Page 11 - June 2020

During its service with the Royal Canadian Air Force (1958–
1968) and the Canadian Forces (1968–1969), the Red Knight
was flown by seventeen different pilots from four different

bases. Beginning in 1961 a second Red Knight aircraft with
The following year, 4 Wing based at RCAF alternate pilot entered service, and the aircraft sometimes
Station Baden-Soellingen in Germany performed together or separately in different locations. An
generated the team with the same name, but accident involving two Red Knights occurred in August 21,
using a different color scheme on the aircraft 1963 at the Gimli Air Force Day airshow. When the aircraft
and new pilots. were performing a Cuban 8, alternate pilot Wayne

Unfortunately, on 2 March 1956, a tragic MacLellan recognized that he was too low to the ground
accident occurred during a training flight and and aborted the manoeuvre. Lead pilot J.W. "Bud" Morin
four of all five Sky Lancers' pilots were killed. failed to recognize this and was killed when his plane
The solo pilot Les "Stretch" Price was not flying contacted the ground. An air force investigation allowed
with the team that day. Consequently, the the team to continue, but forbade any further coordinated
RCAF suspended the further formation of acts.
aerobatic teams for several years. The Red Knight had five trouble-free years of flying after
Thanks to LCol (Ret'd) Dan Dempsey. Morin's accident, but that was cut short when pilot John
Reid crashed during a photo shoot on May 22, 1968. After
conducting a low-altitude loop, Reid could not pull the
aircraft up fast enough and crashed into the ground.
Though he was thrown clear of the wreckage, Reid died in
hospital. This tragedy was closely followed by another. On
July 13, 1969, Red Knight Bryan Alston was killed when his

Tutor suffered a power failure and crashed during the
forced landing during a display. The second fatal accident in
less than 14 months and the third in Red Knight history,
effectively ended the program. These two crashes in short
Red Knight succession led the air force to seriously reconsider the
The Red Knight was a Canadian Air Force program. Ultimately, because of budget considerations and
aerobatic display aircraft that operated from personnel cuts, the Red Knight program was canceled.
1958 to 1969. The red-painted Silver Star When the Red Knight program was officially cancelled, in
performed loops, rolls, Cuban 8s, horizontal early 1970, it was the longest-running military aerobatics
360s, inverted flight, and high speed passes at display in Canadian history. The exact number of
airshows around North America, often performances has not been determined, however, it is
appearing as an opening act for or in known that the total exceeds 600 appearances. This ranks
conjunction with the Golden Hawks display the Red Knight second only to the Snowbirds in total
team and later the Golden Centennaires, number of performances by a Canadian military aerobatics
Canada's contemporary aerobatic teams. The display.
Silver Star was replaced by the Tutor in July
1968.