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| Diamond formation London, ON September 2024 This photo originally shared on Instagram |
If there’s any good news in this, it is that the team, officially known as the Royal Canadian Air Force’s 431 Air Demonstration Squadron, will eventually fly again.
The problem? The new planes won’t be jets. They’ll be turboprops, and there’s no firm date for the Snowbirds to return to the skies, though speculation seems to centre around sometime in the early 1930s.
Interestingly, the chosen design, the CT-157 Siskin II, based on the Swiss-made Pilatus PC-21, can in some ways outperform the jet-powered Tutor, with better turning performance, acceleration, climb and roll rates, and G capabilities. But as an instrument designed to inspire a love of aviation and service to country, it’s hard to imagine a prop-driven plane having the same impact. Canada now becomes the only G7 nation demo squad not flying jets.
I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve stood transfixed on the ground while this remarkable group of aviators worked their magic overhead. While other nations’ teams flew with frontline fighters, ours made do with training jets that relied less on automation than the sheer skill of their pilots.
Behind the scenes, mechanics performed silent miracles to keep them airworthy. Meanwhile, successive governments dropped one ball after another, refusing to commit to a national icon that every Canadian could literally look up to.
Maintaining a world class reputation amid all the politically imposed adversity always felt like the most Canadian thing of all. And while critics might dismiss an aerobatic team as a frivolous luxury for avgeeks, they miss the integral role they played in national unity, continuity, and service.
We’ll miss that story that was uniquely ours, and mourn what could have been had our national priorities been more reflective of those who made the Snowbirds a pillar of an often unappreciative nation.
#airshowlondon #ldnont #canada #aviationphotography #planespotting
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