I went to the Abbotsford Air Show again this year, as I try to do every year. To me this displays some of the greatest achievements of our civilization and shows why ours is superior to a particular medeival one that has unilaterally decided to go to war against us.
There are of course a lot of American aircraft and exhibits there, both military and civilian. Frankly if there weren't there would not be much to see. The US flag flies at the centre of the field along with the Canadian, British and British Columbian flags. I really appreciated the way we can show this solidarity and friendship with the US, in a time when it is politically correct in this country to spit on the US, its President, and everything she stands for. I had a few chats with US servicepersons as I toured some of their aircraft. I was impressed by a brand new C-130 Hercules. They are still making this aircraft after about 50 years and it is one of the most incredible and useful planes ever built. Too bad our Canadian ones are all 40 years old. Oh well maybe we can replace them after the Sea King helicopters have been taken care of.
Nothing was more incredible to me than a fully restored B-17. I won't wax on about its history here but it is one of the top aircraft of all time, and without it Europe may not have been liberated from the Nazis. I have never seen one before but when I was a kid I had a book about it, and it was my aviation dream to tour this plane. It made a few passes along with a P-51 Mustang, a Sea Hawk, and a handful of Harvard trainers. Then it landed and was open for touring. It took only a mere $7 donation to the Commemorative Air Force and I had my run of the interior.
The show ends with the Canadian Forces Snowbirds. This is, and I am not exaggerating here, the best precision aerobatics team in the world, bar none. At a time when our armed forces are a mere shadow of their former selves, desperately struggling to field a few thousands of troops, we still have the Snowbirds to show the world how incredible Canada can be, when we want to. I have seen the US Navy Blue Angels perform here, and while they put on a great show with four or five planes, the simply do not approach the precision and beauty of our Snowbirds. Neither does any other squadron that I am aware of. The Snowbirds do not fly the latest fighters - in fact they use a pretty old jet trainer, but they put their nine aircraft into the tightest formations as they loop and roll around the sky.
