Canadair CT-114 Tutor Golden Centennaires

Like most Canadian air demonstration teams, the Golden Centenaires were short-lived, although in their case their destiny was clear from the start; fly 100 demonstrations across Canada for the Centennial year of 1967 and then disband. Other Canadian demonstration teams included the Siskins which flew Armstrong Whitwoth Siskin biplanes out of Camp Borden, Ontario in 1929 and the early 30s; the Blue Devils were a 410 Squadron team operating out of St. Hubert, Quebec which flew de Havilland Vampires in 1949 and 1950; the Easy Aces flying Harvards out of Centralia, Ontario also in 1950; the Fireballs flying Sabre Aircraft of the Canadian Air Division in Europe likewise disbanded after a single year in 1954; the Skylancers were another Air Division team flying Sabres in 1955 but a tragic accident in 1956 terminated RCAF aerobatic displays for several years until the advent of the Golden Hawks and Goldilocks teams flying Sabres based at Chatham, New Brunswick and Harvards based at Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan respectively from 1959 to 1963 and 1962 to 1964 again, respectively.
CF Photo

The Golden Centenaires were formed in 1966 as Canada neared it's 100th birthday in 1967, with W/C O.B. Philps (later "father" of the Snowbirds air demonstration team) as commanding officer. The team criss-crossed Canada in 1967 in their gold and blue Tutors, captivating air show audiences from coast to coast. However, they flew only during the Centennial year after which the Canadian Armed Forces were once again left without an aerobatic performance team, until the Snowbirds were formed at CFB Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan in 1970.
CF Photo

Although this is how the Golden Centennaires team is most often remembered, a formation of gold painted Tutors, the flight demonstration team actually also consisted of a CF-101 Voodoo, a CF-104 Starfighter, and two restored Avro 504K First World War flight trainers. During their 184 trans-Canada tour, the team performed 100 times, as well as eight additional shows in the United States with a total viewing audience estimated at 4,000,000 spectators.
CF Photo

The Golden Centenaires were a new aerobatic team flying Tutors, formed as Canada neared it's 100th birthday in 1967. The team was based at CFB Portage la Prarie, with plans to fly 100 air displays across Canada during the Centennial year. This schedule worked far better than anyone could have hoped and ended with seven additional shows being performed in the United States.
CF Photo