By Karen Rubin, editor@news-photos-features.com, news-photos-features.com
The US Navy Blue Angels headlined a very special Four Leaf Air Show at Jones Beach, this year honoring America’s 250th anniversary, so moved from the traditional Memorial Day Weekend to July 5 and 6. Some 268,000 turned out for the event on Monday; unfortunately, Tuesday’s show was cancelled for rain.
The Jones Beach event was special in other ways, as well, featuring more international participants than ever, including the first-ever visit to the United States by the United Arab Emirates aerobatic team, Fursan Al Emarat. The United Kingdom sent its Royal Air Force Aerobatic Team, the Red Arrows, and its British Army Parachute Display Team, the Red Devils, and Canada sent the Canadian Forces Snowbirds (431 Air Demonstration Squadron).
In a stunning and spectacular and surprising move, the Canadian Snowbirds joined the British Red Arrows to pay special honor for America’s 250th.
The event also featured Aaron Deliu, an Australian professional aerobatic pilot who is becoming a U.S. citizen, as well as local favorites, Farmingdale State College Flying Rams, historic “warbirds” from the American Airpower Museum, and the 106th Rescue Wing of the NY Air National Guard.
By Karen Rubin, editor@news-photos-features.com, news-photos-features.com
Hundreds of thousands turned out for a very special Four Leaf Airshow at Jones Beach, this year honoring America’s 250th anniversary, so moved from the traditional Memorial Day Weekend to July 5 and 6. The headliner, the U.S. Navy Blue Angels, also led the flyover at the July 4th Sail4th 250 event, leading some 200 aircraft.
The Jones Beach event was special in other ways, as well, featuring more international participants than ever, including the first-ever visit to the United States by the United Arab Emirates aerobatic team, Fursan Al Emarat. The United Kingdom sent its Royal Air Force Aerobatic Team, the Red Arrows, and its British Army Parachute Display Team, the Red Devils, and Canada sent the Canadian Forces Snowbirds (431 Air Demonstration Squadron).
In a stunning and spectacular and surprising move, the Canadian Snowbirds joined the British Red Arrows to pay special honor for America’s 250th.
The event also featured Aaron Deliu, an Australian professional aerobatic pilot who is becoming a U.S. citizen, as well as local favorites, Farmingdale State College Flying Rams, historic “warbirds” from the American Airpower Museum, and the 106th Rescue Wing of the NY Air National Guard.
The 268,000 spectators who crammed the beach and boardwalk for the FourLeaf Air Show at Jones Beach State Park on Sunday, July 5, was the second-highest attended air show in the park’s history. Unfortunately, Monday’s show was rained out.
Here are highlights of what you saw or what you missed:
By Karen Rubin, Travel Features Syndicate, goingplacesfarandnear.com
The US Navy Blue Angels were the headliners at the 2022 Bethpage Air Show at Jones Beach State Park, Long Island, over Memorial Day weekend, performing their heart-stopping maneuvers in their F/A-18 Super Hornets.
The Blue Angels were formed in 1946 by Chief of Naval Operations, Admiral Chester Nimitz, who had a vision to create a flight exhibition team to raise the public’s interest in naval aviation and boost Navy morale (and likely Congressional funding). In the 1940’s, the demonstration team thrilled audiences with precision combat maneuvers in the F6 Hellcat, the F8 Bearcat and the F9 Panther. During the 1950’s, they flew their aerobatic maneuvers in the F9 Cougar and F-11 Tiger and introduced the first six-plane delta formation, still flown to this day. By the end of the 1960’s, the team was flying the F-4 Phantom, the only two seat aircraft flown by the delta formation. In 1974, the Blue Angels transitioned to the A-4 Skyhawk, a smaller and lighter aircraft with a tighter turning radius allowing for a more dynamic flight demonstration. In 1986, the Blue Angels celebrated its 40th Anniversary by unveiling the Boeing F/A-18 Hornet. In 2021, the team began flying its current aircraft, the Boeing F/A-18 Super Hornet and celebrated its 75th anniversary.
A total of 17 officers voluntarily serve with the Blue Angels at one time, according to the Blue Angels’ website www.blueangels.navy.mil/. Each year the team typically selects three tactical (fighter or fighter/attack) jet pilots, two support officers and one Marine Corps C-130 pilot to relieve departing members. They typically serve two years with the team and then return to the fleet after their tours of duty.
Who gets selected? “The Chief of Naval Air Training selects the “Boss,” the Blue Angels Commanding Officer. Boss must have at least 3,000 tactical jet flight-hours and have commanded a tactical jet squadron. The Commanding Officer flies the Number 1 jet. The Chief of Naval Air Training also selects the “XO,” the Blue Angels Executive Officer. XO is a Naval Flight Officer (NFO) or Naval Aviator with at least 1,750 flight-hours.
“Career-oriented Navy and Marine Corps jet pilots with an aircraft carrier qualification and a minimum of 1,250 tactical jet flight-hours are eligible for positions flying jets Number 2 through 7. The Events Coordinator, Number 8, is a Naval Flight Officer (NFO) or Naval Aviator who has finished their first tour. The Marine Corps pilots flying the C-130J Hercules aircraft, affectionately known as “Fat Albert,” must be aircraft commander qualified with at least 1,200 flight hours.
“The mission of the Blue Angels is to showcase the teamwork and professionalism of the United States Navy and Marine Corps through flight demonstrations and community outreach while inspiring a culture of excellence and service to country.”
Just about every two years, the Blue Angels come to the Bethpage Air Show at Jones Beach to thrill audiences. This year, they performed in front of a capacity crowd of 181,000. Here are photo highlights.
The Blue Angels typically alternate with the U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds who are scheduled to headline 2023 Bethpage Air Show at Jones Beach next Memorial Day weekend.
The world-renowned United States Navy Blue Angels and the Royal Canadian Air Force Snowbirds will headline the 15th Annual Bethpage Air Show at Jones Beach, taking place Memorial Day Weekend, Saturday, May 26 and Sunday, May 27, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. The heart-stopping event is presented by Bethpage Federal Credit Union and the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation and draws some 400,000 people.
The U.S. Navy Blue Angels, last at Jones Beach in 2016, returned to the Bethpage Air Show for their eighth performance during their 72nd anniversary season and provide the climatic final performance of the show.
The US Navy Blue Angels flying F18 Hornets, were formed in 1946 as a flight demonstration team to keep the public interested in naval aviation. The Hornet can fly at speeds of more than Mach 1.7 – that is more than 1,294 mph – but during this performance, they kept it to just half of that, just below the point they would break the sound barrier. Still, there are times when they all approached from different directions at a combined speed of 1,000 mph; and when you see opposing fighter planes come at each other at 400 mph.
