Huge crowds lined Toronto’s harbourfront on Saturday afternoon for the first day of the Canadian International Air Show.
Everyone was craning their necks and looking up, as teams of precision pilots maneuvered their machines in delicate formations on a backdrop of blue sky and white fluffy clouds.
The event is always a crowd pleaser, and among the crowd was Connor McClure. The eight-year-old was there with his family as part of an annual tradition that dates back to before he and his sister were born.
“I couldn’t fall asleep,” the boy said. “It took me two hours to fall asleep because I just wanted to see it so bad.”
As the planes roared overhead, McClure had to cover his ears a couple of times as CTV News Toronto interviewed him. But he made one thing clear, he wants to be a pilot when he grows up.
“It looks really cool, because you get to ride in planes.”
The United Kingdom-based Red Arrows opened Saturday’s show. The planes painted the sky red, white and blue with the exhaust from the BAE Hawks. When their performance was finished, a few members of the engineering team walked around and mingled with the crowd.
Adam Reaume was one of many people who posed for a picture with them. He drove to Toronto from Windsor on Saturday to make sure he could see the show in person. He also wants to be a pilot one day, but his passion for flight comes from a traumatic experience.
“I got hit by a car a couple of years ago. I was completely immobilized, so it kind of spurred this love for wanting to fly. I wanted to move. So I just wanted to get up in the air,” Reaume said.
This is the 70th year for the CNE air show and the performance ended with a fan favourite. The legendary Canadian snowbirds dazzled the crowd with their daring display.
Doug Robertson has been coming to the show for at least 25 years, and says he looks forward to it every year, particularly the Snowbirds. “
The acrobatics that they do, the high speed passes, it’s just Canadiana, and I love it.”
The air show runs until Labour Day Monday.
