KF Defence Programs

Last updated June 04, 2019

KF Defence Programs, a division of KF Aerospace, operates the Contracted Flying Training and Support (CFTS) Training Centre located at Portage la Prairie/Southport Airport in Southport, Manitoba, Canada. KF Aerospace leads a joint partnership that includes Canadian Helicopters, Bluedrop Performance Learning, and Canadian Base Operators.^[1] The main building is named The Hilly Brown Building after Wing Commander Mark Henry Brown who was the first Canadian flying ace of the Second World War.^[2]

KF Aerospace is an Approved Maintenance Organization (AMO) which operates two Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul (MRO) facilities in Canada, one in Kelowna, British Columbia, and the other in Hamilton, Ontario.

Portage la Prairie/Southport Airport is located adjacent to Portage la Prairie, Manitoba, Canada. It is operated by Southport Aerospace Centre Inc., a commercial-industrial centre. It was formerly Canadian Forces Base Portage la Prairie. It has been commercially operated since 1992.

Manitoba is a province at the longitudinal centre of Canada. It is often considered one of the three prairie provinces and is Canada's fifth-most populous province with its estimated 1.3 million people. Manitoba covers 649,950 square kilometres (250,900 sq mi) with a widely varied landscape, stretching from the northern oceanic coastline to the southern border with the United States. The province is bordered by the provinces of Ontario to the east and Saskatchewan to the west, the territories of Nunavut to the north, and Northwest Territories to the northwest, and the U.S. states of North Dakota and Minnesota to the south.

The Minister of National Defence is a Minister of the Crown and is the politician within the Cabinet of Canada responsible for the management and direction of all matters relating to the national defence of Canada. The Department of National Defence is headed by the Deputy Minister of National Defence, the department's senior civil servant, while the Canadian Armed Forces are headed by the Chief of the Defence Staff, Canada's senior serving military officer. Both are responsible to the Minister. The Queen of Canada is the Commander-in-Chief of the Canadian Armed Forces and has final authority on all orders and laws for the "defence of the realm". The minister is responsible, through the tenets of responsible government, to Parliament for "the management and direction of the Canadian Forces". Any orders and instructions for the Canadian Armed Forces are issued by or through the Chief of the Defence Staff. The Department of National Defence exists to aid the minister in carrying out his responsibilities, and acts as the civilian support system for the Canadian Forces.

3 Canadian Forces Flying Training School is located at the Southport Aerospace Centre just south of Portage la Prairie, Manitoba, Canada.

Through the partnership, it provides aircraft and training services to the Royal Canadian Air Force for training pilots and air navigators.

The Royal Canadian Air Force is the air force of Canada. Its role is to "provide the Canadian Forces with relevant, responsive and effective airpower". The RCAF is one of three environmental commands within the unified Canadian Armed Forces. As of 2013, the Royal Canadian Air Force consists of 14,500 Regular Force and 2,600 Primary Reserve personnel, supported by 2,500 civilians, and operates 258 manned aircraft and 9 unmanned aerial vehicles. Lieutenant-General Al Meinzinger is the current Commander of the Royal Canadian Air Force and Chief of the Air Force Staff.

Training services

Phase I - Primary Flying Training

The contractor provides the aircraft, flying instructors, facilities, accommodations and courseware for the 1st phase of pilot training in Canada. This training includes both classroom instruction along with basic flight training on the Grob G120A.

The Grob G 120 is a two seated training and aerobatic low-wing aircraft with a carbon composite airframe, built by Grob Aircraft. It is based on the Grob G 115TA training aircraft and is specially designed for military and civil pilots training. It has a tricycle landing gear and a low tailplane.

Phase II (Grob) - Basic Flying Training

The contractor provides the aircraft, flying instructors, facilities, accommodations and courseware. Basic Flight training provided on the Grob G120A. This course is planned as an alternative to Basic Flying Training at CFB Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan.

Canadian Forces Base Moose Jaw, also known as 15 Wing Moose Jaw, is a Canadian Forces base located 4 nautical miles south of Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan. It is operated as an air force base by the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) and is home to RCAF Pilot training and 431 Squadron, the Snowbirds, which is the RCAF's air demonstration squadron.

Phase III - Advanced Flying Training Multi-Engine

The contractor provides the aircraft, facilities, accommodations and courseware. The RCAF provides the instructor pilots for training students on the King Air C90B.

The Beechcraft King Air family is part of a line of American utility aircraft produced by Beechcraft. The King Air line comprises a number of twin-turboprop models that have been divided into two families. The Model 90 and 100 series developed in the 1960s are known as King Airs, while the later T-tail Model 200 and 300 series were originally marketed as Super King Airs, with the name "Super" being dropped by Beechcraft in 1996.

Phase III - Advanced Flying Training Helicopter

The contractor provides the aircraft, facilities, accommodations and courseware. The RCAF provides the instructor pilots for training students on the B412CF Outlaw and Bell B206B-3 Jet Ranger.

Lead-in Navigator Training

The contractor provides the aircraft (Grob G120A), facilities, accommodations, flight instructors and courseware used to initiate air navigators in their flying training.

Aircraft

The following 42 aircraft are owned and maintained by KF Defence Programs as of 16 December 2016:^[4]

quantity	type
13	Grob G120A
7	Beechcraft King Air C90B (upgraded from C90A)
13	Bell B206B-3 Jet Ranger
9	B412CF Outlaw

Related Research Articles

The British Commonwealth Air Training Plan (BCATP), or Empire Air Training Scheme (EATS) often referred to as simply "The Plan", was a massive, joint military aircrew training program created by the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, during the Second World War. BCATP remains as one of the single largest aviation training programs in history and was responsible for training nearly half the pilots, navigators, bomb aimers, air gunners, wireless operators and flight engineers who served with the Royal Air Force (RAF), Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm (FAA), Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF), Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) and Royal New Zealand Air Force (RNZAF) during the war.

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Trainer aircraft Aircraft designed for training of pilots and aircrew

A trainer is a class of aircraft designed specifically to facilitate flight training of pilots and aircrews. The use of a dedicated trainer aircraft with additional safety features—such as tandem flight controls, forgiving flight characteristics and a simplified cockpit arrangement—allows pilots-in-training to safely advance their real-time piloting, navigation and warfighting skills without the danger of overextending their abilities alone in a fully featured aircraft.

Royal Air Force Barkston Heath or RAF Barkston Heath is a Royal Air Force station near Grantham, Lincolnshire, England.

The Grob G 115 is a general aviation fixed-wing aircraft, primarily used for flight training. It is built in Germany by Grob Aircraft. The E variant with a 3-blade variable pitch propeller is in service with the Royal Navy, Army Air Corps and Air Training Corps for Flying Grading and in the Royal Air Force as part of No. 6 Flying Training School to provide flying to University Air Squadrons. The Tutor was previously used as a tri-service trainer for Elementary Flying Training, before being replaced in 2018 by the Prefect T1.

Grob Aircraft is a German aircraft manufacturer, previously known as Grob Aerospace. It has been manufacturing aircraft using carbon fiber reinforced polymer since the 1970s.

Canadian Forces Base Bagotville, commonly referred to as CFB Bagotville, is a Canadian Forces base located 4.5 nautical miles west of the city of Saguenay, Quebec. Located in the centre of Quebec, less than 200 km (120 mi) north of Quebec City, CFB Bagotville is operated as an air force base by the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) and is one of two bases in the country using the CF-18 Hornet fighter/interceptor, the other being CFB Cold Lake. Its primary RCAF lodger unit is 3 Wing, commonly referred to as 3 Wing Bagotville.

Canadian Helicopters, formerly CHC Helicopter Canadian operations, operates 132 aircraft from 43 bases across Canada which provides a broad range of helicopter services to include: emergency medical services, infrastructure maintenance, utilities, oil and gas, forestry, mining and construction, and helicopter transportation services. CH also operates three flight schools and provides third party repair and maintenance services. Canadian Helicopters also provides helicopter service in the United States in support of specialty operations including forest fire suppression activities and geophysical exploration programs.

NATO Flight Training in Canada (NFTC) is a military flight training program for NATO and allied air forces provided by the Canadian Forces.

The Slingsby T67 Firefly, originally produced as the Fournier RF-6, is a two-seat aerobatic training aircraft, built by Slingsby Aviation in Kirkbymoorside, Yorkshire, England. It has been successfully used by the UK armed forces, where the Royal Air Force used 22 Slingsby T67M260s as their basic trainer between 1995 and 2010, with over 100,000 flight hours flown out of RAF Barkston Heath and also RAF Church Fenton. The Slingsby has also been used by the Royal Hong Kong Auxiliary Air Force, the Royal Jordanian Air Force, and other military training schools around the world for many years. Also, in December 2012, the National Flying Laboratory Centre at Cranfield University in the UK acquired a T67M260 to supplement its Scottish Aviation Bulldog aerobatic trainer for MSc student flight experience and training.

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The NATO Air Training Plan was an aircrew training program which ran from 1950 - 1958, authorized by NATO, and implemented by the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF). The program trained pilots and navigators from NATO signatory countries with the purpose of improving NATO airpower in response to the perceived military threat in Europe from Soviet bloc countries.

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Canadian Forces Base Portage la Prairie is a former military airport located adjacent to Portage la Prairie, Manitoba, Canada. Today the airport is operated as Portage la Prairie/Southport Airport.

The Grob G 120TP is a two-seat turboprop training and aerobatic low-wing aircraft with a composite airframe, built by Grob Aircraft. It is based on the Grob G 120A training aircraft and has been developed for military and civil pilots training. It has a retractable tricycle landing gear and a low tailplane.

References

↑ Participants
↑ Facilities
↑ Contracted Flying Training and Support
↑ All aircraft are still registered to Allied Wings and not KF Defence Programs, "Canadian Civil Aircraft Register: Quick Search Result for Allied Wings". Transport Canada . Retrieved 2016-12-16.

External links

KF Defence Programs

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[1] Participants

[2] Facilities

[3] Contracted Flying Training and Support

[4] All aircraft are still registered to Allied Wings and not KF Defence Programs, "Canadian Civil Aircraft Register: Quick Search Result for Allied Wings". Transport Canada . Retrieved 2016-12-16.