Duclos, on behalf of Defence Minister Harjit S. Sajjan, visited members of the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) at 2nd Canadian Division Support Base Valcartier to see Canada's new logistics trucks delivered to the base. These trucks support Canada's defence policy, Strong, Secure, Engaged, in delivering the modern equipment the women and men of the CAF depend on to do their jobs. Support vehicles like these trucks form the backbone of ground transportation for our Regular and Reserve forces. They are at the heart of nearly every domestic and international CAF operation, moving critical equipment, personnel and supplies to wherever they need to be. Whether helping Canadian communities deal with severe flooding or other national disasters, or supporting NATO operations in Latvia and throughout Eastern Europe, these new trucks will serve our women and men for decades to come. Of the over 1500 trucks purchased, nearly 450 will be based in Quebec, to be used by CAF units, including Reserves. The trucks will come in five variants ranging in use and size from regular cargo to cargo trucks with a material handling crane. The cabs can also be swapped out for an armoured cab for use in high threat environments. The purchase of these trucks is subject to Canada's Industrial and Technological Benefits (ITB) Policy, which means that for every dollar the government spends on major defence purchases, the winning contractor must put a dollar back into Canada's economy. Through this policy, the government's purchasing power is being used to support innovation and create well-paying middle-class jobs. Quotes “Through our defence policy, Strong, Secure, Engaged, we are providing the women and men of our Canadian Armed Forces with the equipment they need to do their jobs. Logistics trucks are essential component for how our Canadian Armed Forces members conduct their important work. That is why I am pleased to see these new and modern vehicles being delivered to Valcartier and other locations across Canada to replace and modernize the current fleet of medium weight logistic trucks that have reached the end of their service life.” – Defence Minister Harjit S. Sajjan “I am very pleased to see these new trucks being delivered to Valcartier for use by a number of Quebec-based units. Whether for overseas operations or to provide support to local communities during spring flooding, these trucks will help our Canadian Armed Forces members get the job done." – Families, Children and Social Development Minister Jean-Yves Duclos Quick facts In July 2015, the Government of Canada awarded two contracts to Mack Defense, valued at a total of $834 million, to deliver new trucks, trailers, armour protection systems and in-service support. Across Canada, more than 1500 trucks, 300 trailers, and 150 armoured protection systems are expected to be delivered over the next two years. The new trucks have the ability to carry up to 9.5 tonnes. https://www.canada.ca/en/department-national-defence/news/2019/01/new-logistics-trucks-delivered-to-valcartier.html
January 25, 2018 | Local, Land

CANSOFCOM takes delivery of Ultra-Light Combat Vehicle (ULCV)
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February 12, 2018 | Local, Security

Military to spend $170,000 so leaders can see what it's like to be stoned on marijuana
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