20 Dollars - Elizabeth II Bombardier CL-215 Waterbomber

The CL-215 was developed by Canadair in the 1960s specifically for aerial firefighting — one of the few aircraft in history designed from scratch for that single purpose. Canada's provincial governments became the primary operators, and the type proved so effective at scooping water from lakes mid-flight that France, Spain, and Yugoslavia eventually acquired fleets of their own.

This is the third release in the RCM's Aviation series, which ran from 1990 through 1999 covering Canadian aerospace milestones. The series paired each coin with a matching stamp, issued jointly with Canada Post.