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INUVIK
The last time the sleek jets raced through the skies over Inuvik was in April 2000, and the time before that was in May of 1983. Now, a new generation in the town will be treated to the speedy feats of Canada's aerobatic flying team this July, according to Canadian Forces Snowbirds.

Capt. Brett Glaeser of the Canadian Forces Snowbirds air demonstration team straps into his parachute as his technician Cpl. Kenny Lindal looks on prior to departing 19 Wing Comox for a rehearsal flight over Vancouver Island in April 2009. - photo courtesy of Master Cpl. Robert Bottrill

Clarence Wood said he vaguely remembers the show in the sky 12 years ago – the planes slicing through the air over the Mackenzie River.

"I remember going out to see them, over the river more than anything," he said. "There were lots of people out. It was a town event. It was quite good."

Wood said seeing the spectacle for the first time – in Fredericton, N.B., in the mid-1950s – made an impact on him, as he recalls that day more than 60 years later.

"I first saw them when I was seven or eight years old and they were called the Golden Hawks and they flew the Sabre jets," said Wood. "I have a postcard somewhere with all their autographs on it from back then."

The Golden Hawks disbanded in in the early 1960s and the Snowbirds team was formed in 1971.

Capt. Thomas Edelson, public affairs officer for Canadian Forces Snowbirds, said the stop in Inuvik will be part of a Northern tour, with the aircraft putting on shows in Yellowknife, Norman Wells, Whitehorse and Watson Lake.

The Northern shows are scheduled from July 14 to 25, starting in Yellowknife and finishing in Whitehorse. Inuvik's date is tentatively set for July 17, but Edelson said there will be a final planning meeting in early March to set everything in stone.

Edelson said Northern shows happened pretty frequently in the 1980s and a few in the 1990s.

He said the swing goes through a combination of communities including Hay River, Yellowknife, Norman Wells, Watson Lake, Fort Simpson, Whitehorse and Inuvik. He said Northern tours occurred from 1982 to 1988 and in 1990, 1991, 1996, 1997 and 2000.

The team is made up of 11 jets with 22 personnel on board including 11 pilots, 10 technicians and Edelson. Nine planes fly in the show. The remaining two planes are used by the advanced safety pilots, a technical chief and Edelson.

All stops on the tour must meet the standard for runways – which must be paved and meet minimum length and width standards.

There are, however, logistical demands taken into consideration when a Northern tour is planned.

"In other places in North America, we also have a semi truck that drives from place to place and that brings all the tools and spare parts and spare engines and gear but because it's so far North, we can't bring the truck up there and have it get back to the other shows in time," he said.

He said this trip North will be different than previous trips, which normally take place in April or May.

"The unique part is that we're going right in the middle of July. It's going to be warmer and brighter than it would be in late April or May," said Edelson.

The Snowbirds first came north in 1974. During the Northern tour that year – which included a performance in Inuvik – the Snowbirds became the first North American formation team to fly a show north of the Arctic Circle.

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