Each year, many United States Air Force bases, US Naval and Marine Corps Air Stations, and public airports host airshows. These day-long events are a great opportunity to get outdoors and see some great aviation-based entertainment.
In many cases, the shows will be headlined either by The USAF’s Thunderbirds or the US Navy’s Blue Angels. Both involve high-performance military jets flying in tight formations and daring solo events.
The shows usually involve a static display of military air power that you can walk up close to or interact with. Food and merch vendors are there to help you make it through the day. In many cases these are free, but there are usually paid, premium seating available.
The airshows will have a mix of private acrobatic planes, historic planes, and modern military planes performing demos.
Marine Corps Air Station (MCAS) Cherry Point, located in Havelock, NC hosts air wings of various units including F/A-18 squadrons, F-35B squadrons, AV-8B Harrier squadrons, and various rotary-wing units. Naturally, this show included demos of all three aircraft as well as a demo of the Marines assaulting the airfield.
This was a special day for the Marines as it was the final demo of the soon-to-be-retired AV-8B Harrier. These planes, which feature short/vertical takeoff and landing abilities (STOL/VTOL), have been one of the main ground support attack jets for the Marine Corps for years. They are being replaced by the new stealth F-35B Lightning II.
The highlight of the day is the headline act, the US Navy’s Blue Angels. Their roughly 30-minute show includes alternating passes of formation flying and two soloists doing daring aerobatic high-speed passes.
