Canadair CL-28 Argus

I flew 3,000 hours on the Argus out of 405 Squadron out of Greenwood from 1964 to 1969. I always thought the ASV-21 search radar with the smaller radome was superior to the APS 20 on the earlier version of the Argus. I once did a sucessful ASV-21 radar homing on a radio whip aireal of the British submarine 'Alcide'at 19 miles during an exercise (Maplespring) out of Rosevelt Rhodes in Puerto Rico. The aireal was kicking up a small water wall and we were 90 degrees sidways to it, so it made a target about 4X6 feet to read on the ASV-21. Since it was done during an excercise we scored big points.

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My father flew many hours on the Argus out of Summerside during the early '70s with crew 5. He told once of leaving for a 16 hr patrol and comming back 9 days later!

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Just to correct the second comment by Chris, the RCAF ceased to exist on 1 February 1968 not 1988.

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Chris is correct, 10741 DID do a ferry flight back to Greenwood on 3 engines (including take off) as he stated. Maybe the story behind it should remain a secret.

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<<
The photo is defenitely a CL 28 Argus manufactured by Canadair. I flew these a /c 4,788 hours as a Pilot and Instructor on 3 Sqdns. On the 21 jan. 1971 I was tasked to fly Argus 20741 from Saint Jean N.B. to RCAF Stn Greewood N.S. by doing a 3-engine Take-Off for an a /c ferry flight.(And it was successful)>>>

A couple of things to point out. St. Jean (not Saint Jean was) in Quebec, not New Brunswick. Why would you be flying from there when St. Hubert was close by. The longest runway at St. Jean is only 4,000 feet. And you say you did a three-engine take-off from there???? Secondly, the Royal Canadian Air Force ceased to exist effective the 1st of February, 1988. I was at CYZX for five years and never, I repeat never heard of anyone carrying out a ferry flight on three engines. I saw them come in many times on three engines though. Lastly, the Argus serial numbers were changed on the 4th of June, 1970. Argus 20741 became 10741 on that date.

Cheers...Chris

CFB Greenwood
August 1971 to December 1975

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While the surviving Argii population is small (5 I believe)it would be great to see one airworthy. It would cost a lot and I don't know how well the Wright radials would run on 100 LL Avgas. Just a thought

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Barry's comment above has the Argus radar systems incorrectly identified. The original intention was to have all Argus equipped with the British ASV-21, however this radar could not be delivered in time so the American APS-20 was installed in the original production batch.

APS-20, Large radome
ASV-21, Small radome

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This is definetly an Argus and is the first A /C I had the pleasure of working on as an AeroEng Tech in my career. I was in VP 415 Sqn CFB Summerside from 1979 till 1982. Nothing but good times and a great A /C

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of of aba

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Do any of you who flew the Argus or served on it happen to know or remember a David Gordon Reed?
If you do, swing me an email

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I was a pilot crew commander(VPCC) on the Argus with VP405 and I also was a pilot instructor on VP404. During some of that time, I flew the Argus air demonstration at various airshows around North America. There was absolutely nothing more impressive than an Argus approaching at full power and near maximum airspeed. The audio-visual effect was amazing. The Argus could always steal the show, and it gave both pilots and flight engineer a good workout.

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The photo is defenitely a CL 28 Argus manufactured by Canadair. I flew these a /c 4,788 hours as a Pilot and Instructor on 3 Sqdns. On the 21 jan. 1971 I was tasked to fly Argus 20741 from Saint Jean N.B. to RCAF Stn Greewood N.S. by doing a 3-engine Take-Off for an a /c ferry flight.(And it was successful)

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THe Argus was replaced by the CP140 Aurora which was a deritive of the P 3 Orion.

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It most certainly is an Argus. While I was RCAF ground crew (ComOp) and stationed at RCAF Station Greenwood, I flew in them. In fact, I was possibly the last person to have radio contact with the Argus that crashed into the sea off Puerto Rico during Operation Maple Springboard on March 25, 1965.

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The picture depicting 710 is an Argus mark 1 of the first generation, 710 is actually the first Argus and prototype built by Canadair in Montreal and is equipt , like all 13 mark 1, with the american APS-20 search radar wich has the big antenna radome, all others Argus (22)where mark 2 with british ASV-21 search radar with the smaller radome. The Wright engines where fitted for low specific fuel consumption (not for cost saving), on the 31 may 1974, 711 a 407 Squadron Argus mark 1 from Comox flew 31.1 hours straight with no external or added fuel tank

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I agree it is a CL28 Argus. It is the later model with the larger radome that actaully gave a better performance than the earlier model with a smaller radome.
However I do not agree that piston engines gave the aircraft a better performance. The Proteus turbo prop of the original Brittania would have given a far greater endurance and range. I think more to the point the Cyclone was more of a low cost option.

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The photo at the top of the page is definately an Argus. I flew over 2000 hours in the Argus as a Radio Officer.
Piston engins were specified as they gave a longer range than turbo props and gave us a longer loiter time mid-Atlantic. The Argus had the longest range of any aircraft until Rutan's arond the world flight.

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The picture you have is not of an argus!

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Photos inverted. This is the CL-44, and the one in CL-44 page is a CL-28...

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Why Canadair replaced turboprops with piston engines? I think turboprop is the best way to push a patrol aircraft longer. It's a nonsense...

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