Sgt. John Enright, RCAF
Hair Loss and Other Air Show Questions

by Deana J. Driver

After watching his first air show at age 11, John Enright was hooked. It was one of the last air shows held in Winnipeg, MB and it triggered his love for all things connected to flight. While working as the crew chief of the Canadian Forces Snowbirds aerobatics team for the 2017-2018 air show season, Sgt. Enright expanded on that love of aviation even more by becoming an unofficial RCAF public relations spokesman at air shows. He’d seek out specific types of audience members and encourage them to get engaged and educated about the planes flying overhead.

“Meeting people is something I really like to do,” said the energetic sergeant. “I like talking with people, telling them what I do for a living. The Snowbirds gave me the perfect outlet to do that. The Snowbirds are a giant recruiting platform – because we show the skill, professionalism, and teamwork of the Canadian Forces. If you talk to most of the Snowbird pilots, they saw a Snowbirds performance when they were younger and decided that’s what they wanted to do for a living.”

Talking with children was one of Sgt. Enright’s most enjoyable experiences as crew chief. “I get a big kick out of meeting little kids. I have three boys myself – ages 10, 11, and 15. They were troopers while I was gone for months at a time with the Snowbirds tour – my poor wife.”

One of the most memorable questions he was asked at an air show came in the logging town of Vanderhoof, B.C. “They absolutely knocked it out of the park,” he said of that air show’s organizers. “They had kids there who asked questions and there was a very specific little kid who asked me, ‘How did you go bald?’

“I said, ‘You don’t want to know anything about the airplane?’

“He said, ‘No, I just want to know how did you go bald.’

“He was probably 10, if that. I said, ‘I don’t really know how it happened. I just woke up one day and it started falling out.’

“He said, ‘I just want to know ’cause my dad’s…’ and then I looked at his dad and his dad was bald. So I asked his dad, ‘Have you ever had anyone ask you this question?’

“His dad said, ‘No. Only him.’

“That’s the fun part about being the crew chief. You get questions like that.”

The crew chief’s responsibilities are to ensure all the duties of the technicians are fulfilled, overseeing the entire process of getting the planes ready for each air show and ensures the planes, parts, supplies, fuel, accommodations, and other items are organized and provided as required. “As the crew chief, you’re the hub of all information from both sides – from the military and civilian side. I’m the guy on the Blackberry all the time, on the cellphone, back and forth from one place to another.”

At the shows, the other technicians and pilots often send curious audience members to the crew chief. “People want to have pictures taken with the pilots. They want to have their hand shaken. They want them to kiss their babies. These are things that happen.”

On occasion, Sgt. Enright has been asked technical questions about the Tutor jets, but that is rare. People sometimes ask if those are bombs on the bottom of the airplanes when, in fact, they are diesel tanks. “Most of the time, you’ll get questions asking if you’re a pilot – because you’re dressed in a blue flight suit. You say you’re a technician. They turn around and walk away,” said Sgt. Enright with a smile. “It’s one of those things you have to get used to.”

The Snowbirds perform at about 70 shows a year and each air show is slightly different in terms of its organizational structure. “The private air shows are very organized because they hire professionals to run the air shows. They know what they need and where they need it. Or they’ve had the same people doing it for 25 years. The military air shows come up every three to four years. The same personnel aren’t around all the time. Everything still gets done; it’s just different. I really like the challenge of military air shows because you have to use your military knowledge to go find what you need to get.”

Show attendance ranges from under 5,000 for mid-week shows to a maximum of 25,000 people for weekend shows. (The July 2019 show at CFB Moose Jaw was the first show at that base in 14 years and organizers had to close the gates more than an hour early on the first day after the 25,000 attendance number had been reached.) At every show, the crew chief helps keep curious onlookers away from the planes until after the show. “They’re the most photographed airplanes on the planet. People come over and take pictures all the time and most people will ask first. Some people will approach the airplanes before they fly. It’s the crew chief’s job to tell them to move along. After the show, they could come see me and I’d help them out.”

Talking with air show organizers could get tiring at times “because it’s the same thing,” said Sgt. Enright. “It could be their first air show but your 40th. It’s like Groundhog Day every day with a different kind of interior – a different soft, squishy middle. But it’s different for them. It’s their first air show; they’re trying really hard. That’s the biggest thing I really liked was everybody really wanted to show off the Canadian Forces and give us the proper equipment and the ability to do things. They were always really accommodating.”

Most air show audience members can fit into one of three categories, said Sgt. Enright. “There’s the crazy air show fan. They’re all geared up to watch. They have the huge camera. They’ve got food – they’re not going to buy while they’re there. They’ve got water. They’ve got a hydropack on. They’ve got sunscreen and bug spray. They’re ready to go. They’ve got a chair. They’re taking pictures and they’re posting them online and they’re the big superfans. They’re the people that know everything I might have to say.

“Then there’s the regular people that are just there to have fun. They’re bringing their kids out to the air show just for something to do in the afternoon to keep their kids busy. That’s the bulk of the audience. They’re good for the industry. They turn into superfans in some cases and in other cases, they just go once and they don’t like the noise...