Oh crapadoodle! Another air show crash, and another of our Canadian pride and joy Snowbirds down. The pilot ejected in time and is in stable condition.
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/N24648310.htm
Double plus ungood![:(]
SO many of these have been happening in the past month.[:(]
As prowd as I am of the Worlds best airshow team, I certainly hope this promts them to finnally upgrade to a newer aircraft. Glad to hear that everyone is alright.
[#ditto]
Coming on the heels of the Thunderbirds’ Chicago Air and Water Show “contact sport” over the weekend, we are fortunate indeed that no one was hurt badly. Expect the non-military folks to examine the need for airshows- they already have started here in the Chicago area with the “someone could have been killed” stories. It is really too bad that the folks that would never take a risk in their lives get to write a lot of the media stories on these things. I think the skill and discipline needed to field an aerial demonstration team are just the showcase needed for the military in these turbulent times- their hard work is what motivates a lot of people these days. Just my two cents…
The Snowbirds need new planes desperately.
They are the only unit in the Canadian Armed Forces that still operates the sadly obsolete Canadair Tutor jet and there is just no excuse for that when it doesn’t represent anything current in the inventory and poses such a risk due to its age.
I know we can’t give the Snowbirds CF-18 Hornets, but with the BAe Hawks as the current advanced training aircraft in the Canadian military, there is no reason the Snowbirds should not have them.
You got it Chief Blackwell!
As stated in the article on the Snowbirds, they emphasise the crashes not the hours flown without a negative discrepancy. Some folks have no idea of the many hours of work involved, nor the pride the crews take in a job well done.
The Snowbirds are one of the best flight demonstration teams in the world, I’m sure they aren’t letting this get them down, most times articles such as printed only provide a “humor break” before they get back to work.
Don
Shame that he crashed, at least he is alive.
Sad to hear of another acccident, glad to hear the pilot is OK.
Darren.
Yes, it is possible that you could go to an airshow and an entire airplane could fall on you and kill you or a piece could fall on you and ruin most of your day. But, what is the probability of that happening? A gazillion to one or worse. What is the probability of being seriously injured or killed in your car driving down your home street or nearby freeway? Still fairly remote, but a heck of a lot higher than the airplane accident.
I’ll take my chances at the local airshow. At least those planes are being flown by professionals who not talking on a cell phone or otherwise being distracted by Bull S _ _ _ around them.
Darwin, O.F. [alien]
Yardbird - True.
Always sad to hear of an aircrash, but like everyone said - at least the pilots still with us. That’s something to be pleased about. Does anyone have a pic of the Canadair Tutor, as I’m not familiar with the type.
mikiew:
Here’s a link to a very informative page about the Snowbirds:
http://www.rcaf.com/snowbirds/aircraft.php
It contains a nice photogallery of both the Snowbirds and the RCAF team before them, The Golden Centenairres, who also flew the Tutor.
Aditionally there are full colour profiles of all the various Snowbird colour schemes from the team’s formation to now.
Thanks upnorth - it is a rather ageing beastie, isn’t it? Reminiscent of the old Jet Provost the RAF used to fly, but with a longer nose. I wonder which of the 13 it was that crashed?
Couldn’t agree more. I can’t understand how or why our great northern pride is demonstrated with such obsolete equipment. It’s kind of shameful.
I read in another article today the Tutor’s engine failed and the pilot had to eject over a wooded area. Apparently it was not during the airshow but just before doing a 'run up ’ or preparation for the airshow. I agree, we should get newer jets, I’ve seen the Snowbirds several times and while they look really cool, for saftey’s sake they need new jets!
the Snowbirds are a fantastic team, and just like any other plane they too have a major mishap at the most inconvienant times, I’ve worked fighters when thier engine just decided to come apart while in flight and the pilot had no choice but to take the silk hiway to the ground, and I’d think the “Birds” need a newer plane to do their Demo’s with I’d think the CF-18 would be a grand idea and maybe put some pressure on the Blue Angles to update their show
It was sad to hear about the crash. But i heard on the news that the govt isn’t going to consider replacing them until around the year 2020!!![V]
It was the #8 plane the crashed
Are you seriuos!!??? 2020??? What are they planing to replace them with, F-22s
Indeed![:(!]
If the government isn’t planning to get the Snowbirds new jets until 2020, they need to go to the eye doctor to get their vision adjusted to 20/20. By 2020, every high performance front line and training aircraft considered the cutting edge today will be up for replacement. Never mind the fact that the Tutor has been obsolete for the better part of the past 15 years.
The Hornets in Snowbird markings would be cool, but when you consider Canada’s Hornet fleet is all A and B models and not a single one of them is less than 20 years old, well, it might not be the best idea. The Canadian Hornet fleet have been the victims of several postponed or cancelled upgrade programs over the years and to my knowledge are barely compatible with NATO’s current systems standards for combat operations.
Well, that government is a good part of the reason I decided to take a sabatical from Canada.
mikeiw:
I suppose the Tutor does have a passing resemblance to the Jet Provost, but I think if there was ever an aircraft it look like, it would be the Cessna T-37 Dragonfly. Take a T-37, get rid of one engine and give her a T-tail and you pretty much have a Tutor.