Canadian Gulfstreams - Part 1

Subsequent to WWII, the largest aircraft operated by Canadian companies were the Douglas DC-3, the Lockheed 18 Lodestar and the Grumman G-73 Mallard. These large cabin aircraft were loud and flew low and slow. With the arrival of turbine power, corporations desired faster and more comfortable airplanes. When Grumman introduced its G-159 Gulfstream in June 1957, Canadian flight departments took note of the pressurized turboprop. Gulfstream c/n 7 first flew on July 23, 1959 and was delivered in mid-January 1960 as CF-LOO to Home Oil in Calgary, Alberta. During the following three years, new G-159s were delivered to George W. Crothers (31 / CF-JFC), Massey-Ferguson (54 / CF-MUR), Imperial Oil (60 / CF-IOM), Westcoast Transmission (72 / CF-NOC) and Algoma Steel (115 / CF-ASC). Brand loyalty played a role, as Crothers, Imperial Oil  and Algoma Steel had previously owned Mallards.

As time passed, the type became more affordable in the secondary market and numerous corporations and commercial operators added G-159s to their fleets. Besides its initial role as an executive transport, the Gulfstream provided logistical support for natural resource development in remote regions of the nation, was used as a regional airliner with a 24-seat interior, acted as a platform for geophysical surveys, and performed nocturnal missions as freighters.

Between 1958 and 1969, 200 G-159s were built by Grumman at Bethpage, New York. Of those, 25 wore a Canadian registration. Today fewer than a dozen airframes remain airworthy around the world. The sole example on the CCAR is C-FAWE (188). Currently withdrawn from service at Rouyn-Noranda, Quebec, it would be wonderful to hear its R-R Darts spool up and to see it airborne once again.

CF-MUR (054) taken in 1964 at Toronto. With permission from George Trussell

C-FCOL (064) and C-FAWG (106) courtesy of Caz Caswell