Simon just wondering....When I go down to my girlfriend's place in Terrebonne I have been taking the 148 which goes by Mirabel airport. Just after Mirabel (the biggest ghost town airport in North America) is a Bell Textron Helicopter place and I usuallly see like 2-3 helicopters outside. I guess they make heli's there? Who would they sell these heli's to and how would they compare to the bad boys you get to fly? Just wondering!

thanks if you can answer my curious questions!

 

Here's a little political tidbit for ya, which will probably answer your question:

The airforce used to have 3 helicopters for the army

1) Chinook - huge twin tandem rotor thing that lifts tons of stuff

2) Twin Huey - sorta like the ones from Vietnam - smaller, troop mover

3) Kiowa - even smaller, used for Observation and Recconaissance.


Enter Budget cuts - some genius decides to buy 1 helicopter to replace all 3 listed above.

Genius has a friend who builds helicopters in Montreal - a helicopter that can't fulfill any of the jobs that the 3 older choppers could- but it will give money and jobs to local industry - Genius orders 100 of them.

Enter the Griffon


This bad boy was supposed to do the work that the 3 olders did at a cheaper operating cost. Well, it sorta does everything half-assed, because its a civilian helicopter that's painted green. It does alright in some roles, but its definately not a hardened military chopper. Ironically, the new chief of defence staff is buying Chinooks again to bring back medium to heavy lift.



Sorry for the rant, but to answer your question, yes, the Griffons we fly are built in Mirabel, and are almost identical to the ones you see near your girlfriends, short of a few military specific gizmos.

 

Thanks for the lesson on copters! It just looks like an interesting place everytime I drive by. They have their own control tower and everything. It's not something you see in everyday Manitoba where I come from.