Stratford Airshow 2021
Afternoon airshow over the farmer’s field
CF Snowbirds, Waterloo Warbirds, CF-18 Demo Team, and others take flight in support of junior hockey team fundraiser
The following experience was brought to you in support of the Stratford Warriors. The 2021 Stratford Airshow was organized as a fundraising event to collect donations for this junior hockey team.
Traffic officers directed what felt like hundreds of cars through the small intersection, flooding them into a farmer’s field for the afternoon airshow. As they zipped the converging traffic down the narrow side road we moved closer to the intersection, where we witnessed our first aerobatic display of the day.
In a pre-show performance, a blue and yellow bi-plane with U.S. ARMY branded wings performed flips and dives over a neighboring field, which was a welcomed distraction from the standstill traffic.
ACT ONE // CF Snowbirds
Once we had made it through the intersection the pace didn’t pick up much. Wondering what to expect up ahead we tuned into the radio broadcast for the afternoon’s event. As the dial hit the station we heard an announcement, “The Snowbirds are on their way folks,” the announcer said.
We began to worry that we might get stuck in traffic and miss our first chance to shoot the Snowbirds.
Quick Tangent: The first post on @kevinbertrand.ig was an image of the Snowbirds as they passed my balcony on Mother’s Day back in 2020. Since then, this has been my first chance to work around this flight crew. When writing this post over a year later, that initial image only has 5 likes. So, if you’re reading this now and you use Instagram, click here and double-tap those planes to let me know that you’re out there reading these stories. Greatly appreciate you being here!
But getting back to the airshow.
“The Snowbirds are now in sight,” the announcer started up again. Sure enough, the formation of planes came into view from the passenger side window, “the team will be conducting some preliminary passes to survey the markers before the performance begins.” A sigh of relief.
Things moved along quicker from there. We entered the field and found our patch of grassy mud to park. We were able to set up to shoot from the truck bed before the team came in for their first pass of the show.
Over the radio, they announced that the 2021 season performances were dedicated to Capt. Jennifer Casey. We later learned that the Stratford Airshow was the Snowbird’s last performance in Canada for the 2021 airshow season.
ACT TWO // Waterloo Warbirds
The Waterloo Warbirds have been frequent flyers in front of my lenses throughout the pandemic. We regularly make the short drive out to Breslau to visit Waterloo Regional Airport and shot these unique warplanes while learning to work with a DSLR camera.
Shortly before this airshow, we had the chance to visit the Warbirds for an open hanger tour and experience things from the other there side of the fence for the first time. But more on that another time...
I’ve included a shot from the Harvard performance in this section with the Waterloo Warbirds. However, take note that it was not their Harvard Mk. 2 that performed in the Stratford Airshow. The Harvard, presumably from the Canadian Harvard Aircraft Association performed a solo aerobatic display. The Warbirds were represented by the T-33 ‘Mako Shark’ and MiG-15.
ACT THREE // Solo Aerobatics Performances
The aerobatics performances were the most challenging of the afternoon. Propeller planes proved difficult subjects to track with a 150-600mm lens and as a result, we came home with only a few well-framed images to work with for this collection.
When shooting the yellow and purple plane, I found that I struggled to dial in exposure with proper propeller blur (...say that 5 times fast).
We could overhear the radio broadcast from a neighboring truck as the announcers discussed the Pitts Special. As the red bi-plane performed an exciting display of flips, turns, and dives, the announcers told stories of how the pilot had built the aircraft himself and was an accomplished flight instructor specializing in aerobatics.
To avoid getting caught in another traffic jam, we left with two more performances to go. We watched in the rearview mirror as a large twin-engine warplane came soaring across the field as we approached the exit. We would pass the CF-18 Demo Team down the road as they made their approach.
EPILOGUE // CF‑18 Demonstration Team
The night before the airshow in Stratford, we visited the Waterloo Warbirds hanger in Breslau. To our surprise, we found that there were some guests parked in and around the hanger. The Snowbirds flocked in the hanger while on the pavement two CF-18s were on full display.
The CF-18 Demonstration Team tours Canada and the United States showcasing the capabilities of planes actively used by Canadian Forces.
Nous sommes désolés l'équipe démo CF-18 pour avoir manqué le spectacle, à la prochaine fois!
