Getting 6,000 feet in the air isn't always easy. Neither is getting to Yellowknife from Ontario, it seems.
The Royal Canadian Air Force has been busy celebrating its 100th anniversary, which included an airshow in Yellowknife. The Canadian Armed Forces SkyHawks, a parachute team, descended from above. On Saturday, they jumped out of a plane and landed at Somba K'e Park to the cheers of hundreds watching.
It almost didn't happen. Master Cpl. Bradley Lupkoski, one of the jumpers for the SkyHawks, explained their commercial flight to get here got cancelled at the last minute.
"That was something outside of the team's control," he said, "but thankfully we have a really good support staff, both here and with the air force partners we're working with, and they were able to get us a military flight out here so we could come and perform for everyone."
The SkyHawks landed in Yellowknife during the late afternoon on Friday, Lupkoski said. There are 17 members on the team and all of them travelled to Yellowknife.
"It wasn't too late, it's very bright out here," he laughed.
It's also plenty of time to get settled before the big jump. Lupkoski explained the team had a practice jump at 9 a.m. on Saturday. And by the sounds of it, two jumps in one day is not too onerous.
"For us, our training camps down in California, where we do our winter camps, we're doing about seven or eight jumps a day, starting at 8:30 in the morning. So, doing two jumps is a good pace for the team," he said.
Lupkoski added that the practice jump on Saturday was at the Yellowknife Airport. The military ramp and hangar at the airport are under maintenance right now. Because that spot is normally used as a spectator area, they had to relocate to Somba K'e Park for the actual airshow.
Yellowknife was the first stop on the Western Canadian tour the SkyHawks are currently on, said Lupkoski. Next up is Cambell River, B.C. After that is Cold Lake, Alta.
"Between each location we go to, we average between four to five, maybe sometimes six jumps," he said, adding it depends on how big the air show is. "Generally speaking, we try to get two practice jumps in before we jump into the actual show location."
And no, the SkyHawks do not have titanium knees.
"They're just like everyone else," Lupkoski said with a smile. "We're human just like everyone else."