Royal Canadian Air Force Snowbirds

[denum136 161]

I went to an airshow in Sacramento. They had more than just the RCAF Snowbirds in the show but I decided to honor our great friends to the north with a post highlighting just the RCAF Snowbirds. All the aircraft that flew that day used an incredible amout of smoke, which made it kind of difficult to get good crisp shots. Also, when they flew by the crowd they many times would bank in the opposite direction of the crowd, showing us the bottom of the aircraft. So, I ended up with not a lot of good shots showing the top/front/cockpit of the craft. Oh well...did the best I could with what I was given.

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[greybeard53 25]

stunning

 

[benhasajeep66 64]

I went to an airshow in Sacramento. They had more than just the RCAF Snowbirds in the show but I decided to honor our great friends to the north with a post highlighting just the RCAF Snowbirds. All the aircraft that flew that day used an incredible amout of smoke, which made it kind of difficult to get good crisp shots. Also, when they flew by the crowd they many times would bank in the opposite direction of the crowd, showing us the bottom of the aircraft. So, I ended up with not a lot of good shots showing the top/front/cockpit of the craft. Oh well...did the best I could with what I was given.

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Good timing on your part. This is their last season for a while. Canada retired that airframe 26 years ago. They kept 24 just for the Snowbirds. They are 55 years old. Their last show is next month. And they will stand down till their replacements are fully online. And the replacements are turboprops CT-157's (AKA Pilatus PC-21). They say early 2030's so Snowbirds going to be grounded for at least 5 years.

 

[denum136 161]

Good timing on your part. This is their last season for a while. Canada retired that airframe 26 years ago. They kept 24 just for the Snowbirds. They are 55 years old. Their last show is next month. And they will stand down till their replacements are fully online. And the replacements are turboprops CT-157's (AKA Pilatus PC-21). They say early 2030's so Snowbirds going to be grounded for at least 5 years.

Interesting facts. I was wondering if they had any jets like F-16 etc.

 

[denum136 161]

stunning

Thanks! Glad you found them worthy of comment.

 

[benhasajeep66 64]

Interesting facts. I was wondering if they had any jets like F-16 etc.

For some reason the Canadians like to use trainers for their display team. Don't really need supersonic planes for it anyway. The Canadians do have front line fighters, they just don't use them for the Snowbirds like the US.

Both US teams are supposed to be able to change the aircraft to combat ready in 72 hours.