Blue Angels, Thunderbirds and other demo teams announce 2024 Schedule
By far one of the biggest impacts the U.S. military has on positive public engagement and support is by participating in air shows. Hundreds of shows occur annually nationwide, from small rural shows and fly-ins to big-city skyscrapers and waterfronts with 1 million spectators. Those who fly such shows, particularly the military participants, travel week after week doing so for up to 9 months a year.
Right now everyone is settling in for the Christmas holiday and new year, following the recent ICAS convention in Las Vegas (International Council of Air Shows). That’s where the wheeling and dealing is done for the next year, schedules etc.
With 2023 now winding down, the various military jet demonstration teams have announced their air show schedules for 2024. They are outlined below:
Let’s start with the big 2, the Navy Blue Angels & USAF Thunderbirds
Both the Navy’s Blue Angels and U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds have a full year of flying air shows scheduled for 2024. Some changes are likely over the coming months, but overall these are the appearances that can be expected.
USAF F-35A Demo Team
The USAF F-35A Lightning II will again be thundering across air shows nationwide next year. And with a new, still to-be-announced demo pilot / commander. The team is from the 388th Fighter Wing at Hill Air Force Base, Utah, responsible for showing off the Air Force’s most advanced 5th generation multi-role stealth fighter. They also honor the history of the Air Force through heritage formation flights with older fighters (such as WWII P-51 Mustangs).
USAF F-22 Raptor Demo Team
The 14-member F-22 Raptor Demo team comes from the USAF 1st Fighter Wing, based at Joint Base Langley-Eustis, Virginia. Led by Commander and demo pilot Capt. Samuel “RazZ” Larson in his second year as the demo pilot, showcasing the Raptor to millions of spectators nationwide. Unlike the F-35, the F-22 is not an allied fighter. It belongs to America and America alone, making it uniquely capable compared to any other fighter in existence.
USAF F-16 Viper Demo Team
The USAF F-16 Viper demo team will once again be raging across select American air shows in 2024. They will have a new pilot and commander too, but who that is has yet to be announced. Their demo jet wears a sleek snakeskin paint scheme, nicknamed Venom. Based at the 20th Fighter Wing from Shaw Air force Base in Sumter, S.C.
USAF A-10 Demo Team
The USAF A-10 demo team has also released their 2024 schedule. Based at Davis-Monthan AFB, Arizona and led by Major Lindsay “Mad” Johnson, the team’s Pilot and Commander.
Other teams that are TBD
The Navy flies single-ship demos too, mostly at air shows where the Blue Angels are not scheduled. That ensures the Navy / USMC still has a presence to engage the public, even if the Blues are not there. Those teams usually announce their schedules in the spring.
That said, Navy single-jet teams you can expect at select shows next year include the EA-18G Growler team from VAQ-129 in Washington, and F-18 Hornet teams from VFA-106 and VFA-122 (based in Virginia and California). The Navy also flies a F-35C demo, but only at a few shows per year. Their 2024 schedule too is still TBD.
It’s important to note that active duty USAF and Navy units also participate in shows. Squadrons from far and wide may appear, or may be hosting the show itself.
For example, Navy test squadron VX-9 sent their special-painted heritage jet (above) to select shows in 2023 as a static display. The Army, USMC, USCG and various USAF units do the same. Just go to Sun N Fun or any base show, you’ll see plenty of tax-payer toys on static displays but not actually flying.
USAF Heritage & Navy Legacy Demos
Both the USAF and Navy participate in Heritage and Legacy flight programs, bringing past and present together at air shows as a tribute to those who came before. Military demo pilots will join formation with their civilian counterparts, flying a variety of old fighters from different eras (WWII, Korea, Vietnam etc).
Such flights are something special to see, but those schedules for 2024 are currently TBD. You can follow Air Force Heritage Flight Foundation and Navy Legacy Flight to stay up to date as info is released.
International Visitors
Other jet teams from other countries will be visiting select American shows in 2024. We all know the Canadian Snowbirds still flying those old Tutors. They have a single-jet CF-18 demo too, with a special paint scheme. Click the hyperlinks for more info.
The Italian Frecce Tricolori demonstration team will be visiting America next year. It will be the first time since 1992 that their signature red, white and green smoke will be seen across North America.
They will visit Canada to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the RCAF. While in the states they will perform a flyover of the Italian Navy tall ship Amerigo Vespucci as it visits Los Angeles, California. They will visit select shows and various iconic U.S. landmarks next summer, to commemorate the 500th anniversary of Giovanni da Verrazzano’s expedition to America in 1524.
The exact schedule still has not been announced, but select shows who have secured the team are already informing their followers. A couple known shows they will appear at between June and August include Rochester, NY and Cold Lake, Alberta.
