Here is an update to the Trenton Air Base -#8 Wing Event.
Our paperwork is submitted and we are confirmed as flying over the BCATP Gates while they are being dedicated.
By Luke Hendry — Quinte Media
Staff of 8 Wing-CFB Trenton want you.
They're recruiting, but not for military service.
Plans are now underway for the base's Armed Forces Weekend and Air Display July 4 and 5.
And the message from organizers is simple: come to the base. See interesting things. Have fun. Just don't expect an air show.
"Come and see what the Canadian Forces do for you and how we do it," said Lt.-Col. Debbie Miller, 8 Wing's administrative officer and a co-chairwoman of the festivities.
"We're expecting 30,000 to 50,000 of our closest friends," she said.
The Quinte International Air Show was for years a huge attraction to the base, offering a large-scale air show and a broad range of ground displays and vendors.
And while the new event will be large and entertaining, Miller and her team have been stressing the public shouldn't expect a repeat of the old air shows.
"The air shows were monumental, and we just can't do that," said Miller, though she added there will be flying demonstrations.
She explained the base's busy pace and nearly $1-billion infrastructure upgrades over the next four years limit the scale of any public event.
Instead, the weekend will be an open house of sorts, with air force, army and navy displays.
There will be plenty of historic and current aircraft in the air and on the ground, as well as displays by other non-flying Trenton units.
"We have all these capabilities and some people just think we're the noisy planes that fly over," Miller said.
The weekend is in celebration of this year's five big anniversaries in 2009: the 100th anniversary of powered flight in Canada; the 85th anniversary of the Royal Canadian Air Force; the 60th anniversary of CFB Trenton's Memorial Gates; the 25th anniversary of the National Air Force Museum of Canada; and the 40th anniversary of 8 Air Communication and Control Squadron.
Maj. Steve Camps, 8 Wing's deputy operations officer, is overseeing plans for the air display.
During the Saturday parade, Camps said, "We're going to have some form of a flyby of the vintage aircraft and current military aircraft and the Snowbirds."
The base's north side will open for the afternoon, with past and present Trenton aircraft on display.
"People will be able to walk around and talk to the air crews," said Camps, adding that some of the current planes, if not on missions, will be open for public entry.
"It's a chance to get up close. I expect you'll be able to get inside a C-130 (Hercules transport) and take a look."
The actual aerial display will be on the Sunday, when the weekend's main open house will be held.
Camps said it will be a three-to four-hour flying display with the Snowbirds performance team, SkyHawks parachute team and current and vintage military aircraft that were part of the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan.
The BCATP was a Second World War program training Commonwealth pilots; Trenton was one such training site.
As thanks for that participation, King George VI in 1949 gave the base its decorative Memorial Gates, which still stand before base headquarters on the south side of Highway 2.
They were dedicated in 1951 by Princess Elizabeth, just before her coronation as queen.
Miller said weekend organizers await word on their special request for help in marking the gates' anniversary.
"We are hoping for royal representation," she said. "We don't have any confirmation."
With or without royalty, she said, "This will be a parade you won't see again in your lifetime."
The open house will be a rare chance for the public to get first-hand experience with military gear, she said.
"We want it to be a touchyfeely, big, huge display.
"We probably have about 60 major displays. You're going to be able to see everything that we do. You're going to be able to try on the kit ... and we may even make you walk 100 feet."
Updates will be posted online at
www.cfbtrenton.com.
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Here's a brief look at the still-evolving plans for CFB Trenton's Armed Forces Weekend and Air Display.
What it is:
* Parade, flypast, aerial demonstrations, celebration of significant air force anniversaries, chance to meet staff of all Canadian Forces branches and see their equipment
What it is not:
* Another Quinte International Air Show. Expect a smaller scale but with plenty to do.
When:
July 4 and 5, 2009
How to get there:
* Shuttle buses from Belleville and Trenton, locations to be announced
Saturday, July 4 includes:
* Parade, flypast of current and vintage military aircraft. Sunday, July 5 includes:
* Open house with ground displays from all Canadian Forces branches
* Aerial display: All aircraft flown at Trenton plus the CF-18 Hornet jet-fighter demonstration; SkyHawks parachutists; Snowbirds; the F-86 Sabre jet known as Hawk One, painted with historic Golden Hawks colours; a search-and-rescue demonstration with a CH-146 Griffon helicopter; a tactical air drop from a Hercules.
Other plans include:
* Striking of 250 anniversary coins (spring release)
* Cancelled envelopes marking Feb. 23 powered flight anniversary
* Limited supply of anniversary clothing for sale on July weekend
For more details visit the Anniversary section at
www.cfbtrenton.com
...isn't he the best pilot you've ever seen?....Yeah he is ....except when I'm shaving.........