Snowbirds over Parliament Hill Story and photos by Andrew H. Cline The Snowbirds carried out their Annual flypast over Parliament Hill on Canada Day, July 1, with a twist. The team used coloured smoke for the first time in 24 years. It was the 147th Birthday of Canada and red smoke was carried by several members of the team. It was blended with the white carried by the others to produce the national colours in the sky. Also in the flypast, and celebrating the 90th Anniversary of the Royal Canadian Air Force, the 2014 CF-18 Demonstration pilot Captain Adam Runge flew his jet between the Snowbirds two passes over Parliament Hill. The Snowbirds opened the festivities right after the National Anthem just after Noon. They opened with a diamond pass south of Parliament Hill, ending with the Maple Leaf Burst from behind the Peace Tower. The Skyhawks attempted to do a parachute drop onto Parliament Hill as part of the festivities, but the winds proved to be too high. They landed in a 450 Squadron CH-147 Chinook at the Canada Aviation and Space Museum at Rockcliffe Airport for the Annual Museum open house. There they joined the museum visitors and demonstrated parachute folding and signed autographs. It is the busiest day of the year for the Museum and, autograph sessions were also carried out by Astronaut Chris Hadfield and the Snowbirds. The team also overflew Rockliffe during their National Capital July 1 tribute. The Snowbirds last coloured smoke show occurred 24 years ago. It took place at the Team`s year-end show in Moose Jaw on October 20 1990 with Major Dan Dempsey leading. The first coloured smoke was used by the team in 1988 to open the Winter Olympics in Calgary. Dempsey introduced red and white smoke for the 1990 season to celebrate the teams 20th anniversary along with the 25th anniversary of the Canadian flag. They flew 40 shows that season with the red and white smoke which included all of the major shows plus Canada Day. The 2014 Canada Day celebrations were truly an aviation heavy event in the Nation`s Capital, and the Snowbirds flew over it at three airports in the area, basing their operations out of Gatineau with other events occurring at Vintage Wings. c) copyright Andrew H. Cline 2014 Follow the #CFSnowbirds on their own Facebook page: on.fb.me/1t68Dds
Posted on: Sat, 05 Jul 2014 12:00:01 +0000
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