More Than Just A Snowbird: the story of the Canadair CT-114 Tutor (No AI)

Video from the channel Polyus about Canadair CT-114 Tutor, linked on its Above Ten Thousand entry. Duration: 22:18. Language: English. Video type: Documentary.

Documentary on the history of the Canadair CT-114 Tutor, the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) training jet best known as the Snowbirds' aircraft. It covers its development, its service in flying schools, the aerobatic teams that flew it, the armed version exported to Malaysia, unbuilt projects and its retirement.

The Tutor was Canadair's first original design, as until then the company had built and improved foreign models. The arrival of high-performance fighters such as the Starfighter required a jet trainer to replace propeller aircraft. After several configurations tested in a wind tunnel, the company settled on a T-tail and the side-by-side seating the RCAF requested. The CL-41A prototype flew on 13 January 1960. A radar-equipped variant, the CL-41R, intended to train F-104 pilots, was cancelled for lack of interest.

The RCAF ordered 190 aircraft in April 1962, and the CT-114 entered service on 16 December 1963. Most were based at Moose Jaw (Saskatchewan), where it trained all Canadian jet pilots as well as students from NATO and allied countries. The Tutor was flown by the Golden Centennaires (1967), the Red Knights (1968-1969), the instructors' Vikings team and, from 1969, the Snowbirds, which became 431 Air Demonstration Squadron in 1975.

The aircraft was built in two sections joined by four bolts, which made engine changes easier. Its structure withstood from -3 to +7 G and had ejection seats usable at zero altitude and zero speed. From July 1967 Malaysia received twenty units of the armed CL-41G Tebuan version, which fought near the Thai border and were retired in 1986. Unbuilt projects included vertical take-off, reconnaissance, carrier-trainer and twin-engine attack versions. After an upgrade begun in 1985, most Tutors were retired in 2000 and replaced by the CT-156 Harvard II and the CT-155 Hawk, except for the Snowbirds' aircraft. The video puts the type's in-service accident count at 67, with 22 pilots and students killed.