Armed Forces Day in North Bay will be a little different this year.

In fact, it’s more like Armed Forces weekend.

Actual Armed Forces Day will take place on Friday June 16th at the Canadore College Aviation Campus and Honourary Col. George Burton says it’s a day to watch demonstrations by the Canadian Forces Snowbirds, the Canadian Armed Forces Parachute Team, known as The Skyhawks, and a CF-18 Demonstration Team too.

He says it is a great day for young people, as they will be able to spend time with demonstration team members and observe the practice maneuvers that the general public will see the following day (June 17th) beginning at 5 pm.

Burton says usually people are working and don’t get to see the air show, but this year it’s different as people will have the day off to enjoy the air show, plus there are 3 major performers too.

He says their event is being held in conjunction with the lead-up to Canada 150 celebrations and it’s a big deal for the city.

Mayor Al McDonald says there will be entertainment between the performances.

He says they’ve made offers, but there’s nothing to announce just yet.

There are also events throughout the weekend at the Capitol Centre.

 

Local officials told to continue to plan for Snowbirds participation

This week Canada’s famed Snowbirds acrobatic flying team announced they’re cancelling appearances at a number of airshows in Ontario and the United States, so some of its pilots can get more practice.

Officials are blaming bad weather earlier in the year for having shortened the team’s training time.

The nine-plane team has flown a number of shows this year, including a joint flight with a French team over Parliament Hill at the beginning of May.

But Maj. Patrick Gobeil says it was determined that more practice was necessary after some of the planes were seen deviating from their positions mid-flight.
As a result, the Snowbirds are pulling out from two airshows later this month in Ontario (Windsor and Fort Erie) and four other airshows in the U.S.
As a part of Armed Forces Day, the Snowbirds are scheduled to be in North Bay on June 16th and 17th.
Local officials have been in touch with the CF Snowbirds and have been told to continue to plan for their participation here in North Bay.
They also say line-up changes, if any, would be made public.
Filed under: Al McDonald North Bay, Armed Forces Day, Canadian Armed Forces, Canadore College, CF-18, Skyhawks, Snowbirds