Czech jets touted as Canada's Snowbird replacement

Ron in Regina

"Voice of the West" Party
Apr 9, 2008
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Czech jets touted as Canada's Snowbird replacement
Source: Czech jets touted as Canada's Snowbird replacement
( Snowbirds = Snowbirds - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia )

The Tutor was built by Canadair in the 1960s and the aircraft has become the
backbone for the Snowbirds team. The Snowbirds have flown the CT-114 Tutor jet
since 1971, according to DND.


The Snowbirds CT-114 Tutors:







.....might be replaced with the Czech Republic L-159 jets:

Several years ago, the Czech defence ministry announced it would cut the number
of L-159s it operates. Since then, it has tried to interest Colombia, Afghanistan
and Bolivia, among others, in purchasing the surplus aircraft.








Canada's Tutor aircraft used by the Snowbirds are more than 40 years old and
concerns have been raised in DND about how long the planes can keep flying safely.
The L-159 advanced light combat aircraft is relatively new, with the aircraft
delivered to the Czech military between 2000 and 2003.
 

AnnaG

Hall of Fame Member
Jul 5, 2009
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:roll: Yeah Canada can't build it's own aircraft anymore.

Why don't we get the RCMP musical ride guys to use those Mongolian ponies. Perhaps tear down the Parliament buildings in Ottawa and build a Taj Mahal copy. Or how about using the colorful German flag, but maybe add a green maple leaf to it.
What a laugh.
 

jambo101

Electoral Member
Sep 18, 2009
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Montreal
Cool stuff, Love the Snowbirds,unfortunately Montreal doesnt have an annual airshow event due to some idiot in the Quebec government objecting to the displaying of military hardware thats used for killing people in wars:roll:,As we dont make fighter jets here in Canada it doesnt really matter where the Snowbirds get their new planes from,they will be painted red and white and hopefully they'll have afterburners:canada:
 

AnnaG

Hall of Fame Member
Jul 5, 2009
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Bombardier makes some nice planes but unfortunately nothing suitable for an acrobatic team.
Shrugs. Modify a Learjet. For that matter, could modify some CF-100s
There's nothing like putting some CANADIANS to work, is there?
Why don't we just never mind manufacturing anything and just sell raw products to those who will manufacture stuff?
 

DurkaDurka

Internet Lawyer
Mar 15, 2006
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Shrugs. Modify a Learjet. For that matter, could modify some CF-100s
There's nothing like putting some CANADIANS to work, is there?

A learjet? They are a fast business jet, but not really suitable for the stuff the snowbirds do.
 

AnnaG

Hall of Fame Member
Jul 5, 2009
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What CF 100s? All the survivors are museum pieces or monuments. It takes years to develop a new design
The snow birds don't need to be fast, so some small engines could be added to the wings and using the existing mainframe, I am sure. The plans for the 100s are still around I am sure. If not, just shorten a Lear by a couple feet to take out excess space. I can't see the big deal. Other people seem to be able to make fairly aerobatic aircraft, why can't we? Why can we not seem to get into a manufacturing attitude here in Canada? Too lazy? We don't like putting our own people to work building things?
Every month it seems, politicians come up with something freakin stupid and this is one of them.
Why don't we just hire Japanese or Brazilian pilots to fly these Czech aircraft while we're at it?
 

AnnaG

Hall of Fame Member
Jul 5, 2009
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A learjet? They are a fast business jet, but not really suitable for the stuff the snowbirds do.
Like i said, MODIFY them.
Just FYI,
modify


verb (modifies, modified) make partial changes to.
[SIZE=-1]— ORIGIN[/SIZE] Latin modificare, from modus ‘measure’.
- Oxford's dictionary of the English language
 

AnnaG

Hall of Fame Member
Jul 5, 2009
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Shows how limited your knowledge is.....best to stop now.
I admit that I am not a aeronautical genius. So you are saying that you would go into a dogfight with a Tutor. And you call me ignorant? roflmao Can we say "splashdown" or "crash & burn"?

I had a pretty good chat with Joanne Osterud a few years ago. Nice lady, sure knows her stuff. She had me convinced that the Tutors (or the CT-133s either, for that matter) weren't outfitted for combat either. It was a TRAINER not a fighter. lol Her favorite is the biplane for several reasons. They are vastly more manouverable than jets according to her and she should know, being a stunt pilot as well as a commercial pilot. What do you know, genius?
 
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gerryh

Time Out
Nov 21, 2004
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That Canadair sold a version of the tutor to the Malaysian airforce that it used as a fighter. They used it for over 20 years, uptill '89 I believe, before replacing it.

Are the snowbird planes outfitted for combat? Of course not dummy, and neither are the tutors sitting in Moosejaw. The facts are though that they can be and have been in the past.

For Bombardier to modify the airframe of one of their executive class jets would be far from cost effective, and neither would building a new jet from scratch. The most cost effective way to replace the present squadron would be to use existing aircraft, like the Czech fighter.