I'm curious why almost all bird dogs are Turbo Commanders? It seems like every province uses only Commanders. Is it just that they're high wing and quick or is there some other quality that makes them desirable for birddogging?

BTW I'm asking about aircraft, not the shorts with built in underwear. https://www.birddogs.com/

High wing, agile and quick.

Probably a mix of cheap to pick up and same fuel type makes them good bird dogs as well.

I don't think fuel type is a factor. Ontario uses about half avgas commanders, half turbo commanders. If anything, that increases the risk of a misfueling.

I believe Alberta has a mix of Commanders and Caravans. Manitoba switched over from Cessna 310s to Turbo commanders.

Its probably more of a fashion thing. Province A sees province B has commanders, so wants some as well. If companies are bidding on contracts, they likely prefer to use the same airplane type the government is used too as well. Change is always dangerous.

Back when I was there, I was told the piston engine commander 500s weren’t able to keep up with the new CL415 as they are faster than the CL215 so that’s why they got the 690.

As others said...the high wing, they're agile and quick.

Keep in mind the birddog should be the first on fire in order to establish control of the airspace and although we aren't going to out run an electra or q400, the turbines at least get us a decent cruise speed to/from the fire so the tankers aren't having to wait for us while orbiting outside the zone.

With regards to the Alberta comment about the commanders/caravans, the caravans are grouped with the fireboss/wheelie 802s, although we all do inevitably fly together at some point or another.

We use Turbo Commanders for the fast planes ( Electras), and King Air 100’s for the slower one. ( Fireboss, CL-215). Both are good for bird dogging, administration flights, and ferry with the engineers and spare parts for base changes.