15 Wing Moose Jaw Cobra Flight Remembers Captain (Retired) Jeff Bird

On Wednesday 31 July 2019, four instructor pilots from 2 Canadian Forces Flying Training School (2 CFFTS- nicknamed “The Big 2”) flew to Calgary’s Springbank Airport to present a memorial lithograph to Mount Royal University Aviation to honour the memory of Captain(Capt) (Retired) Jeff Bird. All four pilots were former colleagues and/or students of Capt Bird from his time with Cobra Flight at The Big 2.

Capt Jeff Bird was a Royal Canadian Air Force CT-156 Harvard II flight instructor at the Big 2 based in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan. Prior to joining the Big 2, Capt Bird served as a tactical helicopter pilot with Edmonton’s 408 Squadron and deployed to Afghanistan in 2011. After his tour, Capt Bird was posted to be a flight instructor at the Big 2 in Moose Jaw, where he was able to mentor and inspire hundreds of aspiring RCAF pilots.

Capt Bird had recently retired after over a decade of service to the Canadian Armed Forces to take up a civilian flight instructor job at Calgary’s Mount Royal University when he tragically lost his life doing what he loved in February of 2017.

The Big 2 pilots presented the memorial lithograph, on behalf of 2 CFFTS and CAE, to Mount Royal University’s (MRU) faculty of Aviation to display in the hangar at the Springbank Airport Campus. It will serve as a daily reminder to MRU staff and students alike of Jeff Bird’s passion for aviation, as well as a reminder of his selfless service and contribution to the Royal Canadian Air Force and to Canada.