Team SkyAlyne announces aircraft and simulation hardware purchase for RCAF Pilot training
SkyAlyne and Team SkyAlyne shareholders and major subcontractors, KF Aerospace and CAE, announced the successful completion of purchase contracts with Textron Aviation in support of the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) Future Aircrew Training (FAcT) program.
SkyAlyne and KF Aerospace have contracted Textron Aviation to deliver seven Beechcraft King Air 260 aircraft. To support Ground-Based Training Systems (GBTS) for these aircraft, SkyAlyne and CAE have also contracted Textron Aviation to deliver components for a full flight simulator and flight training devices, which will be manufactured by CAE.
Last week, SkyAlyne inked a deal for three Dash-8-400s that were built by De Havilland Canada before it closed its facility in Toronto. The planes have been in storage for several years and are brand-new. Those aircraft will be used to train weapons and sensor operators. The company will also take delivery of 19 Pilatus PC-21 trainers and 23 Grob 120TP turboprop singles that will be basic training and skills evaluation aircraft that will be the first plane that all new pilot recruits fly.
The King Air 260 will serve as the multi-engine training aircraft for all multi-engine pilot training within the FAcT program. It replaces the King Air 90B, which has been reliably serving as the multi-engine trainer within the existing RCAF training program since 2005. SkyAlyne and major subcontractor KF Aerospace, in partnership with the RCAF, will deliver FAcT multi-engine pilot training at Southport, Manitoba.
The 25-year FAcT program, awarded to SkyAlyne in spring 2024, is currently in a multi-year transition period to become the sole Pilot and Aircrew training program for the RCAF, as three separate RCAF training programs conclude, and their responsibilities are combined into FAcT. The FAcT program is overseen from a Joint Management Office at SkyAlyne’s Ottawa headquarters, with three operational bases: Moose Jaw, SK, Southport, MB, and Winnipeg, MB.
Additional training activities will be provided by CAE and KF Aerospace as part of Team SkyAlyne, in collaboration with the RCAF. This includes activities for aircraft and simulator fleets based in Moose Jaw being led by Team SkyAlyne in partnership with the RCAF and delivered by CAE as a major subcontractor. Meanwhile, instruction activities for aircraft fleets and simulators stationed at Southport will be led by Team SkyAlyne in partnership with the RCAF and delivered by KF Aerospace as a major subcontractor.
King Air 260 deliveries for the FAcT program are expected to begin in the first half of 2028.