SkyHawks Canadian parachute team, performing its display at Sanicole Sunset (part of the 44th Sanicole International Airshow), Hechtel-Eksel, September 2024.
Canadian Armed Forces Parachute Team, the SkyHawks, was officially established in 1971. Nevertheless, tradition of the country´s parachute display team began already two years earlier. In June of 1969, a group of the Canadian Airborne Regiment personnel formed an unofficial display team, later known as the Canadian Airborne Regiment Parachute Team.
In 1970, the team participated in the World Parachuting Championships in Fontainebleau, France. It was then referred to as the Canadian Forces Parachute Team and won the silver medal in team accuracy competition.
In August of next year, the national parachute team was officially formed, under the command of the Canadian Airborne Centre. The team´s first commander was Major John Henry George Hasek (birth name Hašek), a Czech-born Canadian soldier who previously served with the Canadian armed forces in Ghana, Vietnam and Cyprus. In September of 1971, the team adopted the name SkyHawks.
During more than half a century of its existence, the Canadian team performed several thousands of displays, marking the history of parachuting.
The SkyHawks performed the world´s most northerly demonstration parachute jump at Canadian Forces Station Alert, Ellesmere Island (1982), graced the Rolling Stones concert (2003), performed a display during Juno Beach Centre opening celebration (2003) and the 60th anniversary of Liberation of Holland (2004).
In 2013, the team´s official name was changed to the Canadian Army Parachute Team, although the term SkyHawks is still commonly used. Currently, the team is part of the Canadian Army Advanced Warfare Centre and its members also serve as parachute training instructors to the Canadian armed forces. Since 1996, the SkyHawks are being based in Trenton, Ontario.
The team members are selected from across the entire Canadian Regular and Reserve Forces. In 2024, the SkyHawks team includes sixteen members and is being led by Captain Aaron Fenney, the Team Captain.
Over the years, the SkyHawks changed their demonstration programme several times, adding new and more dynamic elements to the display. Nevertheless, all the time staying true to the team´s signature – the Canadian Flag parachute.
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Information from the Canadian government website were used.
