Snowbirds fly again at Canada Remembers Armed Forces Day

The Snowbirds didn’t miss a beat Saturday during the Canada Remembers Armed Forces Day at Camp Dundurn.

It was the first show back for the team based at 15 Wing Moose Jaw since a two-week break for intensive training.

“You wouldn’t have noticed any kinks at the shows, but safety is our number one priority,” said Colonel Andy Cook, who is the Wing Commander of 17 Wing Winnipeg, which also oversees Camp Dundurn.

“You won’t realize how much the airplanes are moving relative to each other, if you were in the formation it would shock you how much movement there really is,” he said.

Cook said the Snowbirds is a crowd pleaser because it’s nine airplanes flying close together.

“The crowd gets to see the airplanes maneuvering all the time and there’s never a dead spot,” he said.

Another demonstration, from the Canadian Armed Forces SkyHawks Parachute Team, put the crowd in awe.

“As soon as we leave the aircraft we open our parachutes, get side by side and do a controlled collision into each other’s parachutes,” said Master Corporal Jeremy Canfield, the SkyHawks Quartermaster.

“We do formations with smoke grenades and light the sky up with red smoke, which is really cool.”

The SkyHawks team is based out of CFB Trenton in Ontario and has done eight shows so far this year.

“It’s a good capability to put a lot of guys behind enemy lines all at once in combat,” Canfield said. “Search and rescue uses them to get in confined areas to rescue people as well.”

Some of the Skyhawk Parachutes team signing autographs in Dundurn #yxe pic.twitter.com/vqde65fuGr

— JT Marshall (@jtmarshallCKOM) June 10, 2017

Other demonstrations included a land assault enactment, CF-18 Hornets, and the CT-155 Hawk Ceremonial Fly-past.

The show continues Sunday from 11 a.m. until 5 p.m.