An airshow team like the Canadian Forces Snowbirds has a lot in common with a major rock band, when you think about it. Possibly the most common similarity is that neither concerts nor airshow performances would ever happen without an exceptional amount of behind the scenes work.

Bands have “roadies” who do all the work necessary to make sure their shows go on; likewise, the Snowbirds have their own “roadies of the sky.” These are the maintenance technicians who do all it takes to make sure the team has nine CT-114 Tutor jets ready to fly for each of its 100-plus seasonal aerobatic demonstrations and fly-pasts. Quite simply, without these mobile technicians, the Snowbirds would be grounded.

The Air Maintenance Flight of the Royal Canadian Air Force’s 431 Air Demonstration Squadron, better known as the Snowbirds, is made up of 50 members. Included in the flight are maintenance and training officers, as well as a highly capable team of aircraft structures, avionics and aviation technicians that keeps the squadron’s 20 CT-114 Tutor aircraft airworthy and ready to fly.

The squadron aircraft maintenance engineering officer (SAMEO), Maj Nicolas Parent, explained that, “Every year, 11 of our aircraft are deployed to various locations throughout North America as Canadian ambassadors to perform aerobatics demonstrations which exemplify the skills, professionalism and teamwork of the men and women of the Canadian Armed Forces.”

To support the deployed aircraft, 10 of the squadron’s technicians fly with the pilots to every performance. They’re tasked with keeping the 11 aircraft serviceable throughout the seven-month show season. It’s no mean feat to keep everything working at over 35 different airports, ranging from active air force bases to tiny public airfields that rarely see a jet–let alone 11 at the same time. But there’s more to being a Snowbird show tech than keeping the planes ready to perform.

“Team dynamics are a big thing for us,” said Sgt Michael Dufour, the crew chief for the Snowbirds. “Myself and the deputy crew chief get to choose the lead technicians that will be deployed on the airshow circuit with us for the season, and our SAMEO reviews our recommendations and approves them.”

Excellent skills and knowledge of their trade aren’t all that’s required to deploy with the team. “Beyond wrenching on the jets, we do have other responsibilities as members of the team. Attending functions, media interviews and generally interacting with the public at shows and other community engagement events are all part of our job as technicians on the team,” said Dufour.

SHOW DAY ROUTINE

A typical day for the team’s maintenance techs starts two hours before the “smoke on” time that signals the start of their performance. The crew arrives at the jets and immediately performs the routine pre-flight checks required before the Tutors can be released to fly; then, they tackle cleaning the jets.

Possibly the most obvious example of the dedication the crew puts into their work is the amount of time they spend around, on and underneath the aircraft, making sure they’re spotlessly clean. Despite the normal fluid leaks and the hundreds of mini mid-air collisions with insects, you’ll be hard pressed to find a dirty Snowbird jet on the ramp at a show.

With the jets clean and ready to fly, the crew do a FOD (foreign object damage) walk on the ramp an hour before smoke on. The crew form a line in front of and perpendicular to the row of jets and walk from one end to the other, searching the ramp for any objects that could be sucked into the Tutors’ jet intakes, possibly damaging an engine.

With the FOD walk complete, the techs head to their assigned aircraft and pull all the safety pins and protective covers off, stowing them in the nose of each plane prior to gathering for a quick briefing to review specifics for the flight. Is the team marching or walking to the jets? Is it a practice or media flight? Are there passengers flying with the team?

These and any other details specific to the flight are discussed. Finally, one crew member does the “last chance” review of all the aircraft. They walk the line of jets one last time, checking that everything is ready to go. With the “last chance” review completed, the crew heads to the team’s mobile support vehicle (MSV) and waits for the arrival of the pilots.

The MSV is a large trailer specifically designed by crew members to carry all the supplies, tools, parts and equipment necessary to support the team on the road. It includes two large drop-down desks where the technicians set up the laptops used to document each aircraft’s service records, and where the pilots review the state of their planes before signing them out for the flight.

With the administrative work done, the pilots walk to the jets. Techs shadow them on their walk-around and help them don their parachutes and get strapped in. They then assume their positions in front of the jets while the pilots start up and complete their cockpit checks. Once everything is ready, the boss calls for smoke on and it’s show time.

For the hour or so the jets are gone, the crew has time to grab something to eat, watch the show, check out static displays and interact with the crowd before heading back out to the line as the jets return. After marshalling the pilots to park their jets in an evenly spaced, perfectly straight line, the techs shake hands with the pilots and everyone heads to the number five jet for an over-the-wing debrief. At this point, the maintenance crew finds out just how their day is going to go.

The over-the-wing debrief is a chance for pilots to point out any issues, referred to as snags, that they encountered with their jet during the show. Some snags are easy to fix. Some aren’t.

“If it’s within our capability, we don’t go home until all nine jets are serviceable and ready to fly for the next flight,” said Dufour. “Some days are shorter than others and some are really long.”

But easy or hard, the crew steps up and gets to work on the snags after the debrief, to get ready for the next flight.

“My guys are awesome. I’ve seen them change the jet engine of one of our planes at a show site and they had the plane serviceable again for the show on the next day,” said Dufour.

Changing the Tutor’s engine is a complicated procedure that isn’t made any easier when it’s done on the road at an airshow, far from the tools, equipment and familiar environment of the team’s home base hangars. Often, airshow sites don’t have hangar space available or even lighting on the ramp. The team has dealt with the latter issue by mounting high intensity LED lighting on one side of the MSV, so that late night servicing doesn’t have to be done by flashlight. As far as hangars go, Dufour said, “Luckily, with airshow season running from May to October, we generally have good weather to work in.”

It’s rare, but sometimes a jet has an issue that can’t be serviced by the team’s maintenance crew. That’s when home base swings into action. “Whenever we need to send a replacement aircraft to an airshow or a transit location, or we need to recover a deployed aircraft, our Moose Jaw team or a support team from CFB Trenton will ensure the replacement aircraft is ready to go and/or the unserviceable aircraft is repaired on-site and sent back with the airshow team, or returned to Moose Jaw. In essence, we provide the flexibility required from the Snowbirds maintenance capability to ensure mission success.”

Occasionally, a Tutor won’t wake up the same way it was put to bed. But generally speaking, the nine show jets and two backups are ready to go each morning, apart from the routine pre-flight checks. The “roadies of the sky” sleep well, knowing that everything is ready for the next day, when the show must go on.

The author thanks Maj Parent, Sgt Dufour and Cpl Girard, as well as the Snowbirds’ public affairs officer, Lt Patricia Brunelle, for their input and efforts to support this article.

Steve Bigg is a freelance photojournalist specializing in subjects related to his passion for military aviation. He is the owner of Locked On Photography.