Canadian Forces CF-18, F-86 Sabre, P-40 Kittyhawk Will Fly Together

The 2011 edition of the Waterloo (Ontario, Canada) Air Show is scheduled for this Saturday and Sunday, August 20-21, and will feature a never-before-seen historical formation flight over the skies of the Region of Waterloo International Airport. The flight will honor three separate generations of aircraft used by Canada’s Air Force.

The 2011 CF-18 (pictured) Demonstration Team jet will join with the Korean-War-era Discovery Air Canadair Sabre jet in its unique 1960s Golden Hawks paint scheme, and a Curtiss P40-N Kittyhawk which honors the legacy of Canada’s own W/C James “Stocky” Edwards, who flew hundreds of missions in the Kittyhawk as part of 260 Squadron during the North African campaign in World War II.

This will be a rare opportunity to witness Canadian military aircraft spanning three generations of service, flying together.

On static display will be Vintage Wings of Canada's "Yellow Wings Tour." These five training aircraft -- a Tiger Moth, Cornell, Finch, Stearman and Harvard -- commemorate one of the greatest military and industrial achievements in Canada during World War II: the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan (BCATP).

The Plan, from 1939 to 1945, saw Canada become a world-renowned training ground for wartime student pilots from across Canada, the U.S., Australia, New Zealand, the U.K. and many other countries. This massive undertaking created almost 100 BCATP flying schools across Canada that trained more than 200,000 crewmembers. Nearly half of the Commonwealth air forces' pilots, navigators, bomb aimers, air gunners, wireless operators, and flight engineers were trained on Canadian soil.

Also featured this weekend will be the Canadian Forces Snowbirds, the Canadian Forces SkyHawks Parachute Team, the CF-18 Demonstration Team, the U.S. Air Force Viper East F-16 Demonstration Team, and other historical and aerobatic performers.

FMI: www.waterlooairshow.com