Air Aces Extraordinaire
The U.K Royal Navy's Red Arrows
The American Blue Angels
The Canadian Snowbirds
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| Red Arrows |
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| Snowbirds |
All three of these aerobatics teams are top notch and highly trained.
The displays these pilots put on are nothing less than spectacular.
The American Blue Angels
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| Sweet |
The Blue Angels fly the F/A 18 Hornet capable of speeds that reach Mach 1.7 + with a ceiling of 50,000 ft.
The jet has a range of 500 + nm, is 56 ft. in length with a 400 ft. wingspan and an 11,000 lb fuel capacity.
The Hornet is a single pilot aircraft with no women on the 6 man pilot team.
England's Royal Navy's Red Arrows
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| Wow |
The Red Arrows consist of 9 pilots and 80 engineers. The aircraft is an BAE Systems Hawk T1 with a Rolls Royce Adour Engine capable of 5200 lbs. thrust and speeds of up to Mach 1.2 with a 48,000 ceiling. With a range of an impressive 1000 nm. There are 9 pilots on the team including one woman who joined in 2009.
The colored smoke is produced by mixing colored dye with diesel which is then pumped into the exhaust. I've seen the Red Arrows twice and in my opinion, they are superior in their displays. Just looking at the pictures confirms that. Having said that, to be fair, the Canadian Government has no plans to replace the aging jets anytime soon.
The Canadian Snowbirds
Canada's own Snowbirds consist of 9 pilots flying G.E's CT - 114 Tutor Jet equipped with a J85 Can 40 Axial Flow Turbo engine capable of speeds of 470 mph with 27,000 lbs thrust and 1173 Liters fuel capacity. 2010 saw Canada's first female member join the team. The aircraft is 9.7m in length with a wing span of 11.2 m weighing in at 2209 kg.
Watching any of these highly trained dedicated professionals perform, evokes a real sense of pride and leaves you with a memorable experience. I never pass up a opportunity to see any of these teams because they always put on a fabulous show. It's too bad the Snowbirds 2012 schedule doesn't include Calgary. Fort McMurray is the only venue in Alberta this summer.
Do Have A Good Day And... Happy ( Vapor ) Trails To You.
Jeffrey R Hilton
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