Mr. Speaker, this week marks a milestone in Canadian military aviation history, the final flight of the Sea King helicopter. After 55 years of operational flight, the Sea King is the longest-serving aircraft in Royal Canadian Air Force history. That is a testament to our maintenance crew, our air crew, and our Royal Canadian Navy partners.
We have been innovators. We were the first navy in the world to land a large helicopter on a small naval ship using the beartrap landing system. That has let us sail in all three of our oceans and around the world for Canada. With its 465,000 hours in operational flight, it is as if we have had a Sea King flying 24-7 for 53 years straight.
Today I want to thank the military families in the Sea King community: 406 Squadron, 443 Squadron on the west coast, and my squadron, 423 Squadron.
We used to say that we were flying yesterday's aircraft tomorrow. Tomorrow is Saturday, the final flight of the Sea King. We salute the Sea King community.