Snowbirds -- why do we have them?

[barbarian]

I see that another Snowbirds accident happened yesterday, killing the pilot.

Why do we have an aerial demonstration team in Canada? As a country with 1/10 the population of the USA, why do we insist on a 9-man demonstration team, who fly in antiquated aircraft that have no combat usefulness, when the US has two 6-man teams who fly in modern aircraft (F-16's and F-18's), which means they could actually adapt their skills to combat if necessary, and the teams are less of a drain.

I know, "ambassadors of Canada" who can spread the wonderfulness of Canada worldwide in airshows. Is this really a good thing to keep 80 active duty military personnel, including 11 pilots (9 + 2 support) tied-up in? This is enough personnel to form an extra combat squadron. I guess the politicians like to keep a completely peaceful demonstration team around--another dog and pony show to have our forces go through while being completely impotent.

If we are going to keep them around, how about getting them some real aircraft--you know, the kind with weapons pilons that could actually be useful for anything other than ramming enemy aircraft in war.

[95EagleAWD]

:rolleyes:

Sure, just pony up the dough for 10 more CF-18s.

Every good military has an aerial demo team. Have you seen the Thunderbirds or the Blue Angels?

Bias aside, the Snowbirds are much more exciting to watch. It's like the Red Arrows; the RAF uses trainers for their ariel squad too.

[Toms-SC]

'good military' in one sentence followed by 'canada'. :(

[nhlfan]

I really don't see the point of the snowbirds.

[BlackArcher101]

Quite a few air forces in the world have demonstration teams. It's all about recruiting and demonstrating your countries capabilities. Why get rid of them? Hell, even Italy has a good team.

We shouldn't be asking if we need the snowbirds, we should be asking what we are going to replace their planes with. Screw the F18's... I'd say go for the new BAE Systems CT-155 Hawk.

You say they are tying up these pilots, and could make another squadron. Did you know our pilots are already sharing aircraft and there's barely enough operational aircraft to expand?

You just sound bitter with your rant.

[frozenrice]

Originally posted by BlackArcher101
You say they are tying up these pilots, and could make another squadron. Did you know our pilots are already sharing aircraft and there's barely enough operational aircraft to expand?
I suspected as much. Doesn't Canada only have like a dozen or two CF-18's?

[sullygully]

Heaven forbid we have some pilots that don't fly for the army. What a waste of skin they must be :rolleyes:

[ninspeed]

Originally posted by frozenrice

I suspected as much. Doesn't Canada only have like a dozen or two CF-18's?

80 In total, 68 are Cf-18A and 18 are CF-18B.

[Ajay]

Why do we have the Snowbirds? Why do we have the CBC?

Same reason, it's something that's uniquely Canadian.

[frozenrice]

Small correction : 68+18=86.
Either way that's close to the amount of planes on a single US aircraft carrier. No wonder the 'mericans laugh at us..........

[JAYMEZ]

You do relize that some of the best pilots in the world are from Canada.... but use US crafts :dunno:

[95EagleAWD]

Originally posted by JAYMEZ_STi
You do relize that some of the best pilots in the world are from Canada.... but use US crafts :dunno:

Bingo.

We regularily dust the Americans when we go to Top Gun, Red Flag and Gunsmoke.

Why do we have the Snowbirds?

To instill some pride that, judging by some responses here, is LACKING in our country/military.

[frozenrice]

You're probably right about the pilots themselves, just seems as if the entire CAF (in terms of it's overall effectiveness) is lacking a bit. Having top pilots doesn't do jack if you don't have the backup in terms of gear or personell. (ie. send Sydney Crosby by himself on the ice with a wooden stick and see how he does against the worst team in the NHL).

[GC84ever]

It's time that the Snowbirds gets some new planes. Those planes are at close to twice the age of their pilots.
I just hope we don't have to deal with another terrible replacement plan like they did for the Seaking helicpoters.

Oh, I wouldn't worry about not having another combat squadron for the cost of a demo squadron. Because like the Blue Angels, Thunderbirds, and other teams; they are all experience combat pilots that can be deployed at any moment. Actually they probably do more flying in the Snowbirds squadron than they do in their regular squadrons.

[ZEDGE]

Originally posted by 95EagleAWD

Why do we have the Snowbirds?

To instill some pride that, judging by some responses here, is LACKING in our country/military.

:werd:

[barbarian]

Originally posted by Ajay
Why do we have the Snowbirds? Why do we have the CBC?

Same reason, it's something that's uniquely Canadian.
Well, the CBC is a massive waste of taxpayer money...

[Ajay]

Originally posted by barbarian

Well, the CBC is a massive waste of taxpayer money...

While that may be relevant that's not the issue at hand.


The Snowbirds, like the CBC, are creations of the Canadian government to instill national pride in Canadians. Not only are the Snowbirds held in pride by Canadians but they're recognized worldwide as one of the elite aerobatic performing groups.

[bignerd]

Originally posted by BlackArcher101
Why get rid of them?



Why do ours keep crashing all the time?


**I think they are fun to watch at airshows etc... however think it would be somewhat devastating to witness a crash that took someones life. They do seem to crash quite frequently, perhaps we just don't hear about other teams crashing in other countries or they just don't crash as often?

[95EagleAWD]

Originally posted by bignerd



Why do ours keep crashing all the time?


**I think they are fun to watch at airshows etc... however think it would be somewhat devastating to witness a crash that took someones life. They do seem to crash quite frequently, perhaps we just don't hear about other teams crashing in other countries or they just don't crash as often?

They don't crash frequently at all.

A Blue Angel went down earlier this year.

A Thunderbird crashed last year, but the pilot punched out.

Shit happens all the time when you fly high performance jets. Part of the job.