Miniwing 1/144 CT-114 Tutor

In September 1961 the Canadian government ordered 190 examples of the production variant, CL-41A for the RCAF as the CT-114Tutor. For over 30 years, the Tutor, known affectionately as "Toot" in RCAF and CF use, served as a primary trainer. In 1976, the Canadian Forces modified 113 survivors with provision for two external fuel tanks (drop tanks) and upgraded avionics.

Canadair also developed an armament training and light attack variant, the CL-41G, with an uprated engine and underwing hard points to allow the carriage of external stores (up to 4,000 lb (1814 kg) of weapons) and drop tanks. In March 1966, the Royal Malaysian Air Force ordered 20 (serials M-22-01 to M22-11) examples of the CL-41G-5 Tebuan (which means "Wasp" in the Malay language) aircraft as "Counterinsurgency" (COIN) aircraft . The Tebuan entered service in Malaysia in 1967, serving for over 20 years, before being phased out in June 1986 and replaced by the Aermacchi MB-339A.

One other variant was developed, the CL-41R which was fitted with an F-104 Starfighter nose as a proposed electronic systems trainer for future RCAF CF-104 pilots. The R model never went into production.

In 1967, 10 Tutors were modified for use as a formation aerobatic aircraft by the RCAF (and later the unified Canadian Forces) display team, the Golden Centennaires to celebrate Canada's Centennial year. The display team was later disbanded but, a few years later, 431 Air Demonstration Squadron was reactivated as the nine-aircraft team, the "Snowbirds," who continue to perform at air shows and special events including the annual flypast on Canada Day over the capital city, Ottawa.

Modifications for the Snowbirds include: a smoke generating system, a unique paint scheme for added crowd appeal, and a highly tuned engine to enhance engine response in low level flying. 

Although the CL-41 Tutor has been retired from active training, 22 Tutors continue to fly with the Canadian Forces with the Snowbirds and the Aerospace Engineering Test Establishment at CFB Cold Lake. A number of airframes are held in reserve for future deployment as replacement Snowbird mounts.

Typical of Miniwing's resin kits, this one is superbly molded with nicely engraved panel lines. There is a full cockpit piece that fits into the opened up cockpit area in the front of the plane. The fuselage is a single piece so unless one drills out the nose from the inside for weight, tail sitting will probably be an issue.

The kit offers a single piece wing which fits very nicely in the recess in the lower fuselage. A single piece horizontal stab is also included. Small bits include the exhaust, two intakes, two main gear and wheels, two main gear doors, a single nose wheel/strut with a nose gear door that must be cut. A section of small plastic rod is included for the pitot tube. To top all this off, two vacuformed canopies are given, which is nice as I generally tend to mess one up during the build.

Instructions are pretty basic and consist of a small, folded sheet of paper. One side has an exploded view of all the parts while the other has a short history and color painting and decal placement guide. Markings are for one aircraft (114039) from the 2nd Flight Training Squadron. The plane is overall aluminum lacquer with red sections on the wings, nose, fin, and horizontal stab. I should mention that it would be OK to paint this as bare metal for most of these planes were so done prior to being painted in aluminum. The decal sheet includes all the markings and the nose anti-glare panel. These are done on an ALPS printer from the look of things. The roundels are somewhat pixilated, but not all that horrible. There are aftermarket decals available from a Canadian company.

In all, it makes for a nice addition to the growing line of 1/144 resin kits produced by MiniWing. I'm somewhat surprised at the subject, but seeing this, one can hope for a T-37 or T-38 in this scale as well. Should be a relatively simple build as the parts dry fit well.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CT-114

November 2010

Thanks to RarePlaneDetective/Nostalgic Plastic for the preview kit. Get yours today at the link.

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