By Karen Rubin, Travel Features Syndicate, goingplacesfarandnear.com
One of the best air shows in the world happens each Memorial Day weekend: the Bethpage Air Show at Jones Beach State Park, Long Island. Celebrating its 20th anniversary, it cannot be beat for spectacular aeronautical feats amidst the ambiance of Jones Beach, where you see the action right in front of you, just above the ocean and stretching to the horizon. The intense action is so close, you often can see the pilots in the cockpits, and so fast and daring, it takes your breath away.
Here are photo highlights from the 2024 air show
The show was headlined and climaxed by the U.S. Navy Blue Angels – a team of six performing their heart-stopping maneuvers in their F/A-18 Super Hornets. They are famous for the Diamond formation, when they fly as close as 18 inches apart, but what most excites me is when the two solos fly extraordinary maneuvers, including coming at each other at a combined speed of over 700 mph. (See: Photo Highlights: US Navy Blue Angels at 20th Anniversary Bethpage Air Show at Jones Beach)
The air show traditionally opens with the United States Army Golden Knights Parachute Team, who launch out of a plane some 30,000 feet high, stream down at 200 mph, and float down to a target in the middle of the crowd on the beach carrying American and POW flags. The Golden Knights portray the image of being the most formidable parachuting competitors and demonstrators in the world today. The team returns for a more intense demonstration that includes free falling, triple-tethered, and a parachutist wearing a suit that lets him fly like a squirrel before finally pulling the chord to his parachute.
American Airpower Museum Warbirds, flying vintage WWII fighters and patrol planes, pay homage to Long Island’s historic role as the nation’s arsenal of democracy. Republic Aviation, the complex in Farmingdale where the AAM stands now, produced over 9,000 P-47 Thunderbolts, and today the museum’s collection preserves the heritage and history. The Warbird performance will conclude with a precision aerobatic demonstration of one of the museum’s legendary WWII Fighters.
U.S. Navy F-35C Lightning II Demonstration Team and Legacy Flight shows off the capabilities of this 5th Generation fighter. The F-35C is the world’s most advanced multi-role fighter. With a top speed of 1,200 mph, the F-35C is even capable of setting off sonic booms, but for the air show, stay within 700 mph – still heart-pounding fast. The F-35C has the most powerful and comprehensive integrated sensor package of any fighter aircraft in history, giving pilots 360-degree access to “real-time” battlefield information. The demo features a Legacy Flight formation, providing a unique comparison between the past and present.
U.S. Air Force A-10C Thunderbolt II Demonstration Team and Heritage Flight showcases the combat capabilities of the A-10 “Warthog” by performing precision aerial maneuvers. Additionally, the team brings attention to the Air Force’s history by flying formations with historical aircraft in the Air Force Heritage Flight.
Long Island’s own David Windmiller, who began flying when he was just 14 years old, soloing for the first time on his 16th birthday, performs aerobatics in his Zivko Edge 540, thrilling spectators with seemingly impossible feats. Equipped with a custom built project engine of Teledyne, thrust to weight ratio over 1:1, Windmiller’s plane has a climb rate of 3,700 feet per minute, and a rote rate of 420 degrees per minute, making his plane the ideal aircraft for aerobatic flight.
Mike Goulian earned the distinction of becoming one of the youngest pilots to ever win the United States Unlimited Aerobatic Champion at the age of 27, and is considered one of the most decorated aerobatic pilots in the country. His signature air show performance combines the heart-stopping gyroscopic tumbling of modern display flying with the crisp, aggressive, demands of precision competition aerobatics.
Warbird Thunder features the North American SNJ Texan, an aircraft used to train “The Greatest Generation” for WWII and Korean Conflict. The performance features two SNJs, performing formation aerobatics offering a great spectator experience due to the aircraft’s large physical size, beautiful radial engine sound, and fantastic smoke presentation. The SNJ was nicknamed “Ol Growler” because of its distinct deep and throaty roar. Warbird Thunder’s formation aerobatic routine is fast paced and entertaining. The two aircrafts perform formation loops, aileron rolls, barrel rolls, and Cuban Eights and thrilling opposing aerobatics.
The Skytypers is a flight squadron of vintage WWII era U.S. Navy SNJ-2 trainers that perform low-altitude precision-formation maneuver mimicking the tactics and maneuvers utilized during WWII air battles. The Skytypers may be most famous for their skytyped messages in the sky which can be seen for nearly 400 square miles, which they have done for 40 years.
Farmingdale State College Aviation Center students demonstrate the prowess learned at the largest collegiate flight school in the Northeast region, and the only SUNY School to offer a 4 Year Degree Program in Aeronautical Science, the Aviation Center averages 5,800 Flight Hours a Year in Solo and Dual Flight Instruction.
106th Rescue Wing, NY Air National Guard HC – 130 / HH 60 Formation provides a demonstration of how it provides combat search and rescue coverage for U.S. and allied forces worldwide. In December 1994, the 106th established the record for the longest over water helicopter rescue mission when it saved a Ukrainian sailor in the icy waters off the North Atlantic. The 106th may be best known for a mission during a 1991 storm made famous by the movie “The Perfect Storm”. The HH-60 is tasked to perform day and night personnel recovery operations in hostile environments to recover isolated personnel during war, civil search and rescue, medical evacuation, disaster response, humanitarian assistance, security cooperation/aviation advisory, NASA space flight support, and rescue command and control.
The Bethpage Jones Beach Air Show has drawn as many as 444,000, and drew a total attendance of 351,000 in 2023. The 2024 air show was already headed into the record books, with 106,000 coming for Friday’s rehearsal (the parking lots reached capacity), and the first full show on Saturday also reached capacity. Sunday’s show reached capacity.
See also:
Photo Highlights: US Navy Blue Angels at 20th Anniversary Bethpage Air Show at Jones Beach
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