The 2024 Quinte International Airshow
Story and photos by Shawn Byers
On June 28-30, I traveled north of the border to Canada’s largest military base, Canadian Forces Base Trenton, for the Quinte International Airshow celebrating 100 years of the Royal Canadian Air Force.
Airshows at this base could be described as sporadic. This was the first show since 2016 and prior to that one was in 2003. I have a friend that lives near the base so I knew the lighting would be good and the lineup looked really good, so I targeted this date for a 9-hour road trip to celebrate the centenary with Canada.
CFB Trenton is home to the 8th Wing and is an old base dating back to 1929. I noticed that some buildings looked historic and sure enough, eight of them are on the recognized Heritage Buildings list. During World War II, it was a training base under the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan. After the war, the base hosted transport and fighter aircraft. It even hosted the legendary Avro Arrow flying prototype for a day.
Today, the base hosts nine squadrons operating five different airframe types:
412 Transport and Rescue Squadron “Tigers” fly the CC-130H Hercules and CH-146 Griffon Helicopter. They play a key role in regional search and rescue.
426 Transport Training Squadron “Thunderbird” trains personnel for the CC-130H, CH-146 and CC-150 Polaris (Military Airbus 310).
429 Transport Squadron “Bison” fly the CC-177 Globemaster III.
436 Transport Squadron “Tusker” fly the CC-130J.
437 Transport Squadron “Husky” fly the CC-150.
Two geographically separated squadrons include the 412 Transport Squadron flying the CC-144 (Military Canadair Challenger) out of Ottawa and 440 Transport Squadron flying the CC-138 (Military De Havilland Twin Otter) out of Yellowknife.
The final two squadrons are the 8 Air Maintenance Squadron and the 2 Air Movement Squadron. 8AMS is responsible for maintenance up to C Check on all airframes based at Trenton. The 2AMS is the only one of its kind in Canada. They support wing flying operations around the world with qualified and deployable personnel for any contingencies.
The Canadian Army Advanced Warfare Center is also here and is where the Canadian Forces Skyhawks Parachute Team is based.
There was no formal media program for this show, so I met my friend and made some new ones on Friday outside the base at the arrival end of the single Runway 06/24. It was a warm and mostly sunny day but went cloudy later as some World War I and jet warbirds arrived for static display. Aircraft did not always fly near us but they all landed over us. It was a fun day.
Saturday was a different story. It started with a light rain and then got heavy. I did not expect anything to fly and that it would be an early day to get out of my wet clothing.
By late afternoon, planes did start to move. A CC-130 took off to perform a ceiling check. The takeoff was worth it with the moisture vortices off the propellers. After it recovered, a CC-177 flew. A Search and Rescue demonstration was flown by the CH-146 Griffon Helicopter. Then, Kyle Fowler flew his yellow Long EZ and the Frecce Tricolori said they were going to go up, which I thought was just crazy. The CF-18 gray bird actually did go up but the routine was cut short as the ceiling fell again. The Frecce Tricolori taxied to the end of the runway but never got the ceiling back, so they never got airborne. After meeting up with some other friends, I ended up leaving the base around 5:30pm and completely soaked.
Sunday, thankfully, was bright and sunny. I was able to dry out my shoes and everything else overnight. There were so many planes I wanted to photograph on the East ramp. Royal Canadian Air Force aircraft I just do not see often, were all grouped together. In addition to CC-130s, CC-150s and a CC-144, there was a C-140 Aurora (Canada’s P-3 Orion) and a CC-295 Kingfisher that is brand new to the search and rescue fleet. Two CF-18 Hornets were parked with the Red Knight CT-33. I heard that there were Quick Reaction Alert hangars for those Hornets but I did not notice them.
The concessions were along a taxiway that connects the East and West ramps. On the West ramp, there were a lot of transient static aircraft. One notable and one we saw arrive on Friday was the Ski Bird C-130 of the New York Air National Guard. Other aircraft on this ramp were the World War I era aircraft, a T-6 Texan II Trainer, 2 Catalinas, and a C-45.
The show started with a Search and Rescue demonstration from the Griffon Helicopter.
A home based CC-130 took off carrying the Canadian Forces Skyhawks as a jump platform. It had been a while since I had seen the team and their display is now larger with more jumpers and really good.
The CC-130 then performed a few flybys prior to recovering.
The CF-18 Demonstration Team flew early in the show. This year’s anniversary scheme is an eye catcher in overall blue with intricate red and white details.
During the routine, three vintage fighters launched into a hold. It was a Spitfire, a Hurricane and a Mustang in Canadian Commonwealth colors. They form a three ship “Vic” formation. The CF-18 Demo Team joined up with them for a few flybys of an RCAF Heritage Flight before all of them recovered.
One of the reasons to attend this show was the opportunity to see the Frecce Tricolori during their North American tour. Due to spacing on the hot ramp, the Italian Team had to base out of a hangar across the runway, largely out of sight of the crowd line. The routine was a joy to see especially when the colored smoke was employed. It is quite dramatic as they switch from white smoke to the red and green colors. “Bellisimo!”
The next performance was a home based C-177. Since I was born and raised in the Buffalo area, seeing a Bison on the tail makes the squadron a favorite of mine.
The Northern Stars 3-ship Pitts team took to the sky followed by Kyle Fowler in his Long EZ.
The other aircraft I wanted to see was the F-16 Viper Demo Team 50th Anniversary jet. Adorned in an overall white with red and blue, it harkens back to the original YF-16 prototype of 1974.
The Warbirds took off again with the addition of a Fairey Firefly, a B-25 Mitchell Bomber and Canada’s crown jewel, one of only two flyable Avro Lancaster Bombers. The aircraft flew in two groups of fighters and bombers. It had gotten quite breezy with a crosswind on Runway 24. I just wanted to see the Lancaster make it safely to the ground. The crew handled the big bird flawlessly.
The Royal Canadian Air Force Snowbirds concluded the show but a thick cloud layer had moved in and a low show was conducted.
Some of my friends thought the show could have been better for the Centenary but I thought it was a great show. There were only two negatives I saw, and I write this to help the organizers. There were plenty of portable toilets but not enough wash stations and there were plenty of food vendors but not enough trash cans.
As I mentioned, there was not a formal media program for the show, but I did interact with a few individuals who extended a few privileges my way making it enjoyable. For their efforts on my behalf, I wish to thank Jacqueline St. Pierre, Jadene Mah, Rachel Brousseau, and Captain Jordan Ridley. I hope I did not forget anyone. Also thanks to the volunteers I interacted with for traffic control, parking, security checkpoints and on the grounds. All in all, I had a great trip to Canada.