It's who you know: a C-17 was used to transport a vintage plane for a well-connected private collector.

A recent flight by one of Canada’s C-17 transport planes to New Zealand has Defence Minister Peter Mackay asking why a military plane was authorized to pick up a vintage aircraft for a Canadian private organization by the name of Vintage Wings.

Vintage Wings is a not-for-profit organization that collects, restores, and flies vintage aircraft at various Canadian air shows.  While Michael Potter of Vintage Wings was quoted by the Ottawa Citizen as defending his organization’s role in preserving and promoting Canadian heritage, MacKay has retorted that dispatching a Canadian aircraft to pick up the plane for a private organization was not a proper use of tax dollars and military resources.

Despite the Air Force’s refutation that the flight has not eaten up Canadian tax dollars, MacKay is asking the military for a full account of the flight.  “I want to get a full reporting on what exactly happened and how this decision was taken because, in my view in this difficult economic time, in any time, quite frankly, I don’t think it was appropriate,” he said last Friday.

Read full article from the Ottawa Citizen by David Pugliese.