By Sarah Wallace

Discovery Air Hawk One to perform at Prince Albert airshow

Aug 3, 2012 | 12:14 PM

Prince Albert’s Centennial of Flight Airshow is just around the corner and this year’s event will feature a piece of Canadian aviation history.

The Discovery Air Hawk One is a beautifully restored F-86 Sabre jet fighter and will be in Prince Albert for the airshow.

The jet fighter is a piece of aviation history, and is expected to be seen by more than one million Canadians this summer.

The Air Hawk team is led by former Snowbird commander Dan Dempsey.

Dempsey said this is their fourth season showing off the aircraft and taking part in airshows and static displays.

SIGA

SIGA and Northern Lights Casino main sponsors of the 31st PAGC Fine Arts Festival

11h ago

Workplace incident

City of Prince Albert pleads guilty to workplace safety violation, handed fines

12h ago

Lighting it up

P.A.'s Zablocki leads Regina to victory on Day 4 at Esso Cup

Apr 24, 2024

He said it’s a tribute to the aviation heritage of Canada and the Golden Hawks aerobatics team.

The last time the Golden Hawks performed in Prince Albert was 50 years ago on June 13. 1962.

“It’s a very unique airplane; it’s one of a kind in Canada. We started this operation back in 2009 to commemorate the 100th anniversary of power of flight in Canada. The aircraft is in the colors of RCF Golden Hawk, which was our preeminent aerobatic team in Canada back in 1959 to 1963.”

Dempsey said a part of their tour is for the “Pursue Your Dreams” program for kids and they do presentations at schools and for Air Cadets.

At the Prince Albert airshow the Air Hawk will also be a part of the Static Displays, which allow the public to sit inside the cockpit of the plane.

“I do a full aerobatic show with the plane, and I think people get motivated and say ‘look at these guys, if they can do it, maybe we can do something special with our lives.’ We’re very big on education, we’ve got two astronauts on our team, they won’t be in Prince Albert, but they are team members and they are great role models for young people across Canada,” said Dempsey.

They show off the plane to help educate the public about Canada’s aviation history and hope to encourage people and young Canadians to follow their dreams.

Dempsey will fly in on Friday, weather permitting, and will fly a practice run on Saturday afternoon and will then open the airshow on Sunday.

The Air Hawk show will be very low, very fast and last 12 to 13 minutes.

After the show they will pull the plane into the static display area and then the public will be able to sit inside the cockpit all afternoon.

“I really, really encourage people in Prince Albert and the surrounding community to come out and watch this airshow. Airshows are pretty rare these days in Prince Albert and I can tell you just by dealing with the organizers, they’ve done a lot of fantastic work in putting this together for folks. So it’s really worth your time, come out and watch the air show, they got a great little act lined up,”  Dempsey said.

The gates open at the Prince Albert airport at 10 a.m. with air shows taking place from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m.

swallace@panow.com

Twitter: @princealbertnow