In the world of air shows, few aerial demonstrations draw the kind of attention the CF-18 Hornet generates.

Canada’s premier fighter jet invariably draws a crowd because of its speed and agility.

And the pilot newly assigned to fly the jet at the air shows, 33-year-old Londoner Capt. Ryan Kean, said he already is living his dream.

“The ultimate for me was becoming a fighter pilot,” Kean said Monday from Canadian Forces Base Cold Lake.

And being chosen to lead a team that will demonstrate the aircraft at 29 air shows? “Call it the icing on the cake,” he said.

Kean was born in London; his mother was visiting her parents and his father was away on military courses.

His family moved around a lot but he returned to London to earn a degree in Earth and planetary science from Western University.

Kean recalls his first flight as a glider pilot, his craft towed into the air by another plane, and he contrasted it with the rush of flying a CF-18 Hornet, a fighter jet that can fly at 1.8 times the speed of sound.

“Taking that step up to a CF-18 (from a glider) would be like driving a little pedal car and then driving a Ferrari . . . It’s an adrenaline rush every time,” he said, just after completing a 90-minute air-to-air combat simulation Monday.

Kean’s assignment as pilot of the demonstration team is a one-year posting. He is studying a training syllabus, a playbook of the flight routines, in preparation for the shows.

The team consists of the pilot and 12 others, including technicians, narrators and safety crew.

“When you step into the aircraft, it becomes part of you . . . like strapping on a jet-powered backpack,” he said.

The air show season starts in April and ends in October.

Kean and the plane are scheduled to fly in the Great Lakes International Airshow in St. Thomas June 18-19.

During his time at 4 Wing Cold Lake, Kean has participated in training missions and exercises across Canada and the United States. He has completed NORAD and NATO missions at home and overseas.

Kean has more than 1,600 flying hours on high-performance military aircraft, including 1,300 hours on the CF-18 Hornet.

Each year, the Royal Canadian Air Force chooses a theme for its CF-18 Hornet show. The 2016 theme pays homage to the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan that began 75 years earlier to train air crew for the Second World War.

The CF-18 demo plane will be painted with a yellow-and-black design to commemorate the training program.