Canadair Flextrac CF-23

Roaming industrial parks is our thing, as strange and bizarre as it seems. There’s always treasures to be found – old train tracks – character buildings – big trucks and while an edgy backdrop, it’s somehow compelling. In that theme, here’s a random discovery of curious tracked-vehicles on display in front of a firm, including one called a Canadair Flextrac. Hmmm, that name has a familiar ring.

Our subject is a vintage CL-23 built sometime in the late 1960s to mid-1970s period, a utilitarian workhorse designed for travel across soft or squishy ground. Be it muskeg, bog or snow, it’s the solution. We’re at Track Industries, a specialized manufacturer and service outlet in Calgary’s Manchester Industrial and we’re curious what we see. We’ve driven past before, but never noticed the business until now. Silly us.

Canadair? Where did I hear that name before and didn’t they make fighter planes back in the day? Yes, plus a whole bevy of other winged-craft including highly specialized aerial fire fighters (see: Canadair CL-215). So we’re familiar with the firm, even if until this encounter completely unaware they made machines like this.

After dabbling in the tracked-vehicle field themselves and seeing an opportunity to diversify, Canadair formed a company out of a Calgary based manufacturer (Nodwell) in the late 1960s. Serving customers in the oil and gas industries (mainly), the newly named Canadair Flextrac similarly hoped to interest the military in their technology.

The square body of the CL-23 contrasts sharply with the sleek fighters coming from the parent company out in Quebec. No need for aerodynamics, however, when you’re slogging through slime and mud at twenty clicks per. It’s no Starfighter, with a face only a mother could love and the interior’s plain but functional – nothing much to see here.

Canadair Flextrac made several models, with the the CF-60 seemingly most common. Similar in look they appear somewhat larger than the one seen here. On the other hand the CF-23 (CF23 on the nameplate) might be rare with only a few references being found. It seems some Canadair Flextrac vehicles had markings that read Flextrac Nodwell in the same form and script as you see on this example. Nodwell was a pioneer in the field of tracked off-road vehicles and recall, the firm acquired by Canadair*.

After Canadair left the business in 1976, Nodwell branded designs were made by the Foremost Company in Calgary and they’re still at it today.

Canadair dates back to World War Two and mainly a producer of military aircraft for the first few decades. From the 1980s on the company made it big in the business and regional jet markets but under different owners and names.

While the tracks on these muskeg machines may look similar to those on a dozer, they’re of lighter construction, generally proportionally wider (for flotation) and instead of steel guides use rubber tires. This makes for a nice package that’s flexible and simple to maintain.

Other tracked-vehicles are seen on display out front of Track Industries, but we think the CF-23 might be the only permanent fixture. It’s too old and small and so must be in retirement.

What an adventure it must be to ride in one across the snow-swept barrens or some boggy north woods terrain. It’s a specialized application, but up where water soaked ground, or winter woes are the norms, it might be the only way to get around off-road.

*There is sometimes mention of a firm called Flex-Track (also in Calgary) being sold to Canadair at the same time as Nodwell, but nothing much can be found on who they were. Nor it is said their contribution to Canadair Flextrac, outside the new firm sort of reusing the name. Anyone?

Here’s useful search queries if you want to know more (new tabs): Track Industries Calgary, Nodwell Tracked Vehicles and Canadair History.

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If you wish more information on what you’ve seen here, feel free to contact us!

Date: October, 2020.
Location: Calgary, AB.
Article references and thanks: Canadair Historians Ron Pickler and Richard Faucher and UnusualLocomotion.com.

Industrial park roaming (again) it’s a curious find.

From circa 1970, it’s a Canadair Flextrac CF-23.

There’s others on display here at Tracked Industries.

For snow, bog or muskeg.

It’s no Starfighter.