THE AIRCRAFT
The Canadair CT-114 Tutor
The Montreal firm of Canadair designed and constructed the Tutor. Its original designation as the CL41-A was changed to the CT-114 Tutor when purchased by the Canadian Armed Forces. Canadair's design team, headed by project engineer Fred Phillips, began working in 1955 to build an aircraft capable of replacing the Harvard and the deHavilland Chipmunk as a military trainer. Test pilot Ian MacTavish first flew the Tutor on January 13, 1961. By September of that year the plane had been ordered into full production for the Canadian Armed Forces. Between 1964 and March 1967, 190 Tutor jets had been delivered to the Canadian military. In 2001 the Tutor was retired as the advanced trainer for Canada's Air Force and was replaced with the CT-156 Harvard II and CT-155 Hawk. The Tutor will continue to serve as the mount for the Snowbirds for several more years until a replacement aircraft type is decided upon.
The Snowbirds Tutor's
There are 13 CT-114 Tutors assigned to the Snowbirds. They are consecutively numbered from one through thirteen. Eleven aircraft travel to each show site, with two being held in reserve in Moose Jaw. There are some differences between the Tutors flown by the Snowbirds, and the standard military version of the same aircraft.
These include:
- paint scheme
- cross-cockpit modifications; in the Snowbird planes, the pilot is able to fly solo from either seat
- engine is highly tuned to maximize low level response
- nicad battery system to facilitate simultaneous internal ground starts
- transistorized rather than tube radio to enable communication between planes before - engine start
- smoke generating system; 2 tanks under fuselage hold 35 gallons of diesel fuel that is sprayed into the jet exhaust and ignited.
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