Why on earth are CF-18's in Bagotville?

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pelmet
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Why on earth are CF-18's in Bagotville?

Post by pelmet »

Such a remote location, then again, so is Cold Lake. Could it be in order to keep the noise away from the people further south?

I found a litlle bit of history in a magazine article I read recently...

"After the Second World War and the disbanding of the BCATP, Mont-Joli No. 9 Bombing and Gunnery School was considered to become an RCAF base because of it's strategic position in the lower St. Lawrence river. But Rimouski's archbishop felt that nothing good could come out of an army base environment in his parish so Bagotville endured and became one of Canada's most important air force bases."

And now you know....the rest of the story.
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Blakey
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Re: Why on earth are CF-18's in Bagotville?

Post by Blakey »

Any idea what the threat was in the 1950s and where it would have to come from?
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Re: Why on earth are CF-18's in Bagotville?

Post by 7ECA »

Blakey wrote:Any idea what the threat was in the 1950s and where it would have to come from?
Indeed - someone is showing a bit of ignorance on the subject...
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Re: Why on earth are CF-18's in Bagotville?

Post by AuxBatOn »

Why would you want to keep your air defence fighter close to big cities?
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Re: Why on earth are CF-18's in Bagotville?

Post by co-joe »

Blakey wrote:Any idea what the threat was in the 1950s and where it would have to come from?
Governments aren't known for reacting to emerging threats and usually react to old ones. Didn't a U boat make its way up La Fleuve once?
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Re: Why on earth are CF-18's in Bagotville?

Post by Zaibatsu »

AuxBatOn wrote:Why would you want to keep your air defence fighter close to big cities?
Oh...... I don’t know.

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Re: Why on earth are CF-18's in Bagotville?

Post by confusedalot »

There's the answer. Deploy all fighters to YVR, YYC, YEG, YWG, YYZ, YUL, YHZ, YYT.

The moose and deer will be grateful. :lol:

As far as history lessons are concerned, looks like the education system missed a couple of decades. Oh well. :roll:
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Re: Why on earth are CF-18's in Bagotville?

Post by AuxBatOn »

Fighters based in NYC wouldn't have stopped 9/11.

For a force like ours, strategically located fighters (at main and deployed bases) is the best option. Bagotville is pretty close to all traffic crossing the N Atl going to YUL & YYZ and it is fairly close to the CADIZ in case of airspace incursions.
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Re: Why on earth are CF-18's in Bagotville?

Post by linecrew »

There aren't a lot of folks around Bagotville and/or Cold Lake to complain about jet noise unlike every major city on the country.
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Re: Why on earth are CF-18's in Bagotville?

Post by trey kule »

Off the top of my head, perhaps the threat would come from the north.

As far as Bagotville...one word...Quebec and government spending.
The airborne regiment used to be in Edmonton, and there was a nice base there.....until Alberta voted PC. Same with the PPCLI in Calgary...

Just my jaded thoughts
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Re: Why on earth are CF-18's in Bagotville?

Post by Panama Jack »

Bagotville and Cold Lake were seen as balmier locations than Kangirsuk and Coppermine for a huge Air Force base.
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Re: Why on earth are CF-18's in Bagotville?

Post by valleyboy »

And the northern deployment airports. They have only been used a few times for exercises and as in the case of YK end up for storage and warehousing with a smattering of personal effects like boats. Rankin I don't think has seen any action at all and Iqaliut I think there has only been a couple of exercises , the bonus side Rankin got paved.

I could also due to the Americans looking after the west (Alaska) and Canada doing intercepts in the east. I know bagtown was a Voodoo base as well. Were there 104's there as well, it seems to me yes, but I'm not positive. Back in the day it was a one way mission on a true intercept since there was not enough fuel for a return. Bagtown makes a lot of sense to me.
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Re: Why on earth are CF-18's in Bagotville?

Post by feel-x »

I don't know so much about Cold lake But Bagotville is quite simple.... the Base started activity in JUly 1942, during WW2 What was in the St-lawrence during WW2? German U-boat, What was one of the biggest ressource you want to protect for the war effort? aluminium and What Factory is right next to Bagotville? Alcan the aluminium factory.....
Maybe some of you always think about conspiracy and politics, but this one it's based on simple facts and some wise strategic decision...
After WW2 Bagotville, (and during) it was used as a training base. You already have the installations, you got a good training zone that don'T bother anyone and you are in a good position to protect the major eastern cities with the NORAD against the old Russian enemy
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Re: Why on earth are CF-18's in Bagotville?

Post by geneticistx »

pelmet wrote:Such a remote location, then again, so is Cold Lake. Could it be in order to keep the noise away from the people further south?

I found a litlle bit of history in a magazine article I read recently...

"After the Second World War and the disbanding of the BCATP, Mont-Joli No. 9 Bombing and Gunnery School was considered to become an RCAF base because of it's strategic position in the lower St. Lawrence river. But Rimouski's archbishop felt that nothing good could come out of an army base environment in his parish so Bagotville endured and became one of Canada's most important air force bases."

And now you know....the rest of the story.

you mean these aircraft?
i asked the same question when i got off a plane in baggotville this summer.
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Re: Why on earth are CF-18's in Bagotville?

Post by confusedalot »

The alphajets are owned by discovery air, and are a training provider to the RCAF.
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Re: Why on earth are CF-18's in Bagotville?

Post by rigpiggy »

valleyboy wrote:And the northern deployment airports. They have only been used a few times for exercises and as in the case of YK end up for storage and warehousing with a smattering of personal effects like boats. Rankin I don't think has seen any action at all and Iqaliut I think there has only been a couple of exercises , the bonus side Rankin got paved.

I could also due to the Americans looking after the west (Alaska) and Canada doing intercepts in the east. I know bagtown was a Voodoo base as well. Were there 104's there as well, it seems to me yes, but I'm not positive. Back in the day it was a one way mission on a true intercept since there was not enough fuel for a return. Bagtown makes a lot of sense to me.
Wrt yev's FOL, they sold it to the town for 1$ with the caveat they would keep it operational, the controller in town asked about the high electricity bill, when told it was for the refrigerators, he had them shut off, we are in the arctic for gods sakes. The refrigeration was for the permafrost under the hangars, these then melted and subsided cracking the floors and making the hangars unusable.....

WRT intercepts anyone remember the convair in NS, northern quebec about 15 yrs back they flew form bagville to port hawksebury, intercepted, and barely made it to halifax to recover, anyone want to draw that range line and show me where that would get them into the nort, or atlantic?
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Re: Why on earth are CF-18's in Bagotville?

Post by Xander »

feel-x wrote: What Factory is right next to Bagotville? Alcan the aluminium factory.....
I'm from Chicoutimi and as a young air cadet back in the 1990's we used to visit Bagotville once a year. They made a point to tell us that if Alcan hadn't been there, the Air Base would not be there.
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Re: Why on earth are CF-18's in Bagotville?

Post by it'sme »

I have a lovely 11 x 17 mounted photo over my bar of 4 CF101's flying over the Miramichi River bridge doing a final salute to the citizenry of the local towns that had hosted the squadron for decades prior to the political decision to move them from CFB Chatham, New Brunswick to CFB Bagotville, Quebec. Standing at the itinerant hangar watching a pair of 101's taking off of runway 27 in full afterburner from the Q hangars heading out to chase down a Soviet Bear bomber playing along the edge of the CADIZ was always a fun sight. CFB Chatham was just a 15 minute drive up the road from the NORAD back-up radar site at St. Margaret's, New Brunswick.

There is at least one occasional poster here that will remember. with many a story, of flying CF-86's out of that same base.
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Re: Why on earth are CF-18's in Bagotville?

Post by xsbank »

My father helped set up Bagotville, after the Battle of Britain he was sent to Canada to instruct on Hurricanes. He was one of the first a/c there...
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