At the End of the Final Line: A Brief History of Aircraft Manufacturing at Canadian Vickers and Canadair from 1923 to 1984

Geoff Cragg is a tenured instructor in the Faculty of Faculty of
Communication and Culture at the University of Calgary in Alberta.

This compact volume traces the development of aircraft manufacturing at
Canadian Vickers (later Canadair) in Montreal. As the preface states,
“There have been thousands of books written about airplanes, about
their design, their operation or the people involved ... but ... few
books have ever described the actual manufacture of aircraft.”
Campbell’s “brief history” covers the period from 1920, when the
staff of Canadian Vickers assembled three aircraft brought from England
for a trans-Canada flight, to the late 1970s, when Canadair began to
produce the CL–600 Challenger business jet designed by Lear.

In 1923, when Canadian Vickers produced their first planes, the major
materials used were wood, cable, and fabric, and the skills of a
shipbuilding factory were reasonably apropos. By 1976, when the decision
to begin building the Challenger was made, sophisticated composite
materials were common, computer-assisted design and drafting were the
norm, and milling machines working in five dimensions made the more
complex parts. The author’s credentials and expertise are clearly
evident (he worked at Canadair for over 30 years as an engineer), and he
presents a great deal of technical material in as lucid a form as the
space permits. His detailed descriptions of the manufacture and assembly
challenges of specific planes, such as the Northrop Delta, are
thoughtful and coherent.

Readers without a previous professional or technical background may
find that the material describing the later airplanes and their
manufacture is rather dense and complex; though a glossary is provided,
it isn’t sufficient to cover all the terms employed. Perhaps if the
book weren’t presented as a brief monograph, it would be more
approachable for the general reader with an interest in aviation.
Breaking the material into chapters, providing more context for major
topics, and incorporating the excellent photographs into the main text
would help this fine material reach a wider audience.