Canadair CL-66

Canadair CL-66
Type:	Transport plane
Design country:	Canada
Manufacturer:	Canadair
First flight:	2nd February 1959
Commissioning:	1960
Number of pieces:	13

The CL-66 was the turboprop variant of the civil Convair CV-440 passenger aircraft and was used as the CC-109 Cosmopolitan to the standard VIP aircraft of the Royal Canadian Air Force and also for light transport tasks.

History and construction

After production of the Convair CV-440 was finished in San Diego, Canadair acquired the rights to the design, including assembly devices, tools and three unsold CV-440s. Due to the availability of the Napier Eland turboprop engine, the CV-440 became the Convair 540 . Like the CV-440, the CL-66 is also equipped with a pressurized cabin .

In 1958, the RCAF wanted to replace their aging Douglas C-47 with a turboprop- powered aircraft. The Vickers Viscount was their first choice , but the Canadian government decided against this aircraft. Instead, Canadair offered a number of Convair 540 variants with the Napier Eland turboprop engine. The project was named CL-66 and three versions were developed. The first flight of the CL-66C took place on February 2, 1959, the CL-66B followed in January 1960. Not a single "A" version was built. Canadair, despite its best efforts, did not receive any airline orders for the CL-66 because it was too expensive and other manufacturers' aircraft performed better. The RCAF took over ten aircraft, mostly CL-66B. Two machines used as demonstration aircraft were sold to Quebecair .

Since the Eland engines proved to be unreliable and too weak in terms of performance, these were replaced by Allison 501-D36 propeller turbines in the machines used by the RCAF in 1966 and 67 .

variants

CL-66A

48/64 seated passenger aircraft

CL-66B

combined cargo / passenger aircraft

CL-66C

Convair CV-440 retrofitted with the Napier Eland turboprop engine

Military users

•  Canada

Technical specifications

Parameter	Data
crew	3-4
Passengers	64
length	24.84 m
span	32.12 m
height	8.49 m
Wing area	89.54 m²
Empty mass	14,666 kg
Max. Takeoff mass	24,130 kg
Cruising speed	518 km / h
Top speed	547 km / h
Service ceiling	7620 m
Range	3660 km
Engines	2 × Napier Eland turboprop engines with 2611 kW each

See also

• List of aircraft types

literature

• Molson, Ken M. and Harold A. Taylor. Canadian Aircraft Since 1909 . Stittsville, Ontario: Canada's Wings, Inc., 1982. ISBN 0-920002-11-0 .
• Pickler, Ron and Larry Milberry. Canadair: The First 50 Years . Toronto: CANAV Books, 1995. ISBN 0-921022-07-7 .
• Taylor, John WR Jane's All The World's Aircraft 1961-62 . London: Sampson Low, Marston & Company, 1961.

Web links

Commons : Canadair CC-109 Cosmopolitan  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

1. ↑ "Canadair CC-109 Cosmopolitan." Shearwateraviationmuseum.ns.ca . Retrieved June 16, 2010.
2. ↑ Jane's All The World's Aircraft 1961-62 Taylor 1961, pp. 21-22.