Iconic Snowbirds, local lead pilot ready to take flight this weekend

Pilots and their planes, vintage and modern, descended on the Lake Simcoe Regional Airport in Oro-Medonte today for a meeting with dignitaries, event sponsors and media ahead of the Barrie Airshow 2024 this weekend.

This is a special year for aviation in Canada as it is the 100th anniversary of the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF).

The iconic Snowbirds aerobatic team will once again headline this year’s event, led by Wyevale native Major Brent Handy, the team leader pilot of the No. 1 aircraft in the team.

This is his first year as team leader.

“This is a milestone year for the RCAF,” Handy said as he stood next to his jet on the tarmac under sunny skies Friday. “It’s incredible how far aviation has come in just 100 years.

“We went from fabric planes, which were quite dangerous, to state-of-the-art performance planes flying at Mach 2,” he added.

Being a pilot and flying in the military was always on his mind growing up in Wyvale, located in the Midland area, about 35 minutes north of Barrie.

“It was a pretty ambitious goal and, frankly, it was something I never thought I would achieve, but I guess my message to young people is: don’t worry about how big your goal is.” , Handy said. “Just take baby steps and you’ll never know where you’ll end up.

Also present was Pilot Shawn Clish, a pilot with 20 years of experience flying a PT-26 Cornell, operated by the Edenvale Classic Aircraft Foundation at the Canadian Air and Space Museum (CASM) in the nearby Edenvale Airfield, located west of Barrie. on Highway 26.

Three planes take part in the show, including a classic Canadian-built Tiger Moth.

The two planes are the oldest in the exhibit, both built in 1943 and used as basic training aircraft during World War II.

Clish’s Cornell is relatively slow, at around 150 kilometers per hour, but that suits him.

“You can stick your arms out, with the hood back, and just enjoy the ride,” he explained.

His favorite part of flying this type of aircraft?

“Freedom. It’s beautiful,” Clish said. “Looking at all these assholes stuck in traffic…and you feel the feeling of the wind in your hair.”

As a local museum, Clish says there is an urgent need for support from the local community.

“You can join and be a member, and take a ride on any plane that’s happening that weekend,” he said. “We have a stand at Heritage Park on the waterfront during the show. We just need the local community to know we’re here, and if you like planes, support us.

Tonight, according to organizers, spectators will see 200 drones above Kempenfelt Bay coming together to create colorful images in the night sky.

The show was created specifically for the Barrie Airshow, themed around the 100th anniversary of the RCAF.

The show runs from 8 p.m. to 10 p.m.

Saturday aviation events in downtown Barrie at Heritage Park will run from 8 a.m. to 11:30 p.m. and Sunday from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.

The air show itself starts at 1 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday.

For more information and a calendar of air show events, click here.