Will the Snowbirds ever update?

[Let'sgoflying!]

What they do with the Tutor is pretty awesome, but this is a very dated machine.
Just wonder if they are running out of parts, or the aircraft is getting too difficult to maintain.
What would they replace it with?

 

[rwellner98]

Geez, I hope not. They are my favorite jet team precisely because they are eligible to camp in vintage!

They are a show of grace and beauty rather than just volume and speed.

 

[SebIp]

They are having trouble maintaining them I thought and they were supposed to be replaced but as usual with Canadian procurement now they are extending the life of the jets to 2030. Let’s hope it’s not like the f35 or maritime helicopters or worse the submarines at the end.

 

[Velocity173]

T-7A

 

[Groundpounder]

The pessimist in me thinks they'll disband the team when the Tutor is no longer viable.

 

[Salty]

Next ones will be unmanned.

 

[RyanShort1]

Next ones will be unmanned.

View attachment 130904

Ewww. Bring the eye bleach.

 

[sourdough44]

I googled snowbirds, mostly Juncos came up.

 

[midwestpa24]

The pessimist in me thinks they'll disband the team when the Tutor is no longer viable.

A few years ago I read an article or interview on this very topic, why haven't they upgraded to some other newer aircraft? The answer was basically they couldn't afford to. The Tutors sip fuel, are fully paid for, and at that time they had the parts and tools to keep them running for quite a while. If I remember right, they said if they upgraded to the CF-18, they would have to shrink the squadron to like 4 aircraft to maintain the same operating expenses.

 

[Albany Tom]

From the thread title, I thought it was about people from the NE visiting FL and dressing like Rodney Dangerfield.

 

[Zeldman]

Why mess with perfection.??