Snowbirds Association wants to keep CT-114 Tutor jets in the sky

Video from the channel CFAX 1070 about Canadair CT-114 Tutor, linked on its Above Ten Thousand entry. Duration: 6:19. Language: English. Video type: News.

CFAX 1070 radio interviews retired lieutenant colonel Dan Dempsey, a member of the Snowbirds Alumni Association, about the "No pause, keep the Snowbirds flying" campaign. The association launched it after the retirement of the team's CT-114 Tutor jets was announced, along with a pause in displays until a new aircraft arrives. The campaign asks the Government and the RCAF to keep the Snowbirds flying the Tutor until the end of 2030, with a reduced team to extend the aircraft's life, and then to move to the new aircraft without a break.

Dempsey was with the team twice: in 1980-81 he was Snowbird 9, one of the soloists flying the head-on passes, and in 1989-1990 he led it for its twentieth anniversary. He maintains that the Tutor is safe, since it is an all-metal aircraft with strain gauges inspected daily, and attributes the decision to the Canadian Forces' staffing shortage. As a precedent he cites the RAF's Red Arrows, who will go from nine to seven aircraft until their next type. That decision became known just days after the Canadian announcement on 19 May.

The association is seeking a wave of public support. It calls for writing to MPs and the prime minister, and mentions an online petition from the Conservative Party. Dempsey also announces an open house at the BC Aviation Museum on 3 August and a full nine-aircraft display on Dallas Road on 4 August.