Members of the royal family have been flying in the
United Kingdom since two
Westland Wapitis were delivered to the
Royal Air Force's
No. 24 Squadron at
RAF Northolt in April 1928. Between the following year and 1935,
Prince Edward, Prince of Wales, himself purchased 13 aircraft; he became the first member of the royal family to be a pilot and, when he acceded to the throne in 1936 as King Edward VIII, the
King's Flight was formed as the world's first
head of state aircraft unit. used as a VIP transport by the
Royal Canadian Air Force and
Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, aboard a Canadian Forces Air Command
CC-150 Polaris Royal Flight, en route to the Queen's engagements for her
Golden Jubilee in 2002 Executive air transport in Canada can be traced to the formation of the
Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) in the 1920s; the only
Very Important Person (VIP) death in the history of the RCAF was
Minister of National Defence Norman McLeod Rogers on 10 June 1940, near
Newtonville, Ontario. The RCAF maintained aircraft such as the
Lockheed Lodestar,
Canadair North Star,
Canadair CL-66, and
Canadair CL-44-6 until, following the 1968 unification of the country's three armed forces branches into the
Canadian Forces, long range VIP transport was carried out using a modified
Boeing 707 designated as the
CC-137 Husky and short range VIP transport used various combat fixed and rotary wing aircraft. Dedicated VIP transport aircraft did not enter the Canadian Forces until the early 1980s, when 12
CL-600S Challenger business jets were purchased by the Governor General-
in-Council from
Canadair, which were thereafter given the designations CC-144, CE-144, and CX-144, and painted in the contemporary red and white livery of the Canadian Forces. These jets flew with
414 "Black Knight" Squadron at
CFB North Bay until July 1992, and with
434 "Blue Nose" Squadron at
CFB Greenwood until May 2000, when eight aircraft were either sold or retired, the remaining two being transferred to
412 Transport Squadron for dedicated executive transport, where the livery was changed to a dark Air Force blue. At times, the use of executive air transport has been a contentious issue. In 2002, the Governor General-in-Council, on the advice of Prime Minister
Jean Chrétien, purchased two additional Challenger jets for exclusive royal, viceregal, and ministerial transport. Use of these planes by
ministers of the Crown came under heavy criticism, partly due to the high cost of operation—approximately
CAD$11,000 per hour—as well as questions over prioritisation of other military aircraft procurement. Government ministers have typically explained that the use of the Challenger jets is necessary, due to time constraints and/or security issues. Also, Governor General
Adrienne Clarkson had used a
chartered aircraft to fly from Ottawa to her cottage in
Muskoka, Ontario, and it was later revealed that Governor General
Michaëlle Jean was flown to
The Bahamas on a Canadian Forces Challenger. Both times, the press reports of these actions brought criticism towards the vicereines from some corners; however, the governor general's mode of transport is directed by the
Royal Canadian Mounted Police. ==Present arrangements==