#1323 C-90B King Air
Purchased products will not feature the Squadron Prints watermark
Description
Squadron Prints Lithograph No. 1323 - C-FMFR 'VR-Z', C-90B King Air, 3 Canadian Forces Flying Training School (3 CFFTS), Portage La Prairie.
The C-90B King Air is a twin-engine turboprop with a maximum operating speed of 226 knots from the PT6A-21 engines. The C-90B was brought into service as the primary multi-engine trainer for the Royal Canadian Air Force in 2005 when the Allied Wings consortium took over the Contracted Flying Training and Support contract with 3 Canadian Forces Flying Training School (3CFFTS) in Portage la Prairie, Manitoba, replacing the C-90A King Air. In homage to the first Canadian built Lancaster, the Lancaster “Ruhr Express” originally flew with RCAF Squadrons 405 and 419 during WW II, C-FMFR sports similar nose art and the original Lancaster tail number below the horizontal stabilizer. VR-Z was the beginning of a production run of over 400 Avro Lancaster’s built by Victory Aircraft. 3CFFTS was formed at Canadian Forces Base (CFB) Portage la Prairie on 1 July, 1970, as an amalgamation of personnel and equipment from 1 Primary Flying School at CFB Borden, Ontario, 4 Flying Training School from CFB Rivers, Manitoba, and 3 Flying Training School at Portage la Prairie. Tasked with primary flight training along with helicopter and multi-engine training duties, the school was originally equipped with the Hiller CH-112 Nomad helicopter, de Havilland Canada CT-120 Chipmunk primary trainer, Beech CT-128 Expeditor multi-engine trainer. The greatest change that 3 CFFTS would undergo came in 1992, when Canadian Forces Base Portage la Prairie closed as a unit, and the infrastructure was handed over to the Southport Aerospace Centre. Base support functions, aircraft and aircraft maintenance would be handled by a civilian contractor under the Contracted Flight Training and Support program. Allied Wings currently operates a fleet of seven C-90B King Airs.