de Haviland Grumman CP-121 Tracker

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• Wright R-1820 engines coughed and wheezed every time a Tracker started, resulting in a billowing cloud of black smoke. When Trackers were retired from service in 1990, Air Command retired its last large piston engines.

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• The de Havilland built version of the Grumman Tracker, flown by the Canadian Forces until 1990, was originally selected for Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW) work off of the HMCS Bonaventure (or "Bonnie") and was built a foot and a half shorter than the regular Grumman S2 in order to fit into the hangar bays.

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• The Tracker was originally built to provide the Royal Canadian Navy with long-range anti-submarine protection for its Aircraft carriers. After the carriers were gone and the Trackers were taken over by the Air Force, they continued to perform anti-submarine duties as well as anti-shipping and fisheries patrols. The Trackers were taken out of service in 1990. This Tracker is firing CRV-7 rockets at a range target, practicing for its anti-shipping role.

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• Although originally bought for the Royal Canadian Navy's Aircraft carriers, the Tracker spent almost two-thirds of its flying career operating from land bases at Shearwater, Nova Scotia and Comox, British Columbia. This Tracker is from VU-33 Squadron at CFB Comox and is flying over a ferry in British Columbia.

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• When the last Canadian Aircraft carrier was retired in 1969, the Trackers that had been aboard were converted from their anti-submarine role to an anti-shipping role. This involved removing all anti-submarine electronics and rewiring the Aircraft for a surface search radar and air-to-surface weapons. This Tracker is equipped with a powerful searchlight for the identifacation of surface contacts at night and wing pylons to carry CRV-7 rockets.

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• The Tracker was designed by Grumman and licence-built in Canada by de Havilland. Originally an anti-submarine warfare used aboard the HMCS Bonaventure, it later served as a utility Aircraft until struck off strength in 1989. The Canadian Forces purchased a total of 101 Trackers beginning in 1956.

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• From 1956 to 1990, the Tracker has served the Navy and Air Force, providing anti-submarine and coastal patrol services. For such a compact airframe, the Tracker boasted a respectable amount of equipment to fulfil its duties, including a Magnetic Anomaly Detector (MAD) boom, surface-search radar, internal bomb bay for bombs, depth charges or torpedoes, spotlight, sonobuoy dispensers and wing pylons for bombs or rockets. In this picture you can see the black radome of the search radar in the retracted position. When in use, it would extend a few feet below the fuselage.

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• In service from 1956 until 1989, the Tracker was one of the longest-serving piston Aircraft in the Canadian Forces inventory. In 1988, there was a project undertaken between the Canadian Forces and IMP Aerospace of Halifax to re-engine the Trackers with Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A-67 turboprop engines. However, just as the first Tracker was converted, the project was cancelled and the Trackers retired from service. 121180, shown here, was struck off strength in January 1991.

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• In the aviation world, the Tracker is said to be a product of the "Grumman Ironworks" because of its robust construction. This sturdiness is vital when the Aircraft is forced to spend most of its time at low altitudes, as in this picture. Low-level turbulence can stress an airframe more frequently than normal and shorten the life of an Aircraft considerably.

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• The Tracker was built to be flown hard. Originally used for anti-submarine warfare work off HMCS Bonaventure, the Canadian Tracker was built 18 inches shorter than its American counterpart to allow it to fit in the Bonnie's hangar.

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• Tracker 12181 was one of 57 CS2F-2 Trackers procured by the RCN on 23 October, 1958 and it operated out of Patricia Bay, and later Comox, British Columbia. It was struck off strength of Utility Air Squadron 33 or VU 33 on 8 January, 1991, just over a year before the squadron itself was disbanded . Upon integration of the Canadian Armed Forces in 1968, the squadron was allowed to retain its former Naval designation instead of adopting a more generic "Air Force" designator.

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• A Tracker of the Canadian Armed Forces sporting the 880 Sqaudron triple bars across the tail in full Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW) search mode with radar dome deployed from the belly, Magnetic Anomaly Detector (MAD) boom extended from the tail, and bomb bay doors open.

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• The red "X" on this Aircraft's tail indicates it is an Aerospace Engineering Test and Evaluation (AETE) bird. This dramatic photo shows the Tracker firing a volley of CRV-7 rockets, built by Bristol Aerospace in Winnipeg, Manitoba, for test and evaluation.

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