Highway to the Danger Zone

We flew with the Canadian Forces Snowbirds ahead of their Weekend Show

The Canadian Forces Snowbirds let us pretend to be LT Pete “Maverick” Mitchell – aka Tom Cruise in Top Gun. In preparation for this weekend’s Heroes Festival – which the Snowbirds will perform at- they let us onboard for a flight past Wasaga Beach. Captain Taylor Evans of the 431 Squadron and Captain Greg Hume-Powell perform as part of the 9 member team.

The two also go head-to-head as solo’s during the last portion of the airshow. Hume-Powell says they try to ‘wow’ the crowds by pulling lots of G-force crossing within 20 to 30 feet of each other. Captain Evans pulled 5-G for us on the way back from our media day tour that went over Wasaga Beach and Collingwood up towards Wiarton and around the tip of the Bruce Peninsula.

Captain Evans explains what “pulling-G” is, “so when we are on the ground we are at 1-G and 1-G equals one force of gravity so when we turn in the air, the relative G-force that you experience in the aircraft increases depending on how tightly we turn. If we pull 2-G then you weigh twice the amount you weigh sitting on the ground, so we hit 5-G with you and that must have been a fun experience for you?”

Heroes Festival in Wasaga Beach

WHERE AND WHEN
Wasaga Beach starting at 9am. Air shows at 2pm Sat and Sun. There is no cost to attend. The best location to view the airshows are Beach Area 1 and Beach Area 2.

WHO AND WHAT
The event features the Canadian Forces Snowbirds, CF-18 Demo Jet, SAR Tech demo with the Canadian Coast Guard and Trenton Search and rescue. The Wasaga Beach Cruisers classic car show happens Saturday and a Kiss Tribute act on the beach stage Saturday night at 8p.m.

BECOME A HERO
This festival has a career village for Veterans, Active Duty Military and First Responders who want to transition to the Private Sector.Companies attending; Bruce Power and Promation Nuclear, Canadian Pacific Railway, Commissionaires, RBC Insurance, GardaWorld, Warren Gibson Transportation, Lafarge Concrete, Inkas Armoured Vehicles, Miller Group.

GET RECRUITED
Along with the career section, recruiting agencies will be there, including; RCMP, OPP, Toronto Police Service, Barrie Police Service, Guelph Police Service, CSIS, Canada Border Services Agency, Central North Correctional Services, Communications Security Establishment, Canadian Armed Forces and the Canadian Coast Guard.