SNOWBIRDS - Apprenez à piloter un avion à réaction Tutor des Snowbirds - Survolez la Tour CN

Video from the channel LearnToFly Inc. about Canadair CT-114 Tutor, linked on its Above Ten Thousand entry. Duration: 36:50. Language: English. Video type: Onboard.

The video follows Captain Brett Parker, pilot of Snowbirds number 5, on a complete walkaround of his CT-114 Tutor. It opens with an interview beside the aircraft and continues with the pre-flight exterior inspection, an explanation of the cockpit and of the personal equipment. The final part shows cockpit footage of the formation flight and the display. According to the title, the flight includes a pass by Toronto's CN Tower.

During the exterior walkaround, Parker points out:

- the nose light, which makes all nine aircraft visible; - the nose wheel, which is steered with a button on the stick and the pedals; - the two air intakes, which feed a single J85 engine; - the stall warning, which shakes the stick when the aircraft is less than 10% above stall speed; - the heated pitot tube; - the side airbrakes; - the underwing tanks, which carry not fuel but diesel. When the trigger is squeezed, the diesel is injected into the hot exhaust and produces the smoke.

In the cockpit he describes classic instrumentation, largely the original gear from the late 1960s. It includes a Machmeter, VHF and UHF radios, TACAN and ADF. The aircraft is equipped for instrument flight, but it cannot fly GPS approaches; a handheld GPS is carried only for navigation. The controls are mechanical, with no electronic control, and almost every function is operated from the stick and throttles. The ejection seats carry a rigid-arm stabilizing parachute. The pilot always wears his own parachute and, for displays over water, also a life vest.

Parker explains that the aircraft, designated CL-41, was built by Canadair and that the Canadian Forces received it in the late 1960s as a trainer. At Moose Jaw (Saskatchewan) there came to be more than a hundred of them. Around 2000 it left pilot training, but the 431 Air Demonstration Squadron kept using it. Parker gives these figures:

- maximum speed of about 400 knots with the tanks fitted; - stall at 65-70 knots with full flaps; - approach at 115 knots; - load factors of +7 and −3 g, with no anti-g suit; - fuel burn of 2,000 to 2,200 pounds per hour, with about 2,000 pounds of fuel carried.

He also explains that in formation they make heavy use of the rudder to keep their wings level with the leader's.