A former commander of the Canadian Forces Snowbirds is eager to celebrate the pilots who succeeded him as they complete the final shows of their farewell tour. By summer’s end, the Snowbirds will be grounded until the early 2030s while their fleet is replaced. They have roughly a dozen shows remaining, including one in Victoria on Aug. 4. “Nobody flies the Canadian flag better than the Snowbirds,” said retired Lt.-Col. Dan Dempsey, who was the team’s commanding officer from 1989 to 1990. Dempsey was in his late 20s during his first tour with the Snowbirds from 1980 to 1981. Decades later, the thrill of donning the iconic red flight suit remains. “It’s the most exhilarating job you can ever hope for,” Dempsey told CTV News. “They have done such a wonderful job at motivating young boys and girls to consider military careers. And that’s why they’ve been so important to the country.” Dempsey was in the crowd for the Snowbirds’ first performance on July 11, 1971, in Moose Jaw, Sask. He was an officer cadet at the time, attending Royal Roads Military College in Colwood, B.C. “It was a magnificent show, and I saw this very airplane leading the Snowbirds,” Dempsey said, pointing to a gleaming CT-114 Tutor jet, the aircraft the team has been flying for the past 55 years. The BC Aviation Museum recently acquired and restored the jet, which was the team’s first-ever lead aircraft — the original Snowbird 1. It will be on display at the museum in North Saanich on Monday, when the pilots make an appearance to sign autographs. “The Tutors are never going to fly again,” said museum president Stephen Hale. “We welcome everybody to come out and take this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to celebrate with the Snowbirds and to say farewell.” Hale and Dempsey both want the Tutors to keep flying until the team’s new fleet is ready. “We’re trying to convince people to have another look at this and to see if we can do it a different way, but for right now, this weekend, it’s a celebration,” Dempsey said. The Snowbirds’ 45-minute performance along Victoria’s Dallas Road waterfront begins at 5 p.m. on Tuesday.
