De Havilland Field | 25m | 5s | De Havilland

CalgaryTiger said:
When they have been going through their issues over the last few years, I spent a lot of time consuming media that talked about how they got to where they are. In a field (aerospace manufacturing) of subsidies and really government propping up their domestic manufacturers Boeing is not much different than the others, except their assembly lines went from bottom up to top down issue identification and solution management. That was a cultural shift that occurred over time. I have complete trust in any aircraft that operates so I'm not not flying on a Boeing. I just want no part of Boeing's manufacturing culture here.
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Fair enough. I'm not so interested in the company per se, they just happen to make two aircraft that may be a good fit for the CF at this point in time.

Not sure if the corporate culture would be different enough in Canada, esp not with their HQ being so close, but from what I've read Boeing Australia did very quick work with the Ghost Bat wingman drone.

Of course we could just be neighborly and buy some from the Aussies, but the Superhornet line is shutting down for those facilities to switch to F47 production. If Boeing Canada isn't a good fit, maybe De Havilland could license production and get the tooling?
 
InfrastructureEnthusiast said:
Fair enough. I'm not so interested in the company per se, they just happen to make two aircraft that may be a good fit for the CF at this point in time.

Not sure if the corporate culture would be different enough in Canada, esp not with their HQ being so close, but from what I've read Boeing Australia did very quick work with the Ghost Bat wingman drone.

Of course we could just be neighborly and buy some from the Aussies, but the Superhornet line is shutting down for those facilities to switch to F47 production. If Boeing Canada isn't a good fit, maybe De Havilland could license production and get the tooling?
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A pure industrial airport is a cool idea, see what other aircraft manufacturing you can attract? With defence spending surely ramping up, time to do a bit more manufacturing out here.
 
CalgaryTiger said:
A pure industrial airport is a cool idea, see what other aircraft manufacturing you can attract? With defence spending surely ramping up, time to do a bit more manufacturing out here.
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Yep, hard to do any naval construction in Alberta, and any new land vehicle production will almost certainly end up in Ontario.

Aerospace production seems like a really good fit for Alberta, and particularly relevant if one of the primary aircraft slated for production are water bombers!
 
I don't see it happening, if we didn't have such a narrowly focused Premier maybe they could champion some increased aerospace production in Alberta as part of "building the fastest growing economy in the G7".
 
The province definitely needs to step up and help out with this project a little. It's monumental for Alberta's aerospace industry, and $5 million provincial funding going to De Havilland is pretty pathetic when the overall cost will exceed $2 billion.
 
blue12 said:
The province definitely needs to step up and help out with this project a little. It's monumental for Alberta's aerospace industry, and $5 million provincial funding going to De Havilland is pretty pathetic when the overall cost will exceed $2 billion.
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Doesn't the province know that aerospace uses oil. More aerospace more oil. Very simple. When we separate we'll need to have at least some kind of aerospace industry, so you can sell it to those folks as a precursor to something bigger.
 
CalgaryTiger said:
I don't see it happening, if we didn't have such a narrowly focused Premier maybe they could champion some increased aerospace production in Alberta as part of "building the fastest growing economy in the G7".
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I'm not sure that increase defence spending and production is something any of the premiers have been lobbying for, but they should!

There'd be some bun fights of course, but as long as all the provinces get their cut of new jobs and industries it should be an easy consensus.
 
CalgaryTiger said:
Doesn't the province know that aerospace uses oil. More aerospace more oil. Very simple. When we separate we'll need to have at least some kind of aerospace industry, so you can sell it to those folks as a precursor to something bigger.
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There's a few advantages to an increased aerospace industry here, not just abundant fuel!

Calgary already having an aviation focus with west jet definitely helps, plenty of precision manufacturing for O&G in the province as well. Presumably corporate taxes would be lower here too?

Who's buying the planes though...

As a slightly out there idea, more related to the fires than separation, but should Alberta look at establishing it's own air force?

Not the stealth fighter/bomber kind, but one with plenty of water bombers for fire season, a few transport planes, that could also be used as water bombers, but also for disaster relief or evacuations. Some transport helicopters for similar roles, blackhawks for border patrol, medevac, SAR etc.

An air wing for the Alberta sheriffs maybe? Lol..

It might sound like a bit much, but we are at a similar or greater population of many euro countries now, and of course much larger than most..

And if we're buying and using our own domestic products for it, could become quite the economic engine!
 
InfrastructureEnthusiast said:
There's a few advantages to an increased aerospace industry here, not just abundant fuel!

Calgary already having an aviation focus with west jet definitely helps, plenty of precision manufacturing for O&G in the province as well. Presumably corporate taxes would be lower here too?

Who's buying the planes though...

As a slightly out there idea, more related to the fires than separation, but should Alberta look at establishing it's own air force?

Not the stealth fighter/bomber kind, but one with plenty of water bombers for fire season, a few transport planes, that could also be used as water bombers, but also for disaster relief or evacuations. Some transport helicopters for similar roles, blackhawks for border patrol, medevac, SAR etc.

An air wing for the Alberta sheriffs maybe? Lol..

It might sound like a bit much, but we are at a similar or greater population of many euro countries now, and of course much larger than most..

And if we're buying and using our own domestic products for it, could become quite the economic engine!
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I think the province does have its own fleet of planes... Not for firefighting but yeah. Remember Redford? Haha
 
Maybe someone can clarify but is the factory mentioned at their Westwinds Drive location or the hangar off McTavish Road?


Bombardier sold the rights to the model in 2016. De Havilland Canada, the new manufacturer, began building a factory near Calgary in 2022 to produce a newer model.

The company told CBC News that production at that plant has begun but it has several orders in line, including from international buyers.

"To date, we have had 22 orders from EU member states and are in discussions with a number of Canadian and European customers to grow their fleets. We are now in production and are ramping up to meet current and future demand," the company said in an emailed statement.

Seems like there is nothing new on De Havilland Field even though it seems like it was needed yesterday...

It appears as though the Europeans beat Canada to the punch. Orders from Europe were in place as early as 2022. Canadian governments only started placing orders in the wake of the 2023 wildfire season — the worst the country has seen on record.

Gradek said the European customers will likely get their planes within the next few years, but Canada will have to wait.
 
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