The Canadair Argus

The Canadair Argus

Title: The Canadair Argus:  The Untold Story of Canada’s Cold War Maritime Hunter
Authors: Major Cary Barker and Major Bert Campbell

The Canadair Argus plied the skies of Canada’s East and West Coast during the Cold War and, outside of a few preserved airframes, is almost forgotten.  Even in books about the RCAF, it gets, at best, mentioned for a few pages in chapters on Maritime Command.  This 190-page hardcover book changes all that.  It does what it says on the cover, it tells the story of the Argus from development to retirement.  Everything is here; weapon’s trials, stories of patrols, crew and maintenance tails, etc.  I was fascinated by the Bullpup missile trials, and the references to the use of the Argus during Cuban Missile crisis.  The book is well illustrated with colour and black-and-white photos and nicely down aircraft paintings.  A must for an RCAF fan of Maritime operations.

Reviewed by Jim Bates