(UPDATE) Local officials told to continue to plan for Snowbirds participation

Canada’s famed Snowbirds acrobatic flying team is cancelling appearances at a number of airshows in Ontario and the United States, so some of its pilots can get more practice.

Officials are blaming bad weather earlier in the year for having shortened the team’s training time.

The nine-plane team has flown a number of shows this year, including a joint flight with a French team over Parliament Hill at the beginning of May.

But Maj. Patrick Gobeil says it was determined that more practice was necessary after some of the planes were seen deviating from their positions mid-flight.

As a result, the Snowbirds are pulling out from two airshows later this month in Ontario (Windsor and Fort Erie) and four other airshows in the U.S.

As a part of Armed Forces Day, the Snowbirds are scheduled to be in North Bay on June 16th and 17th.

Local officials have been in touch with the CF Snowbirds and have been told to continue to plan for their participation here in North Bay.

They also say line-up changes, if any, would be made public.

The following statement was made on on the CF Snowbirds Facebook page:

We have decided to undertake additional practice and training from our home base at 15 Wing Moose Jaw before returning to our 2017 scheduled air performance season.

While we have had several well-executed shows and practices early in the season, our Team Lead has determined that additional training is required.

“A reduced training period hampered by poor weather which continued into the show season, resulted in numerous cancelled practices. As a result, more training is required before the Snowbirds resume the 2017 schedule.”, said Major Patrick Gobeil, Snowbirds Team Lead.

(With files from The Canadian Press)