Is that correct?

[laughs] That is correct.

Uh, yeah, that's a long time ago, but yeah, I sure was.

Uh, I had family in, in, uh, Regina.

In fact, my future wife was in Regina, although I hadn't met her yet.

But, um, yes, I, I heard that there was going to be this new team flying, uh, on the 11th of July, 1971, and so I said, "Right." I, you know, we were off for the summer, or off from a course at least.

And so I flew back to Regina and made my way out, and what a spectacle it was.

Can you talk about the importance of kind of the support staff around the Snowbirds?

I'm going to hand it to you, Dan, because we should start with the history of the snowbirds.

A very, very long and distinguished history in the air show business in Canada.

It actually started 97 years ago, way back in 1929 when the RCF, which was just five years old at the time, created its first aerobatic team and they were called the Siskins.

And of course they were old Siskins fighters that Britain had given to the Royal Canadian Air Force.

Van Dempsey, Lieutenant Colonel, retired.

Through the years, we've had some very, very distinguished teams, many, many regional teams, but big national teams like the RCF Blue Devils, for example, and the Vampire, and probably one of the most famous teams of all that a lot of your older listeners will remember is the RCF Golden Hawks, which flew from 1959 to 1963.

That's what inspired me as a young boy to join the Air Force.

At the beginning of the season, Dan, how is a snowbird show built?

Um, your thoughts on the announcement that you were there present for yesterday.

Well, um, sadness, obviously.

Some disappointment.

Um, you know, it's, it's tough to see after 55 years this wonderful legacy that we've had with the Tutor, Canadian-designed and built airplane that has served the, the RCAF and the Canadian Forces so well, you know, come to a close.

So that part of the announcement was, was very sad.

Uh, we were hopeful that perhaps we could keep the Tutor going a little bit longer, but, um, it is what it is.

And, um, so that was the, that was the first emotion was, was sadness and disappointment.

Can you talk about this new plane that they're moving towards, the CT-1, well, 157 Siskin-2? Is, is it a, a comparable plane? Some people are suggesting this feels, I think because it's propeller-driven, it feels like a step down from the Tutor.