A couple of Snowbirds pilots brought their iconic Tutor jets to Estevan on March 10, doing a quick low-level fly-past the city before landing at the Estevan Regional Airport for a rendevouz with local authorities and airport manager Richard Reetz.
Captains Blake McNaughton and Regan Wickett form an advance team doing site appraisals at several locations where the Snowbirds’ air acrobatic team can actually land after their 35 minute performances.
The Estevan airport with its 5,000 foot main runway and 3,000 foot secondary landing strip, is one of the few municipal ports that can handle aircraft like those CT-114 Tutors used by the Snowbirds.
The two members will be back with the full team of 11 pilots, (nine acrobatic planes plus two backup pilots and planes) and a technical crew, on July 26 to help local authorities dedicate the re-opening of the newly repaved and upgraded runways. It just happens that the community will be playing host to the Saskatchewan Summer Games at that time, which means an additional excitement factor will be added to the celebratory mix in the Energy City.
When the team of about 25 arrives on July 26, they will book in overnight after an afternoon of celebrations at the airport and the city, they will depart the next morning for Oshkosh, Wisconsin, where they will participate in one of the biggest air shows in North America.
“Our complete team in Moose Jaw (15 Wing) has about 50 people connected to the Snowbird program,” said McNaughton. The travelling troupe numbers about 22 plus the promotion personnel.
“In the 35-minute show you’ll see all kinds of things like the low-level fly-past, smoke, crossovers, bursts and splits,” he added.
Capt. Wickett said he has been in the RCAF for about 12 years, returning about four years ago after trying the teaching profession for a few years. He has logged hundreds of hours of air time, most recently with the Snowbirds, saying “it’s the best job in the air force.”
“It was a dream come true for me,” said Capt. McNaughton, recalling the day he learned he had been accepted into the team about six months ago.
The team members spend a lot of air time, as well as ground-training time, learning the skill sets necessary to become valued team members.
The show schedules begin soon and will continue throughout the spring and summer and well into October with the team booked every weekend and most weekdays. This year’s schedule takes them to the extremes of North America with a show as far north as Yellowknife and as far south as the southern tip of Florida, with appearances in both the east and west coasts of Canada and the United States.
“We do the first training in and over Moose Jaw, using the prairie landscape. Then we move out to Comox, B.C., so we can practice over water and mountains. That way we get accustomed to all geographic and wind conditions,” said Wickett.
The men said they love their 1964 vintage jets that still have “a lot of life in them,” since they are rebuilt on an annual basis and “there are 14 Tutor airframes in storage in Moose Jaw with only a few hundred hours on them, so there’s lots of life there. These planes won’t be retired soon,” Wickett added.
Flying these planes and visiting various sites,” it’s one of the best things a military pilot could wish for,” McNaughton said, when asked to comment on the advance airport appraisals and media events. “Hey, the other guys are back in Moose Jaw, working while we’re flying and visiting.”
The team has only two scheduled shows in Saskatchewan this summer, the other one being Swift Current.
Wickett said each Snowbirds pilot is assigned one of the team jets and, unless there are mechanical reasons that put him into a backup unit, they’ll try to keep that particular plane and pilot together for the season.
“They’re all the same, but after a few hours, you discover slight idiosyncrasies in your plane. For example, my plane is a little nose heavy and has a slight left strength that I can easily compensate,” said Wickett.
After being interviewed by local media, the two pilots did a check-off tour of the planes with Estevan Fire Rescue Chief Dale Feser regarding their emergency shut-off systems and other safety features before retiring to the pilot’s lounge to go over site evaluation plans and airport runway and facility layouts with Reetz as well as confirming details with city clerk Judy Pilloud.
Later that afternoon, the planes were refueled and headed to Portage La Prairie, Manitoba for a similar visit in that city in advance of a summer visit there.
