Beiseker resident, aviation photographer and member of the International Council of Air Shows (ICAS), Ray Courtman, recently returned from the ICAS convention in Las Vegas. He got a sneak peak at what the upcoming air show season is looking like while at the convention, and Courtman reports that what he is hearing is that there may be some cause for concern coming into the 2025 season.
“It is going to be a challenge, but I think we're up to it,” said Courtman. “There are a number of air shows in Western Canada, and we're looking forward to meeting the challenge of some of the restrictions that we've got coming up.”
Those restrictions include the grounding of the RCAF F-18 Demo Hornet. It will not be appearing in any Canadian air shows this year.
“It’s loud,” he added. “It’s quite spectacular. And even though the airplane is old, it still puts on a very good performance, and the RCAF has decided to discontinue that as they get ready to bring on the new F-35 Lightning 3 plane.”
Courtman says it will be at least two years before the new F-35s come online.
Another big draw loss is the U.S. military has decided to cut back the number of air shows they will perform outside the United States this year.
“The other thing is the Americans have decided to discontinue the A10 Warthog demonstration, which is also very popular to air show goers,” said Courtman. “So we've lost two of the big demonstrations that the Canadian shows like to get.
“(Also) two American demonstration teams: the Navy Blue Angels and the Air Force Thunderbirds are not performing in Canada more than one show, maybe, each over the next couple of years.”
And the last headwind facing Canadian air shows this year, said Courtman, is the America First attitude of incoming President Donald Trump.
“The incoming president has noted in the past that he wants to keep all the American assets in the United States, and air shows like Abbotsford rely on a huge static line (ground displays) of some American big airplanes like the C-5 Galaxy and the B-52. They are big draws; people love to get up close and personal with those big American airplanes.”
Courtman said Canada will have to do what it can to partially fill the gap if those American big planes aren’t allowed to fly in Canada this year, possibly from its own C-17 Globe Master fleet.
On a more positive note, Courtman said the Snowbirds have confirmed they will be flying again this season alongside the Skyhawks parachute demonstration team; so not all the big draws are lost.
Courtman did not think these changes would have a great impact on the Wings Over Springbank air show if it chooses to go ahead this year.
“Springbank usually doesn't have a very big static display, it has mostly civilian aircraft in its static display; so it likely won’t be a big impact on that show. If indeed it goes ahead, which I don't know if it will or not; we have yet to find out.”
