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Canadian Forces FWSAR Project  –  Industry Press Release  –  May 2009 Kelowna Flightcraft Awarded Contract for Heavy Maintenance of Canadian Forces SAR CC-115 Buffalo and CC-138 Twin Otter Kelowna Flightcraft Ltd (KFL) has been awarded a $39M contract by DND to perform the heavy maintenance and other  support services for  CC-115 Buffalo FWSAR and the CC-138 Twin Otter utility transport aircraft. This is a four year, renewable contract. KFL was founded  in 1970. Since then,  Kelowna Flightcraft Ltd  has become  the third largest airline operator in Canada but  this firm is still best known for maintenance and repair operations. KFL is also the type certificate holder for the Convair CV-580 series. Experience with the CV-580s (which served the CF as the CC-109 Cosmopolitan) is relevant to the CC-115 because of the shared problem of sourcing subsystem parts made by often now-defunct firms.  As Gary Wolfe,  Director of Military Programs notes, KFL "...having dealt with similar issues for the Convair 580 ... I believe that we can start to put the aging issues behind us and we can bring the Buffalo fleet operational readiness back where it needs to be." Kelowna Flightcraft  will provide MRO for the CF's fleet of  Buffalo and  Twin Otters, while also relying on Field Aviation of  Calgary  to  manufacture  Buffalo structural components. Field  has a licence agreement with Viking Air (type certificate holder for both DHC-5 and DHC-6 ) as well as holding the Buffalo tooling ). Viking itself will also assist with support for both types of aging aircraft. At its main maintenance facility in Kelowna,  KFL has over 18,000 m2 of  hangars, workshops, and office space.  KFL's workforce numbers 1000  (and KFL trains BCIT students in Aircraft Structural Repair onsite).  Flying time  for a CC-115 from Comox to Kelowna  is less than an hour and a half. [1] Total flying time from Yellowknife to Kelowna by CC-138 would be over 5 1/2 hours.[2] Gary Wolfe emphasized that the CC-115s "are only at their structural  'half life' so flight safety is not an aging issue". DND had  found sourcing rare Buffalo parts difficult and also had trouble with propeller overhauls. Neither is a major issue any more. The props will be overhauled by Pacific Propeller International of  nearby  Kent, WA.  Spare parts not produced by KFL will be provided by OEM Viking or bought on the open market – something the DND procurement practices are not quick enough to take advantage of. By KFL's estimates, the CF's CC-115 Buffalo fleet will now be viable at least until 2015. The CC-138 may have seemed to get scant mention here.  It is not that the arctic utility aircraft are less important –  if anything, the reverse is true  –  rather, maintenance and support for the popular (and now back in production) Twin Otter series is just simpler. The KFL press release  (originally a pdf ) is reproduced below in slightly edited form. Kelowna, BC  –   30 April 2009 Kelowna Flightcraft Ltd. is pleased to announce that  it has been assigned a long term contract to perform heavy maintenance for the Department of National Defense (DND) Fixed-Wing  Search and Rescue aircraft  that service  British Columbia and  the Yukon. Kelowna Flightcraft will support the CC-115 Buffalo (DHC-5) and the CC-138 Twin Otter (DHC-6) aircraft on behalf of  the Canadian Forces. The CF's Buffalo aircraft are based out of Comox, BC, as part of 442 Squadron, and are an integral part of the Search and Rescue work performed on the vast West Coast of Canada. Twin Otters are based out of  Yellowknife, NWT with 440 Squadron. These utility and rescue transport aircraft provide support  to the  Canadian Forces,  Canadian Rangers, and  the Canadian Cadets across Northern Canada. The work scope includes Tier 3 [3] Aircraft Maintenance, Buffalo Avionics Life Extension  modifications  [ aka: the "Buffalo Avionics LE – Lite" program [4] ],  and  Compo- nent Repair & Overhaul. The contract, worth over $39 M, begins  01 May 2009 and  extends to 31 March 2013.  It is anticipated to extend  to 2015 and,  possibly, beyond.  [5] The contract work will provide steady, long term employ- ment for 50 highly-skilled  technicians and  support staff. Flightcraft has a long history of  working with DND,  having completed the CT-133 Silver Star and CC-109 Cosmopolitan upgrades in the late 1990s, and operating the Canada Wings Training Center since 2005,  where over 100 pilots are trained annually [with flight operations at Southport, MB] on behalf of  the Canadian Air Force.  In addition,  Kelowna Flightcraft is committed  to a  teaming arrangement  with  Field Aviation and the OEM, Viking Air, to maximize the operational readiness of the aircraft for DND. "We are very pleased  to acquire this maintenance & modification work for DND,  as it continues to add  to the long term stability of Flightcraft  here in Kelowna,  especially as we face this significant economic downturn around the world" says Kelowna Flightcraft's President and CEO, Barry Lapointe. "As many of you know, DND is already a primary customer with Canada Wings. In that contract we built facilities to train military pilots, acquired and modified 34 aircraft, 2 full motion simulators, 3 buildings and advanced flight training software for our 20 year contract." [1] The air distance from CFB Comox (YQQ) to Kelowna (YLW) is approximately 395km and a CC-115 cruises at 173 kts. (The 1:30 hours flying time includes 15 minute margin.) [2] Air distance from Yellowknife (YZF) to YLW is about 1,420 km. A CC-138 cruises at 145 kts however, actually endurance is only 4 hours, so there'll be no non-stop flights. [3] Tier 3  (or Tier III ) maintenance for the Buffalo is essentially a heavy 'C' check. The Third Line Inspection and Repair (TLIR) for the Twin Otter is equivalent to a 'D' check. [4] Field Aviation did the design and carried out a prototype installation for BALE (the Buffalo Avionics Life Extension ).  KFL will complete the BALE installations fleet wide. [5] This jives with the date given by the Harper government for FWSAR replacements.