Flying home: Local pilot living his dream
Windsor is home base for the Canadian Forces Snowbirds this weekend, and it’s a special landing spot for one of its pilots.
Since a young age, Bassam Mnaymneh has always wanted to be a pilot.
“As a child, going to airshows in Windsor, I’d see Snowbirds and fighter jets and airplanes fly over I always wanted to be a military pilot,” he says.
After graduating from Vincent Massey Secondary, he attended The Royal Military College in Kingston, Ont.
“I ended up flying helicopters in Victoria British Columbia and then moved to Moose Jaw,” Mnaymneh says.
The 43-year-old is now a pilot for Snowbird 5, which flies in the back of the formation.
“So I was able to focus my attention on being a military pilot. The snowbirds is the cherry on top,” he says.
The Snowbirds signature nine-jet precision formation will be featured at an air show in Ypsilanti, Michigan this weekend.
They’re using Windsor as a platform for take-off and landing.
“It’s just great to come home and see my family from a distance and just to say hello,” says Mnaymneh.
The show is divided into three parts.
First an opener with nine planes flying in formation together doing loops and roles.
“Then we split and do integrated so it’s a series of passes. We have our solo pilots who do crosses,” Mnaymneh says.
And then a finale.
“Sit in your backyard or front yard have a look up and say hello from there and that would be awesome,” he says.
Mnaymneh says residents will be able to see the Snowbirds in the air around 5:30 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Grandparent scam: London, Ont., senior beats fraudsters not once, but twice
It was a typical Tuesday for Mabel Beharrell, 84, until she got the call that would turn her world upside down. Her teenaged grandson was in trouble and needed her help.
Deaths of 4 people on Sask. farm confirmed as murder-suicide
The deaths of four people on a farm near the Saskatchewan village of Neudorf have been confirmed a murder-suicide.
CRA no longer requiring 'bare trust' reporting in 2023 tax return
The Canada Revenue Agency announced Thursday it will not require 'bare trust' reporting from Canadians that it introduced for the 2024 tax season, just four days before the April 2 deadline.
Full parole granted to man convicted in notorious 'McDonald's murders' in Cape Breton
The Parole Board of Canada has granted full parole to one of three men convicted in the brutal murders of three McDonald's restaurant workers in Cape Breton more than 30 years ago.
Incident on Calgary's Reconciliation Bridge comes to safe resolution
Nearly 20 hours after a man climbed and remained perched on top of the Reconciliation Bridge in downtown Calgary, the situation came to a peaceful resolution.
Sunshine list: These were the Ontario public sector's highest earners in 2023
Ontario released its annual sunshine list Thursday afternoon, noting that the largest year-over-year increases were in hospitals, municipalities, and post-secondary sectors.
George Washington family secrets revealed by DNA from unmarked 19th century graves
Genetic analysis has shed light on a long-standing mystery surrounding the fates of U.S. President George Washington's younger brother Samuel and his kin.
'We won't forget': How some Muslims view Poilievre's stance on Israel-Hamas war
A spokesman for a regional Muslim advocacy group says Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre's stance on the Israel-Hamas war could complicate his party's relationship with Muslim Canadians.
Why some Christians are angry about Trump's 'God Bless the USA' Bible
Former U.S. President Donald Trump is officially selling a copy of the Bible themed to Lee Greenwood’s famous song, 'God Bless the USA.' But the concept of a Bible covered in the American flag has raised concern among religious circles.