This is Vanese Ferguson with Coffee Talk.  I personally don’t have any problem with grounding the Snowbirds until new airplanes arrive.  I would have a problem if instead the replacement of the planes became a vehicle for eliminating the squadron altogether. And they won’t be grounded until after this year’s air show season. I grew up in Moose Jaw.  I have covered more events, and air shows at that base in my career than I can possibly tabulate. I’ve flown with the Snowbirds. The Tutors flexibility and maneuverability is legendary allowing the Snowbird pilots to achieve an aerobatic ballet rather than the shock and awe of say the American Blue Angels which fly the F-18 Hornet.  And don’t get me wrong, love the 18’s – they are extraordinarily cool to experience.  If you ever speak to someone within the Air Force, down to a man and woman, they likely would all say they can’t believe how long the Tutors have kept flying.  Let me use this comparison.  If you have ever gone to Cuba, you will see all those glorious vintage cars, essentially, the last American cars to make it over there before the wall of communism came down.  And they have cannibalized every part of them to keep them on the road.  Which is basically what the techs did to keep the Tutors in the air.  The Tutors are more than 60 years old, and the performance of the Snowbirds is intense demanding the utmost from those planes.  There comes a time when safety has to be considered.  And for the naysayers who believe it’s an unnecessary expense, boo on you.  There has to be some part of the human existence that is about achieving beauty, not simply pragmatism.