Buddy, can you spare a lift?

“It seems incredible the Harper government purchased these heavy-lift aircraft and told us at the time we'd no longer have to rent [planes] and now we're going to spend another $900,000 to ship aid to Burma” — Dawn Black, NDP Defence Critic

Via the Globe & Mail — Where are the planes now?

Last year, the Harper government spent $3.4-billion on four C-17 aircraft, known as Globemasters, that can carry a payload of 77,500 kilograms and fly 4,400 kilometres without refuelling.

1 At Canadian Forces Base Trenton, broken down and rated “unserviceable” because it is awaiting parts. It’s not known when these parts will arrive.

2 In Bangkok, broken down after an aid flight to Thailand last week to help cyclone-stricken Myanmar. It will have to be flown elsewhere to be fixed.

3 Believed to be in Texas being fitted with defensive aids that will help protect it from missile attacks.

4 Supporting the Canadian military mission in Afghanistan.

Three out of four planes out of service for one reason or another. Pretty impressive.

Note: Video is a C-17 Globemaster taking off from Abbotsford, B.C. in 2001.