Military and Civilian High Performance Jets Train In Gatineau

GATINEAU – The skies over the Gatineau region will roar to life beginning today with the CF-18 Demonstration Jet that arrived at the Executive Gatineau-Ottawa Airport to participate in a unique training program.

The CF-18 Demo Hornet will participate in the Heritage Formation Training Camp with vintage warbirds belonging to Vintage Wings of Canada in preparation for the 2011 air show season.

Residents of Gatineau will experience an increase in noise level and frequency from these aircraft as they conduct training twice daily today until Saturday.

Flying will be conducted at 2,000 ft. over the eastern regions of Buckingham and as far east as Portage-de-la-Nation twice daily – once in the morning and again mid-afternoon - Thursday to Saturday. In the event of inclement weather, training may extend until Sunday, May 15.

The Canadian Air Forces and Vintage Wings attempts to minimize any negative impact which may be created by our presence, taking into account the requirement to train in order to maintain the highest degree of proficiency and preparedness. Every effort will be made to limit the flying activities to normal daytime working hours to minimize disturbances to the public.

This ground-breaking training is a first for the Canadian Air Show Industry. Never before have civilian and military aircraft trained in a mixed formation before. The procedures that will be practiced  will develop standards that the air show industry will benefit from for the foreseeable future.

In 2009, the year Canada celebrated the 100^th anniversary of powered flight, the Centennial Heritage Flight, consisting of the CF-18 Demo Hornet, the “ Hawk One” F-86 Sabre, and the Centennaire Tutor performed in formation at several air shows. This stunning performance was well received within the air show industry and by spectators across the country, laying the foundation to developing standards and practices for mixed military-civilian formation flying in Canada.

-30-

Note to editors: Please note that due to the intense training schedule and limited training duration, a media event will not be scheduled.

For more information on the CF-18 Demonstration Team go to our website at:

www.airforce.forces.gc.ca  (under “Air Shows”).

For more information on Vintage Wings of Canada, go to: www.vintagewings.ca

For further details on the 2011 CF-18 Demonstration Team, contact Captain Holly Brown, Public Affairs Officer, at (204) 833-2500 ext. 6795 or, via e-mail at: holly.brown@forces.gc.ca

For more information on Vintage Wings of Canada, contact Mary Lee, Director of Communications and Public Relations at 819-669-9603 ext. 245, mobile 613-799-7664 or, via email at: mlee@vintagewings.ca.