Canadian Demonstration Team Maintains Symmetry No Matter What

By Maria Morrison

Those who watched the Canadian Snowbirds demonstration on Friday might have noticed something unusual about the show. During that performance, one of the nine aircraft, Snowbird 5, had to pull himself out of the formation.

The Canadair CT114 Tutor hit a bird and was told by the squadron’s Team Leader Major Yanick Grégoire to pull himself out of formation in case the bird had caused damage to the aircraft. This is the customary procedure for hitting something in flight, and has been well rehearsed by the demonstration team.

After breaking out of formation, the pilot of Snowbird 5, Captain Matthew Hart, quickly landed and got into one of the two “backup” Tutors on the ground. Within a few minutes of recognizing he had a problem, Hart was back up and in formation with the team.

While he switched aircraft, the Snowbirds did some formations as a flight of eight, and did some stalling to give him time to join.

Snowbirds 10 and 11 stay on the ground during a normal demonstration. If something happens to one of the active planes, the pilot will switch to the backup and resume the demonstration.

Pilots of Snowbirds 10 and 11 remain on the ground, narrating the show.

The team has practiced operating procedures for the event that any of the aircraft need to be pulled out of formation. Coincidentally, Snowbird 5 is one of the easiest to pull out of formation from his position of Second Line Astern. It also doesn't mess up the formation as far as symmetry is concerned. Grégoire says that if the potentially damaged aircraft had been Snowbird 2 or 3, his right and left wing respectively, he would have pulled out the other one as well to keep the formation symmetrical.

Symmetry is very important in the Snowbird’s show. Each pass and maneuver must be symmetrical at show center, which is the Boeing Plaza. During the opposing solo passes, if one plane’s landing light is out, Grégoire tells the other to turn out his landing light to keep a balance.

Normally, a demonstration team has a few days to fly around the area of an airshow and scout out landmarks. This helps the show because all the pilots can determine how far to go and where to turn on each maneuver. However, there was no time for the Snowbirds to fly around before their first performance Friday. Instead, the team looked at Google Earth Thursday night, making Friday’s show more of a rehearsal than a performance.

(Image from file)

FMI: http://www.rcafarc.forces.gc.ca/en/snowbirds/index.page