Wet and windy weather did not stop the crowds from coming out to this year's 4 Wing Family Air Show, as more than 3,000 people came through the gate, according to Cooper Sinclair, 4 Wing Cold Lake communications officer.
The show was held at 4 Wing Cold Lake this past Saturday, with numerous military demonstrations in the air and on the ground.
The CF-18 Demo Hornet, painted to represent military families in each branch of the Canadian Armed Forces, took to the sky, along with a resurrected Canadair F-86 Sabre 5 jet fighter.
But it was the Snowbirds, a crowd favourite, that kept onlookers captivated. The team of nine closed out the show with death-defying, yet graceful manoeuvres through the skies above Cold Lake.
There were also static displays of both aircraft and ground equipment. Interested spectators were able to climb inside some of the equipment on display, including a Dash 8 aircraft, which is used for navigation and as an airborne electric sensor operator trainer.
Plenty of military personnel were on hand to answer questions or offer guided tours of the aircraft and ground equipment.
"We had members there watching that could answer questions, as well as our subject matter experts," Sinclair explained.
Despite the poor weather, people seemed to be enjoying themselves and interested in the aircraft and equipment on hand, he said.
He explained the aircraft can basically fly in all weather conditions, but 4 Wing considers crowd safety at events like this a top priority.
"We can fly in the rain, we can fly in the wind," he said. "The major considerations is weather that would have caused danger to anyone viewing the show. So, if the winds were too high or we would have had lightning, then it would have been cancelled."
Sinclair said this year's air show was adapted slightly due to the cancellation of Maple Flag, an international air combat exercise held annually at 4 Wing.
"What we'll be doing next year will be in conjunction with (Maple Flag), as was the original intent with this one. But with the cancellation of Maple Flag, we had to adapt and overcome."
