Forty-eight years ago today — November 8, 1978 — the first Canadair Challenger lifted off from Montreal. It began life as the LearStar 600, a business jet design by Bill Lear, who sold the rights to Canadair. Canadair renamed it the CL-600 Challenger, and a Canadian aviation success story was born — one that still flies today in both civilian and military colours.
The civilian Challenger
The Challenger was a clean-sheet design: a low-wing jet with two turbofans in pods on the rear fuselage, a supercritical wing, and a stand-up cabin — roomy for a business jet of its day. The original CL-600 flew on Lycoming ALF 502 engines (81 built). The CL-601 added winglets and more powerful General Electric CF34 engines. The CL-604 was a major upgrade — more powerful engines, more fuel, a new undercarriage and a modern Collins ProLine 4 cockpit — followed by the CL-605 and today’s CL-650. The 1,000th Challenger was delivered in December 2015, to NetJets. The design proved so sound it was stretched into the Bombardier CRJ regional airliner and developed into the long-range Global Express.
The road wasn’t without loss: the first prototype was lost in a deep-stall test accident in the Mojave Desert on April 3, 1980, killing one of the test pilots. Transport Canada certified the type on August 10, 1980, and in 1986 Canadair was bought by Bombardier.
The military CC-144
Canada bought 12 Challengers for the Canadian Forces, designated CC-144 (with CE-144 for electronic warfare and CX-144 for the second prototype, which joined the RCAF after testing). The first came on strength in April 1983 with 412 (Transport) Squadron at CFB Ottawa (Uplands). Its main job ever since has been VIP transport — flying the Governor General, the Prime Minister, members of cabinet, and visiting royalty, including Queen Elizabeth II, the Duke of Edinburgh, and the Prince and Princess of Wales. The fleet has also done electronic warfare work with 434 Squadron at Greenwood, Nova Scotia (1995–2000) and medevac, with the cabin furniture swapped for stretchers. The fleet was cut from six aircraft to four in 2014. Today four Challengers — two 604s and two 650s — fly with 412 Squadron out of Ottawa, owned by 8 Wing Trenton, with one permanently configured for VIP work. The first of the fleet, CC-144601, retired in 2014 and is now on display at the National Air Force Museum of Canada in Trenton. Canada isn’t the only military operator: the United States Coast Guard flies a single Challenger 604 as the C-143A, its Medium Range Command and Control aircraft since December 2005. And the CC-144’s days are numbered — in December 2025 Canada announced six new Bombardier Global 6500s to replace them, with first deliveries expected in the summer of 2027.
Sources: Wikipedia — Bombardier Challenger 600 series; National Air Force Museum of Canada — CC-144 Challenger; 412 Transport Squadron; List of active Canadian military aircraft.