In the hangar of the Canadian Warplane Heritage, many legends of military aviation in Canada live on with the planes and artifacts that are on display.

  On August 28, 2007 the hangar became filled many living legends of Canadian aerobatic flight and military airshow teams.  Who was once known as Major Dan Dempsey, Snowbird 1, presented his second edition of “A Tradition of Excellence” Canada’s Airshow Team Heritage.

  From the time of Sabre pilots to present with the CF-18 drivers, the alumni of Snowbird pilots came for the dedication of this latest edition. Pilots like Fern Villeneuve one of the original Golden Hawk pilots and Syd Burrows one of the pilots from the German base 3 (F) Wing Aerobatic Team – The Fireballs.  Mike “Hokey” Hoch the narrator for the 1 CAG Starfighter team in Germany.  Some of the past demo pilots were present and the current demo pilot Captain Yanick “Crank” Gregoire was there in spirit as his plane was awaiting servicing to appear here and in the Brantford airshow.

  The current Snowbird team arrived in their Tutors and were greeted by many of their past members and honourary Snowbirds.   People like Paul “Pitch” Molnar was there representing Team Extreme, one of the many non military aerobatic pilots and teams in Canada.

  After the launch of the book, there was time to talk to these legends and have a copy of the book signed.

  More information on “A Tradition of Excellence” can be found at their website www.canadasairshowheritage.com