The iconic red and white jets twisted, turned and looped their way across the sky in an aerial ballet that left a local audience awestruck.
And that was just the video.
Hours before the world-renowned Snowbirds were set to perform for thousands at Couchiching Beach Park on Wednesday evening, two of the team members got up close and personal with a smaller audience.
On the floor of The Roller Skating Place sat more than 500 Grade 6 students.
Bused in from Orillia-area schools for the special event, they were no doubt happy to ride out the end of the academic year with a flashy video presentation and some face time with members of the highly regarded team.
“Last time I was here (at the rink) was about 30 years ago,” Capt. Mark LaVerdiere, a native of Orillia, reminisced moments before greeting his young audience in a red flight suit. “It hasn’t changed much.”
Students were treated to a video montage of the jets performing a series of stomach-churning maneuvers, the scenes interspersed with facts and figures about the team and its sleek crafts.
Capable of reaching a maximum speed of 750 kilometres per hour, the planes are often no more than six or eight feet apart.
That, LaVerdiere told the all-ears crowd, requires skill, dedication and teamwork.
“We are just average Canadians, just like you,” he said, while stressing that achieving a spot on the team required “a lot of work, a lot of dedication.”
Accompanying LaVerdiere was the team’s technical coordinator, Corp. Eric Beauchesne of nearby Bracebridge.
“Never give up,” Beauchesne added. “If you have a goal, shoot for that goal. It shows courage.”
It was a message echoed by LaVerdiere, whose passion for flying came early, during ridealongs with his father, also a pilot.
“If you can see yourself doing what you want to do in life, you can do it,” he added. “Believe in yourself.”
David H. Church student Sandeep Singh was plucked from the audience and invited to don some of the gear worn by team members.
Outfitted in a parachute pack, a life vest and a helmet with darkened visor, the smiling 11 year old was the envy of his peers.
“It was awesome,” Singh said of the experience. “It felt like you were wearing a lot of jackets, and a 50-pound guy jumped on your back.”
Students later peppered their guests with questions about flight and the risks associated with the high-speed maneuvers performed by the team.
LaVerdiere, now in his third year with the Snowbirds, has never had to use the plane’s ejection system, though “I’ve had a few close calls.”
Wednesday’s air show was organized by the Community Foundation of Orillia and Area, which held a fundraising event and meet-and-greet with the pilots the evening prior.
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Canada's Snowbirds and a Canadian Forces F-18 Hornet created quite a buzz on Tuesday at the Lake Simcoe Regional Airport in Oro-Medonte, as they arrived in advance of an air show Wednesday evening in Orillia.
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