Comox Heritage Air Park Air Force Outdoor Museum Collection BC Canada
The Avro Canada CF-100 Canuck, (affectionately known as the Clunk), and less affectionately as the "Lead Sled" was a Canadian jet fighter serving during the Cold War. It was the first and only Canadian-designed fighter to enter mass-production. The CF-100 is not considered to be truly supersonic as it could not exceed the speed of sound in level flight. However, on 18 December 1952, S/L Janusz Żurakowski, the Avro company chief development test pilot, broke the sound barrier flying the CF-100 Mk 4 prototype in a dive from 30,000 feet. The Canuck was affectionately known in the RCAF as the "Clunk" because of the noise the front landing gear made as it retracted into its well after takeoff. Its less-attractive nickname was the "Lead Sled", a reference to its heavy controls and general lack of maneuverability, a nickname it shared with a number of other 1950s aircraft.[1] Others included CF-Zero, the Zilch, the Beast, all references to an aircraft many pilots considered less glamourous than day fighters like the CF-86 Sabre.[2] The aircraft operated under the US/Canadian North American Air Defense Command (NORAD) to protect North American airspace from Soviet intruders such as nuclear-armed bombers. Additionally, as part of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), four Canuck squadrons were based in Europe with 1 Air Division from 1956-1962, and were for some time the only NATO fighters capable of operating in zero visibility and poor weather conditions. The CF-100 served with nine RCAF squadrons at its peak in the mid-1950s.
Size: 5620px × 3733px
Location: 19 Wing Comox Air museum Vancouver Island BC British Columbia Canada
Photo credit: © David Gowans / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: 2, 888, 48790, aircraft, aviation, avro, built, canada:, canadian, canadians., canuck, canuk, cf-100, clunk, collection, comox, controls, crew, designed, engine, fighter, heavy, heritage, jet, km/, lead, man, maximum, military, missiles, museum, nicknamed, serial, slang, sled, sluggish, speed:, term, turbo, turbojet, twin, vintage
