Jump to content

Snow Bird Down


Recommended Posts

As someone who witnessed the horrific crash of the Snowbirds at the Toronto Air Show in 1989, I wonder what the thinking of the Canadian Forces is to continue keeping the Tutors in active service. I was very happy to hear the pilot in Georgia successfully ejected. But there really has to be a serious consideration and money applied to replace what is now an antique fleet for the safety of the pilots. Team demonstration flying is hazardous enough already.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

4 hours ago, Jennings Heilig said:

 

Why?  The airplanes are over 50 (closer to 60) years old.  The Snowbirds have the only flying Tutors in the world.  At some point it becomes more of a hazard than a good idea.

 

I would also think the training and logistical costs would be extremely excessive.   It’s not like you can pull Tutor-certified avionics, airframe, electrical maintenance techs from the main force and assign them to the Snowbirds.   You have to train them from scratch just to support this one unit.   Plus, it must be a bear to find the required spare parts.   

 

Kinda like the Blue Angles still flying A-4’s in 2019.   Heck the USN can barely keep it’s Superhornets airworthy, I shudder to think how’d they be able to keep a unit full of antiques flying at peak performance.    

Edited by John1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

20 minutes ago, John1 said:

 

 

Kinda like the Blue Angles still flying A-4’s in 2019.   Heck the USN can barely keep it’s Superhornets airworthy, I shudder to think how’d they be able to keep a unit full of antiques flying at peak performance.    

 

That being said the A-4's would still perform a splendid display, considering the fact IMHO that they were of a different breed than the Tudor, no disrespect intended.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

3 hours ago, Jack said:

 

That being said the A-4's would still perform a splendid display, considering the fact IMHO that they were of a different breed than the Tudor, no disrespect intended.

Agreed. I still remember seeing the Blues fly one of their last A-4 flights as a kid.  It was awesome and, no disrespect to the current teams, I thought it was much better than the Hornet shows.  

Link to comment
Share on other sites

22 hours ago, Jennings Heilig said:

 

Why?  The airplanes are over 50 (closer to 60) years old.  The Snowbirds have the only flying Tutors in the world.  At some point it becomes more of a hazard than a good idea.

 

As someone who regularly flys a 40 year old jet; without the benefit of military funded maintenance, I find comments like this amusing. Having interacted with the Snowbirds, I can tell you that these jets are meticulously maintained. Clearly they have the spares, support equipment, and infrastructure in place to operate these jets safety on a very public stage.

Accidents happen. This is a single-engine jet- but to infer that this episode was somehow related to the age of the aircraft while the wreckage is still smoking is unfair and unfortunate.

BTW, There are more Tutors in the CAF inventory than Hawks.

 

P

 

Edited by Pete Fleischmann
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Glad the pilot is ok.

 

As for tutors, well yes they are old but i saw them again this summer and they are in great shape. I would love to see them flying the hawk. And since its also a single engine subsonic small jet im sure the transition would be less harsh then lets say hornets. That being said im sure the snowbirds tutor and in better shape than most cf-18! Adding to the last point that the Hawks that we have in canada are not ours.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Jennings, I think the Snowbirds have access to more than 140 airframes at last count, so they pick and choose airframes and parts. I imagine Pete Fleischmann was talking of the L-39 and not the 737, as I strongly doubt there are any mainline airlines that fly any airframes that old. I DO know some 3rd tier airlines that do, but not 1st.

 

Cheers

Harald, who regularly flies a 40 year old Bell 212. (used to anyway...)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, Winnie said:

Jennings, I think the Snowbirds have access to more than 140 airframes at last count, so they pick and choose airframes and parts. I imagine Pete Fleischmann was talking of the L-39 and not the 737, as I strongly doubt there are any mainline airlines that fly any airframes that old. I DO know some 3rd tier airlines that do, but not 1st.

 

Cheers

Harald, who regularly flies a 40 year old Bell 212. (used to anyway...)

 

Correct Harald- I was in fact talking about the L-39.

 

(and I am an Airbus Captain BTW Jennings. Never flown a 737..but I do have type ratings in the 757,767, and 777)

 

..and I would agree that a 40 year old Tutor is different from a 40 year old 737. The Tutor is a simpler aircraft with less complex systems and architecture, with less required support equipment, therefore easier to maintain.. 

 

but what do I know-

 

cheers

 

Pete

 

Edited by Pete Fleischmann
Link to comment
Share on other sites

8 minutes ago, LSP_Ray said:

...And how old are the B-52 airframes???

 

Very good point,  they just brought one out of storage last May for upgrading and service. It was built in 1960 and has thousands of flight hours and will be 60 years old when entering service again.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...