PENSACOLA, Fla. — The U.S. Navy Blue Angels will launch into their 75th anniversary season on Saturday with a single day air show from Southern California.
The inaugural Festival of Flight air show is scheduled for March 13, from the home of the Blue Angels winter training grounds at NAF El Centro. High-flying performances by a variety of military aircraft are also scheduled to perform from 12:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. PST.
The military jet performances for the Festival of Flight will be closed to the public due to Covid-19 concerns. Only a live radio broadcast will be available.
“We want everyone to enjoy the festival and the aviation demonstration teams which will be performing and broadcast in a virtual space,” NAF El Centro commanding officer Capt. William Perkins said. “Although we cannot accommodate a public viewing on or near the base, we will be providing the experience through live radio broadcast and following up the festival with short videos highlights which enable a safe, virtual, contactless experience.”
Residents in the Imperial Valley can tune to radio stations 107.5 FM or 1230 AM for live air show commentary. The stations presently do not stream via the Internet.
The Imperial Valley show will mark the Blue Angels first full show featuring their F/A-18E/F Super Hornets. The squadron upgraded from the smaller legacy hornets last November.
“We deeply appreciate the expertise and operational knowledge Blue Angels past and present have brought to the team,” Blue Angels commanding officer Cmdr. Brian Kesselring said. “We look forward to enhancing our operations as we fully transition to flying the Super Hornet.”
Performances will also include the Air Force’s A-10C Thunderbolt II and the Navy’s F/A-18F TACDEMO from NAS Lemoore. The Navy Leapfrogs jump team and the Marine Corps’ MV-22 Osprey are also scheduled to perform.
12:30 p.m. U.S. Navy Parachute Team – The Leapfrogs
12:45 p.m. VFA-122 F/A-18F TACDEMO
13:05 p.m. VMM-163 MV-22 (Osprey) Demo
13:20 p.m. USAF A-10 Thunderbolt II Demo
13:45 p.m. VFA-122 F/A-18F TACDEMO
14:30 p.m. U.S. Navy Blue Angels
The Blue Angels are scheduled to perform 53 flight demonstrations at 28 locations across the United States and Canada during 2021.
(Charles A Atkeison reports on aerospace and technology. Follow his updates via social media @Military_Flight.)
