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What kind of aircraft do the Snowbirds
fly?
The
Snowbirds fly the Canadair CT-114 Tutor, a Canadian-built jet
that was used by the Canadian Forces as a basic pilot-training
aircraft form 1963 until 2000. The Tutor weighs approximately
7,170 lbs (3,260 kg) and is powered by a J-85 engine producing
2,700 pounds of thrust.
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How Many Snowbirds
are there?
The 431 Air Demonstration Squadron consists of
approximately 80 Canadian Forces personnel, 24 of whom comprise
the show team that travels during the show season. The Snowbirds'
demanding schedule is met through the dedicated teamwork of not
only the eleven military pilots and technicians, but also the
entire home team.
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How many shows do
the Snowbirds perform each year?
The actual number of shows flown by the Snowbirds
varies slightly each year. On average they will fly approximately
70 air shows at 50 different locations across North America.
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How much time
do the Snowbirds spend travelling?
The Snowbirds leave their home base in Moose
Jaw, Saskatchewan and travel to Comox, British Columbia in
April each year for about two weeks to practice over different
terrain. Starting in May until mid-October each year the team
travels across North America performing at various air shows.
Throughout the six month air show season, the Snowbirds return
to their home base about four times for a couple of days to
perform some maintenance on the aircraft.
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How does someone
become a Snowbird pilot or technician?
All
members of the Snowbirds are Canadian Forces personnel who
have accumulated years of military experience prior to joining
the squadron. Each year, military pilots and technicians who
aspire to be in the squadron apply for a position with the
Snowbirds. They are selected based on skill and experience.
Additionally, pilots undergo a rigorous series of try-outs
to evaluate their formation-flying proficiency.
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How long does each
Snowbird stay with the Team?
Normally the tour of duty for the pilots is limited
to three years each; each year, one third of the pilots changes.
This benefits the team by allowing the second and third year
members to train the new first year pilots which maintains consistency
in Snowbird operations. To ensure on-going training within the
Squadron, making sure skills and expertise are developed for
the long term sustainment of our mission, technicians can stay
for a number of years with 431 Squadron.
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How is the Snowbird
Team Lead (Boss) chosen?
The Boss must hold the rank of Major and have
flown as a Snowbird earlier in his career. Recommendations for
the position are provided by the current Boss to the Wing Commander
and Commander 1 Canadian Air Division. The Commander 1 Canadian
Air Division then offers the position to the pilot they feel
is best suited to handle the demands of the job.
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How do I get the
Snowbirds to fly at our air show?
In the "Hosting" section of this site,
an application form to have the
Snowbirds perform at your show is available. This form must be filled out
and sent to the Snowbirds' office no later than 1 September of the year
preceding the planned air show. This form should include all of the details
of your event such as the proposed and alternate dates and times of the
event, location of the planned performance, purpose of the air show, etc.
Once these letters are received, our coordinators review the requests and
select those sites that will give exposure to the largest number of people
and cover the greatest number of geographic regions in Canada.
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What does the Snowbird
crest symbolize?
This design originates from the location of the
Snowbirds' home base in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan. As a prairie
province, one of Saskatchewan's main crops is wheat. As a tribute
to their home province, Saskatchewan, the Snowbird crest displays
four speedbirds, in formation, resembling an ear of wheat. The
speed bird is also shown on the bottom of each Snowbird aircraft.
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Why is there
a blue stripe painted along the side of the jets?
The Snowbirds' predecessor, the Golden Centennaires,
was a nine-plane aerobatic team formed in 1967 to commemorate
Canada's Centennial anniversary. The bottom of their CT-114 Tutor
aircraft was painted blue. The Snowbirds decided to paint a blue
stripe along their aircraft as a tribute to the Golden Centennaires.
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Why is there
a picture of a stickman painted on the aircraft behind the canopy?
The stickman balancing himself while walking
along a line is the symbol for SMARTRISK. SMARTRISK was created
in 1992 to tackle the greatest health care concern facing Canadians
- injuries and injury-related deaths. The stickman is walking
the Stupid Line - the line of choice each one of us have that
separates smart risk from stupid risk. The Snowbirds are the
founding ambassadors of SMARTRISK and speak to students about
managing risk. They talk about the importance of gear, training
and attitude in preparation for each flight, and the concentration
needed to carry through their precision-timed manoeuvres. The
SMARTRISK message is reinforced to visitors at air shows where
the Snowbirds appear and the foundation's logo is painted on
the side of each Snowbird jet.
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Where did the
Snowbirds get their name?
A "Name the Team" contest was held at the local
base elementary school in June of 1971. The winner was a Grade
6 student by the name of Doug Farmer. Mr. Farmer was able to
join the team on a media ride at the Abbotsford, BC Airshow in
2000.
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How fast do you
fly?
The top speed of the aircraft, with smoke tanks
attached, is 412 knots
(470 mph or 750 km/h). During a performance, the Snowbirds will fly at
speeds ranging from 100 knots (115 mph or 185 km/h) to 320 knots (370 mph
or 590 km/h).
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How close are
the jets when they are flying in formation?
The distance between each Snowbird jet in many
of the formations is about 1.2 metres (4 feet). When flying at
speeds of 600 km/hr a large amount of skill is required by the
pilot to maintain this distance throughout the performance.
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When the two solo
aircraft perform their head-on passes, how fast are they flying
and how close do they get to one another?
The
solos aim to be approximately 10 metres apart when they cross.
With a speed of close to 600 km/hr for each jet, the closure
speed of the jets is very close to the speed of sound.
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How is the
white smoke made?
Underneath the jets there are two fuel pods (tanks)
which contain diesel fuel. There is a tube from each tank to
the exhaust at the back of the engine. The pilot squeezes a
trigger on the control stick which starts the flow of diesel
from the tank to the engine exhaust. When the diesel fuel enters
the exhaust, it immediately vaporizes and creates a white smoke
trail. To stop the flow of diesel fuel, the pilot squeezes
the trigger one more time. This smoke trail dissipates before
it reaches the ground and is considered harmless.
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I've been to
an air show and saw only eight aircraft flying instead of all
nine. Was one of them broken?
The Snowbirds have two jets that are flown by
the Coordinators that are used as spare aircraft for the performance.
If at any time during the performance one of the nine jets
becomes unserviceable, the pilot lands the jet and uses one
of the spare aircraft. Since the Snowbirds do not have any
spare pilots, if one of the pilots gets sick, then that person
cannot fly in the show. The Team will then make minor changes
to their performance and fly without that one pilot.
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What happens if
the Boss gets sick?
That is a more serious problem since the Snowbirds
don't have a spare Boss. If the Boss cannot fly, then the Snowbirds
will not fly.
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How can I go flying
with the Snowbirds?
Unfortunately the Snowbirds are not permitted
to take the general public flying with them. There are occasions
when they are authorized to take a member of the media on a designated
flight that does not involve aerobatics. These people are carefully
screened to ensure they are healthy and the flight would not
endanger themselves or the pilots flying the aircraft. The purpose
of media flights is to share with them the exhilaration of military
formation flying so that they can pass this information to the
general public in their publication or television show. In return,
the media provide excellent exposure to the Canadian Forces,
the Snowbirds and the air show. The Snowbirds would enjoy sharing
with many people the thrill of flying the Tutor aircraft and
formation flying, however as you can imagine the requests would
be overwhelming and impossible to administer. Since they cannot
take the general public flying with them, they do attempt to
meet as many spectators as they can at the air shows before and
after performances to describe the flying experience and answer
questions.
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Can you send me
pictures of the Snowbirds?
Providing photos is extremely costly and not within
the Snowbirds annual operating budget. However, the Snowbirds
provide a colourful brochure which includes history of the squadron,
air show schedule, photos of each Snowbird person, and an exciting
poster. These brochures are available at each air show site where
the Snowbirds perform or can be obtained by writing a letter
to them at:
431 (AD) Sqn
15 Wing
Box 5000
Moose Jaw, Sk
S6H 7Z8