[lenaitch]

The RCAF Hawks were only leased, and would not have been available for the Snow Birds. However unlike the US Navy variant the T-45 Goshawk, the BAe Hawk is still in production in the UK and if we weren’t so tight could be purchased for the Snow Birds.

I thought so too. We must have bought them out at 'carcass prices' since they (or some of them) are now cadavers for maintenance techs at CFB Borden.

 

[Admiral Beez]

A New Life for the CT-155 Hawk

The CT-155 Hawk, formerly the RCAF’s Fighter Lead-in advanced jet training aircraft, is finding new life at the Canadian Forces School of Aerospace Technology and Engineering, where a fleet of 15 aircraft will soon serve as new maintenance trainers for aircraft technicians-in-training.

www.canada.ca

 

[AlbertC]

 

[SubHuman]

 

[lenaitch]

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Well done. They did a show in North Bay last week and I tried to get some decent pics with limited success. It was a 1800 show over the lake so we were all facing west. There were some fairly interesting clouds as backdrop but the sun simply overwhelmed the phone's camera. I should have taken my real camera.

 

[Admiral Beez]

Looks like the Snowbirds might be on the rocks.

Snowbirds could be grounded for years, Conservatives warn

The summer of 2026 could be Canadians’ last chance to see the Royal Canadian Air Force’s iconic Snowbirds aerobatic team for years, a Conservative MP says.

www.ctvnews.ca

If the RCAF Snowbirds are looking for a new aircraft, I'd suggest they include the KAI TA-50 in their list, as used by the Republic of Korea Air Force (ROKAF) Black Eagles. We could ask the Koreans to throw in two dozen aircraft as part of the KSS-III submarine deal. While Hanwha Ocean and Korea Aerospace Industries are not directly connected, they are both part of the South Korean government's defense industrial ecosystem.

 

[SubHuman]

I'm not sure how practical continuing to have a CNE Air Show would be if YTZ was expanded with the runway probably extending out in that direction, and their hoped-for increase in activity (from 2 to 10 million passengers a year, as in the Ont gov statement).
But then that would provide more of a daily plane watching spot from Ontario Place.
And maybe more of an opportunity for a return of a Hamilton Air Show that could attract a large paying crowd. I think it was last there from 2011-2013.

 

[EBT]

Looks like the Snowbirds might be on the rocks.

Snowbirds could be grounded for years, Conservatives warn

The summer of 2026 could be Canadians’ last chance to see the Royal Canadian Air Force’s iconic Snowbirds aerobatic team for years, a Conservative MP says.

www.ctvnews.ca

If the RCAF Snowbirds are looking for a new aircraft, I'd suggest they include the KAI TA-50 in their list, as used by the Republic of Korea Air Force (ROKAF) Black Eagles. We could ask the Koreans to throw in two dozen aircraft as part of the KSS-III submarine deal. While Hanwha Ocean and Korea Aerospace Industries are not directly connected, they are both part of the South Korean government's defense industrial ecosystem.

This was inevitable. All good things must come to an end. Instead of replacing these all-Canadian trainer jets with brand new expensive foreign made trainer jets what I would prefer to see is replacing them with some of the soon to be retired CF-18s. The CF-18 may be past its prime as a front-line fighter jet, but it could be maintained for decades in the single role of an air demonstration team that could rival the Blue Angels. I would also suggest a name change. Instead of the "Snowbirds" why not the Canadian Air Force air demonstrations team "THE RAPTORS"

As a country Canada needs to stop portraying ourselves as a country of wimps with names like. "Snowbirds" for our air demonstration team. Imagine being at a future air show and hearing over the PA "ladies and gentlemen coming in from stage left is the Canadian air demonstration team " THE RAPTORS"! This would send chills up your spine if you are Canadian.

I wonder what are the retirement plans for the US Navy's air demonstration team "The Blue Angles" or the US Air Force air demonstration team "The Thunderbirds"?

 

[Monarch Butterfly]

Maybe just museum aircraft. Unless the "Snowbirds" can be classified as museum pieces.

 

[lenaitch]

I'm not sure how practical continuing to have a CNE Air Show would be if YTZ was expanded with the runway probably extending out in that direction, and their hoped-for increase in activity (from 2 to 10 million passengers a year, as in the Ont gov statement).
But then that would provide more of a daily plane watching spot from Ontario Place.
And maybe more of an opportunity for a return of a Hamilton Air Show that could attract a large paying crowd. I think it was last there from 2011-2013.
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Suspending airport operations for an airshow is not uncommon.