Canada has selected the Pilatus PC-21 turboprop trainer as the future aircraft of the Snowbirds demonstration team, ending more than five decades of operations with the aging Canadair CT-114 Tutor jet.
The Royal Canadian Air Force said the aircraft will receive the local designation CT-157 Siskin II and will also continue serving as a trainer platform alongside its future aerobatic role.
The announcement was made at 15 Wing Moose Jaw in Saskatchewan, home base of the Snowbirds, where the current Tutor fleet has operated since the early 1970s.
The RCAF said 2026 will mark the final demonstration season for the CT-114 Tutor, which first entered service in 1963 as a jet trainer before becoming the Snowbirds’ aircraft in 1971.
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The new aircraft is expected to enter operational service with the team in the early 2030s. During the transition period, the air force said it will continue supporting public appearances and air shows with aircraft and personnel from the squadron.
Unlike the jet-powered Tutor, the PC-21 is a single-engine turboprop trainer developed by Swiss manufacturer Pilatus. The aircraft is already used by several air forces including those of Australia, France and Spain.
Canada currently operates the PC-21 under the Future Aircrew Training program, which replaced older military training systems with contractor-operated aircraft and simulators.
The Snowbirds are one of the world’s longest-serving military aerobatic teams still flying the same aircraft type. More than 140 million spectators have watched the team since its creation, according to the Canadian government.
A jet trainer turned national icon
The CT-114 Tutor was developed by Canadair in the late 1950s as a privately funded project aimed at creating a domestic jet trainer for the Royal Canadian Air Force. The prototype first flew in January 1960 and the aircraft entered production in 1963, with 212 examples eventually built.
The Tutor became the RCAF’s standard jet trainer for nearly four decades, remaining in this role until 2000 before being replaced by the British-built CT-155 Hawk and the turboprop CT-156 Harvard II.
Although originally designed for training duties, a small number of aircraft exported to Malaysia were adapted for ground-attack missions. The type’s best-known role, however, came with the Snowbirds aerobatic team, which adopted the Tutor in 1971 and continued flying the aircraft long after its retirement from frontline training duties.
