Day with the Snowbirds

[prkaye]

Friday was an awesome day. My buddy Rhett (the old flying buddy who I flew out to visit in Moose Jaw a year and a half ago) had got me connected with Morgan Strachan, one of the current Snowbirds pilots. The Snowbirds are the RCAF Jet Demonstration Team that flies the Canadair CT-114 Tutor. The Snowbirds were in Tillsonburg for an airshow over the weekend weekend. My daughter Arya and I flew in a couple of days ahead, and made plans with Morgan to meet them out at the field on Friday (day before the airshow). Morgan was super - he met with us, showed us around the aircraft and introduced us to some of the other pilots. Some of the pilots were very interested in my RV-9A and loved the paint scheme (there is a direct historical lineage between the "Golden Centennaires" commemorated by my paint scheme, and the Snowbirds). One of them expressed interest in getting a ride, although unfortunately the timing did not work out for that. Unfortunately because of cutbacks the Snowbirds aren't doing any media rides this year so I wasn't able to get a Tutor ride. That'll have to stay on my bucket list for the future

The Snowbirds had a full practice show on Fri afternoon, and Morgan arranged for us to sit in on the team briefing before the practice. That was fascinating for me. One of the most interesting parts for me was the table-top simulation they did of an in-flight emergency (loss of Hydraulic pressure on one of the aircraft). They talked through exactly what everyone would do, in detail.

Later, we got to go out and watch the practice from right up by the runway - a closer view than you'd ever get at an airshow! Just after the Snowbirds practice, the CF-18 Hornet showed up to do his practice. The one CF-18 was louder than all the Tutors put together! He did passes and maneuvres for about 15 minutes (including a high-speed pass at about 0.98 Mach).

Front-row view of a private airshow! I got tonnes of amazing photos, including some great shots of the RV-9A with the Tutors. Here's a link? please have a look!

http://1drv.ms/1ltZshv

[Mike S]

Phil, thanks for sharing your trip with us--------the Snowbirds are my favorite military airshow act.

[flyboy1963]

...or...." Phil...you suck!!!!"

one of a zillion jealous guys here!

...sorry, but your link to some exotic page didn't work for me.....(could be the work PC sphincter control modulator.)

it's SO much fun when the Snowbirds come to the Okanagan ( BC) and do their preflight brefiing in our crappy little clubhouse! They're back in Kelowna July 30th, 3pm. There's a 'no boat' Zone on the lake - patrolled to ensure the safety of the public ......& pilots as well! Check your notams on that week, cause they're always in town to 'practice' a day or 2 before...and those are often as good as the main show!
( Hmmm, might just have to get off work early that day....like the other 100,000 residents eh??!)

hope to see the pics!

[Michael White]

Phil,
They DID bring another fuel truck to fill the second Tudor in photo 6, right? One truck just wouldn't be enough...

Nice photos...thanks for sharing!

[prkaye]

Not sure why the link isn't working for you Perry. It is a link to a shared folder on my OneDrive (Skydrive).

[gerrychuck]

Very cool Phil!

[olyolson]

Ditto on the Snowbirds, just saw them at Cape Girardeau and they put on a great show as usual. We took a 4 ship down there from SUS and everyone was pretty pumped after the show. The guys were definitely on their toes going home, best check-ins I ever heard from them, I think they were motivated.

Oly

[Tom Martin]

I am a big fan of the Snowbirds and have been a local ground support worker at a few of their shows in the St.Thomas area. I count many of the past snowbird pilots as personal friends and a few of them have had rides in my rocket. These guys are the best of the best and always willing to share their time and knowledge.
I have been fortunate, on two occasions, to fly with the snowbirds. Here is a video of my last flight, in 2011, of a practice session. Low ceilings kept us from doing the whole routine but you will be able to see how close these guys actually fly, beyond cool
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GoZxyh-Pcvo

[springer]

Originally Posted by Tom Martin

I am a big fan of the Snowbirds and have been a local ground support worker at a few of their shows in the St.Thomas area. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GoZxyh-Pcvo

Tom, why does the pilot fly from the right seat? Do they all or is it based on the position they fly...ie left wing right seat, right wing left seat?

[bwestfall]

Originally Posted by springer

Tom, why does the pilot fly from the right seat? Do they all or is it based on the position they fly...ie left wing right seat, right wing left seat?

Ha... I had the same question and was thinking the same thing through all 12 minutes of video. The answer is either "cause we can" or "the left ejection seat was out of order that day"

I think I'd s*** my pickle suit on that ride along. WOW!