Aviation Memorabilia Newsletter

CP-140 Aurora

If it is at all possible to find a positive aspect of the COVID-19 pandemic, it is that I have an excuse for all the time that I spend at my computer. I would be doing that anyway but now I can do it guilt free!

I subscribe to several aviation newsletters and YouTube channels so notifications are constantly popping up on my screen. 

FlightAware.com is a great site to get lost in for a few hours and they send out a weekly newsletter that always seems to have some Canadian content. 

Members of RCAF’s 407 Squadron take prize at Exercise Sea Dragon in Guam.

Reprinted from the article:

A CP-140 Aurora aircraft and crew from 407 Long Range Patrol Squadron and support personnel from 19 Wing Comox took part in Exercise Sea Dragon, held at Andersen Air Base, Guam, from January 12 to 28, 2021. Hosted by the United States Navy’s Seventh Fleet, Exercise Sea Dragon 21 is a premier multinational anti-submarine exercise in the Pacific region. This year marks the first participation of the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) in the exercise.

The RCAF’s participation enabled substantial training opportunities for the long range patrol community working with allies and partners in the Pacific, including Australia, India, Japan and the United States.

The detachment’s exercise was very successful, culminating in their receiving the award given to the top performing crew on exercise with the most efficient tactics.

Full article at rcaf-arc.forces.gc.ca

The Lockheed CP-140 Aurora is a maritime patrol aircraft operated by the Royal Canadian Air Force. The aircraft is based on the Lockheed P-3 Orion airframe, but mounts the electronics suite of the Lockheed S-3 Viking. "Aurora" refers to the Roman goddess of dawn who flies across the sky each morning ahead of the sun. Aurora also refers to the Aurora Borealis, the "northern lights", that are prominent over northern Canada and the Arctic Ocean.

The CP-140A Arcturus was a related variant used primarily for pilot training and coastal surface patrol missions.

The Lockheed CP-140 Aurora has been patrolling Canada's shorelines for over forty years. Searching for submarines during the Cold War era, it now primarily monitors illegal fishing and drug smuggling. I'm sure that subscribers who have served in the military may be quite familiar with its history but I had to dive into YouTube and Wikipedia to satisfy my curiosity. 

 History and details at Wikipedia.com 

Click the icon for a video posted by Global TV of reporter, Jill Krop, receiving a tour of one of these aircraft at CFB Comox.