The Barrie Airshow got underway Saturday under a bright sky and with little of the haze remaining from the smoke that had drifted into the region this past week.
The headliners of the event, the iconic Snowbirds, put on an aerobatic show for the thousands of people in attendance who lined the shoreline of Kempenfelt Bay from downtown to the Southshore Community Centre and beyond.
The CF-18 Tactical Demonstration Team wowed the crowd as it performed high-speed manoeuvres over the bay.
Members of the Canadian Armed Forces SkyHawks Parachute Team kicked off the event with the Canadian flag in tow and showing off their skydiving skills.
The Northern Stars Aeroteam, flying the classic Pitts Special biplanes, were slower but made up for that with precision flying in military-style formations, loops, and rolls that had the crowd cheering.
Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) Capt. Lindsey Palka said she was not surprised by the number of people who showed up at Heritage Park to view the hands-on displays that were on offer.
“Most people have never seen anything like this before — kids and adults alike,” she said.
People were lined up to have their turn sitting in a CF-18 demonstration cockpit nearby, as a real RCAF pilot would.
“We enjoy giving people an opportunity that they wouldn’t get every day, and it’s great seeing how excited people get when they climb in the jet. It’s a lot of fun,” Palka said.
Heritage Park is also home to a large display of Canadian military vehicles of various shapes and sizes visitors can climb in and around, along with armaments the military uses currently and has used in the past, including an array of handguns, rifles, machine guns, and bazookas that can be held by the public, with military personnel on hand to answer questions about the gear on display.
Eight-year-old Colton Jarvis, of Orillia, enjoyed the hands-on activities for the kids, especially the “beanbag toss, the Nerf guns, and the climbing rope,” he said.
Jarvis said he did not learn much about what military life was like, but he enjoyed the games on offer, and added he was looking forward to “the cool tricks by the airplanes.”
For those who missed Saturday’s event, those “cool tricks” by the pilots will be repeated again on Sunday beginning at 1 p.m.
