Warbirds, aerobatics, and speed will all be on display in the sky above Springbank this weekend.

Gates open this morning (Saturday, July 27) at 10:30 a.m. A brief opening ceremony starts at 12:30 p.m. and the flying begins at 1 p.m.

 "We've got warbirds, we've got fast, we've got precision. We have pretty much everything you could hope for in terms of aerobatic flying," says event producer Sarah Van Gilst.

Among those performing are:

  • The Canadian Forces Snowbirds
  • The Canadian Forces F18 Demo Team
  • Brent Handy with his new Pitts Special aeronautics dual act
  • Team Rocket
  • Three Vintage Warbirds from the Erickson Aircraft Collection

The Douglas SBD Dauntless

There are only four airworthy SBD Dauntless warbirds in the world and one of them will be in Springbank this weekend.

This Second War World naval scout plane/dive bomber was manufactured for four years by Douglas Aircraft. It has gone down in history for its significant role in the Battle of the Midway. The plane earned the reputation of being "slow but deadly." It is credited with sinking three Japanese carriers and putting one other out of action in that one battle.

Jim Martinelle, Erickson's director of maintenance and pilots, explains.

"The SBD is probably one of the most significant airplanes of the Pacific war," he says. "Without that airplane, we wouldn't have sunk nearly the amount of Japanese ship that we did."

The SBD is rated to cruise at 185 mph and that's about the speed pilot David Reed was travelling when giving some members of the media a taste of what it's like to fly in the legendary craft. He's both a mechanic and a pilot and that combination helped in his selection to pilot the SBD for Erickson. It logs about 50 hours in the air annually.

Martinelli says maintenance can be challenging at times because some parts simply aren't available.

"If something significant breaks, we end up having to manufacture it ourselves. As far as the engine and things like that, those are all off-the-shelf items that are still available."

Also flying from the Erickson Aircraft Collection are the P-47D Thunderbolt and P-40E Kittyhawk.

Transportation, Parking and Tickets

Cochrane area residents have two ways to get to the airfield, via a park and ride or by driving there directly and taking advantage of bountiful parking.

A free park and ride will be operated from the Crowfoot LRT station. It's a half-hour round trip from the LRT station and it saves the hassle of parking and dealing with traffic congestion. The buses have a separate gate and entrance/exit road.

It's easiest to purchase tickets in advance through their website www.wingsoverspringbank.com.

Several pricing options are available. Admission is free for children under 3 years old and there's youth, family, seniors and group discounts available.