This weekend marks the first time Snowbirds pilot Capt. Taylor Evans has flown in the Wings Over Springbank Airshow, but it’s not the first time he’s been here.
Evans, who grew up in Canmore, called it a "dream come true" to fly in an event he attended as a child.
“I remember being a kid right here in Springbank watching my first airshow, watching the Snowbirds," he said.
"To be back here is surreal, to be flying in the airshow.”
The Wings Over Sprinbank Airshow was postponded Saturday due to high winds and is scheduled to resume Sunday at the Springbank Airport. Organizers say Saturday tickets will be honoured on Sunday as well.
Evans is one of a select group of Canadian military pilots that make up the Snowbirds, touring the continent dozens of times every year to perform stunts high in the sky.
It’s a tradition that dates backs nearly half a century.
“It’s the only thing I ever wanted to do as far back as I can remember, fly.” said Evans, who needed 1,000 hours in the cockpit before he could even apply to join the elite flying team.
“I've been fortunate in the military, I flew F18s and then I had this opportunity with the Snowbirds,” he said.
The pilots say getting the plane in the air is the easy part, then the real work begins.
“Mentally, its very demanding,” said Capt. Pierre-Marc Deschenes.
“You have to be focused 100 per cent of the time, looking at the reference (points) and flying formation, and physically we pull lots of Gs so it’s hot in there and very physically demanding.”
The pilots say they understand the risk of the job as eight people have been killed since the Snowbirds began flying.
But they also say the thrill, both for themselves and those watching from the ground below, make it worthwhile.
“It’s an amazing adrenaline boost,” says Deschenes.
“There is no perfect show, we just always do our best as a pilots, it’s so exciting.”
