The Royal Canadian Air Force’s Snowbirds will perform their final air show with the Tutor jets in Moose Jaw, Sask., Friday, before the iconic aircraft are retired for good.
The annual season home closing show is set to be livestreamed online — although there will be one more chance to see the CT-114 Tutors in action before they are sent to Trenton, Ont., for disposal.
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The Snowbirds are scheduled to perform a flyover at the Grey Cup game in Calgary on Nov. 15.
The aging Tutor jets are being retired and the Snowbirds will go on hiatus until the team can be trained on the replacement Pilatus aircraft, the CT-157 Siskin.
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Captain Philip Rochon, the public affairs officer for the team, says it’s a bittersweet time as the pilots say goodbye to the planes the Snowbirds have flown for nearly six decades.
Rochon says over the summer months, the Snowbirds received an outpouring of support from Canadians across the country, including former pilots.
Our government wastes so much money, yet cannot afford new jets. What a complete air farce.
It’ll never be the same afterward. A flight demonstration team of turbo props? May as well rename them to the budget cut birds.
Definitely a send-off to the golden days of Canada. When we felt like we could do anything, build anything. Now they are being replaced with basic, civilian prop planes; a symbol of the compromises that will make up the future of our country.