The Canadian Forces Snowbirds will perform on the final weekend of AirVenture 2016. EAA announced the world-renowned team is making its first appearance at the fly-in in decades. “It is truly thrilling to have the Snowbirds schedule an appearance at Oshkosh for the first time in more than 30 years, and we can now begin working through the logistics necessary to host the team,” said Rick Larsen, EAA’s vice president of communities and member services, who coordinates AirVenture features and attractions. The team will fly a practice show over the AirVenture grounds on Friday, July 29, and be part of the airshow on Saturday and Sunday will full performances.
The Snowbirds fly nine CT-Tutor jets, which were retired as advanced trainers for the Canadian Armed Forces more than 10 years ago and are now used exclusively by the team through their own squadron, 431 Air Demonstration Squadron based in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan. The team does loops, bursts and other maneuvers in the nine-ship formation, at times flying with four feet of wing overlap. The team flies about 60 shows a year, most of them in Canada, where they are a primary recruiting tool for the Canadian military. Last year, the team added a centerline oil tank-mounted camera facing backward from the lead aircraft. The Tank Cam gave millions of viewers a unique perspective on formation aerobatics. Have a look.
