COLD LAKE - Despite the persistent smoke from wildfires, the Cold Lake Air Show drew thousands of people, and pilots maintained a positive outlook heading into the busy weekend.
Although the smoke impacted practice sessions at the base before the July 20-21 event, the determination and optimism of the pilots made the weekend a success.
Cpt. Jesse Haggard-Smith (Modem), a CF-18 demonstration pilot, expressed cautious optimism about the airshow's prospects on Friday.
“Hopefully, as long as it stays clear enough to maintain the legal requirements, then we should be able to put on a good show. There are rules around visual flight requirements (VFR) flight rules so maintaining visual fly and that requires certain weather limits in terms of visibility and ceilings in order to stay legal,” he explained.
Thankfully, the show did proceed, but the smoke posed challenges for the pilots.
Major Stephen Daniel Kim, the left inner wing pilot for the CF Snowbirds, elaborated on the various show formats that can be adapted, depending on the weather conditions.
“We actually have three - so, we have a high show, a low show, and a flat show. And so, depending on what the ceiling of cloud is, we can start to flatten out our maneuvers to still get something done.”
"A lot of our maneuvers in our high or low show involve separating and getting back together, and once you get below five miles flight visibility then it's no longer safe for us to do that. So, if we get a little bit lower then we could still potentially all still stay together and do some different formation changes. But if it gets any lower than that, then unfortunately we're there at a certain point there's nothing you can do like our practice today.”
Despite these challenges, the pilots remained determined to perform.
Cpt. Melanie Kluesner, known as "Mach," the F-35A demonstration team pilot and commander from Memphis, Tennessee, shared her confidence about flying within the smoke-limited conditions.
“It's definitely within the limits to fly, it is for me,” said Kluesner on Friday. “And you'll still be able to see my jet and you'll be able to hear it.”
Alberta Premier Danielle Smith was at the event and also shared her thoughts.
"I just want to thank you for inviting us today, on your incredible territory. I hope you are all enjoying the show. It is going to be so amazing today,” Smith told those at the show.
She added, “I’m grateful to 4 Wing Cold Lake, the City of Cold Lake, and Cenovus for hosting us and putting together an exciting weekend, and congratulations to 4 Wing on 70 years of patrolling Canada’s skies to keep us safe. We know the world can be a dangerous place. It's certainly got a lot more dangerous in the last few years. But we all sleep better knowing that you’re safe and you’re working, and training to keep us all safe, and you’re far from alone in this duty.”
Smith continued, “Generations of brave men and women have served in the Canadian Armed Forces and stepped forward to protect our values and our way of life. Congratulations on the Canadian Armed Forces’ 100 years of defending peace and freedom across the world.”
Smith also thanked those involved in making the air show possible, adding, “Thank you to the performers, staff, and volunteers who are going all out to make this show spectacular.”
