Canadian Snowbirds fly in for Huntington Beach air show

By Priscella Vega

Oct. 1, 2019 7:15 PM PT

If you’re at the Great Pacific Airshow this weekend in Huntington Beach, don’t forget to wave to the Canadian Forces Snowbirds. They’ll look out for it.

“We can see people on the beach waving when we’re flying by,” Denis Bandet, the Snowbirds’ team leader, said in an interview Tuesday. “[We] feed off that enthusiasm. People are still very excited about aviation, and that motivates us to put on a good show and show what the Canadian Forces are capable of.”

The Snowbirds — officially known as the 431 Air Demonstration Squadron of the Royal Canadian Air Force — zoomed in formation across the Los Alamitos Joint Forces Training Base on Tuesday before touching down. They were greeted with cheers and applause from Huntington Beach city officials and others during a special ceremony.

“Welcome back! You guys know you’re an absolute crowd favorite, right?” Kevin Elliott, the air show director, told the team.

Mayor Pro Tem Lyn Semeta told the Snowbirds she was excited to have them return after their 2017 performance and said the air show is a “wonderful way to bring people together.”

Tuesday’s welcome ceremony officially launched activities leading to Huntington Beach’s fourth edition of the free air show, which is slated for this weekend in the area of the Waterfront Beach Resort along Pacific Coast Highway.

It also marked a trip down memory lane for Margaret Clark, a Huntington Beach resident who has volunteered with the show the past three years.

In a 1960 edition of Western Wings, an aviation magazine in western Canada, Clark is seen on the front cover posing with seven Snowbirds. In the photo, Clark, wearing a cowgirl outfit with her Miss United Provinces of Canada sash, smiles while perched on a jet wing.

On Tuesday, Clark — dressed in a purple cowgirl outfit and proudly wearing a Miss Canada International sash — showed the Snowbirds a copy of the magazine and posed for pictures with them next to a jet to re-create the magazine photo.

“It’s fantastic. It’s wonderful. I never thought it would happen,” Clark said.

The Snowbirds are the first jet team to arrive for the show. The U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds, along with the F-35 Lightning Demo team, are scheduled to fly into the base Thursday. Other show headliners include the United Kingdom’s Red Arrows.

According to Bandet, the Snowbirds’ show is broken into three parts: an opener featuring nine aircraft in formation and working in tandem, then solos with opposing crosses and special maneuvers unique to the Snowbirds, then uniting for the grand finale.

“We know right at the end of a show if it’s a good show or not,” Bandet said. “Sometimes the environment can come into play, but when we have a good show, we know just by a gut feeling. I can just look across the wing and everyone is smiling.”

Residents can welcome the performers at a free community reception from 6 to 8 p.m. Friday at Pier Plaza at Pacific Coast Highway and Main Street in Huntington Beach. The event will feature live music, a question-and-answer and autograph session and official show merchandise.