It's nearly spring, which means the sounds of jet engines over Florida's skies as air show season kicks off. This year, the state will see 10 visits from the top two jet demonstrations, the Air Force Thunderbirds and Navy Blue Angels. Each performance team plans five stops in the Sunshine State with shows in spring, summer and fall from Key West to the Panhandle.
First up will be the Thunderbirds March 19-20 at Tampa Bay AirFest, a free event held at MacDill Air Force Base. The Air Force team will also make spring stops April 9-10 at the new Gateway to Florida Air Show in Lake City and return May 7-8 for the Lauderdale Air Show, which has not been held since 2013. The Thunderbirds will then return in the fall on Oct 8-9 for the Embry-Riddle Wings and Waves Air Show in Daytona Beach and Nov. 5-6 Wings Over Homestead show at Homestead Air Reserve Base. “We have the air show version of the hat trick,” said Lauderdale Air Show President Bryan Lilley. “We've got the Thunderbirds, Canadian Air Force Snowbirds and Breitling Jet Team. I think that will be the biggest show in North America in 2016.” The Blue Angels, whose 2016 plans were detailed more than a year ago, will also make five stops in Florida. The demonstration team whose home base is in Pensacola will make its first Florida visit April 2-3 with the Southernmost Air Spectacular at the Key West Naval Air Station and then summer visits to Vero Beach on June 25-26 and Pensacola Beach on July 16. They finish up in the fall with the Jacksonville Sea and Sky Spectacular Air Show in Jacksonville Beach on Nov. 5-6 and their Homecoming Air Show at Pensacola Naval Air Station on Nov. 11-12.
There are several air shows planned in 2016 around the state that did not land one of the performance squads including the upcoming shows in Titusville, Lakeland and Melbourne, although all three will get headliners in 2017.
