2012 Florida International Air Show
This year’s event was headlined by two jet performance teams; The Navy’s Blue Angels and the Black Diamond civilian jet team. The third headline act was the largest air show team; Team RV. But that was just the beginning; there were many more aerial and static displays to entertain the crowd.
Over 50,000 people packed to the event each day to enjoy the show. All of the guests were treated to a spectacular show with the proceeded benefiting local charities.
We decided to attend Sunday’s show. Mother Nature made us a little worried on Saturday as it looked like Sunday might be a wash-out. But miraculously, the rain cleared just prior to the start of the show. The cold front brought us a few brief sprinklers, or liquid sunshine as the MC put it, and a nice cooling cloud cover for most of the event.
We arrived at the airport early and once the gate opened we headed straight to the upgrade booth and purchased reserved seating. This was the best $10 a person spent. We originally planned on getting the Flight Deck seating, but due to a glitch in the computer system, we did not get our tickets. But it ended up being a blessing in disguise as the reserved seating area seemed just as good if not better and was a lot friendlier on the wallet. We ended up being the first people into the reserved seating area and we got front row seats for the show.
From there we went to tour the static displays. They had plenty of diversity on the static displays. The static displays included:
- B-25 “Panchito”
- B-25 Mitchell “Barbie III”
- B-29 Superfortress “Fifi”
- Bell UH-1 Iroquois (Charlotte County Sheriff & Mosquito Control)
- Boeing E75 Stearman
- C-130 “Hurricane Hunter” (US Air Force)
- CF-188 Hornet (Canadian Air Force)
- Cessna Caravan (FedEx Feeder)
- Cessna Skylane (Civil Air Patrol)
- Cessna Super Skymaster
- Douglas AC-47 “Spooky”
- Douglas C-54 Skymaster (Berlin AirLift)
- Lockheed L-12 Electra Junior
- MH-53 Sea Dragon (US Navy)
- North American AT-6
- North American SNJ-5 Texan
- O-2 Skymaster
- OV-1 Mohawk
- Piper Cherokee (Florida Division of Forestry)
- UH-60 Blackhawk (US Navy)
All these great static aircraft were joined by interactive recruiting booths by all branches of the armed services, kid’s area, great vendor stands and of course delicious food.
The aerial portion of the show began with a performance by the Charlotte County R/C Society. Their fleet of radio controlled aircraft put on a quite a show and helped entertain the crowd until the show began.
The opening ceremony of the show featured the parachute team from the United States Special Operations Command delivering the US and Canadian flags while flew over in formation.
Following the opening ceremony, the parachute team performed a second jump. This time, four jumpers free-fall in formation until they broke apart and came down in a row in front of the crowd.
The skies then filled with the planes of Team RV. Team RV is the word’s largest air show team with twelve planes. Team RV flies the RV-8 experimental plane which can reach speeds of 200 mph. After an action packed show filled with close formation flying, barrel rolls and much more aerial tricks, the team ended with a NASCAR style burn-out on the runway.
Next came Matt Younkin performing in the Twin Beech 18. Matt is a third generation acrobatic pilot who performs in an aircraft not designed for acrobatic maneuvers. But you can’t tell by watching him perform as he pushes his Twin Beech to the limit. Matt ended his show was an amazing “ Elephant Waltz” where makes his plane look like it is walking down the runway.
From here we switched gears to two World War II era fighter planes. The F8F Bearcat and the F4U Corsair. These planes patrolled the sky and were a key part to the allied aerial dominance during World War II. The Bearcat and the Corsair performed laps for the crowd while pyrotechnics simulated bombing runs. Afterwards, the show kicked it up a notch with the first jet fighter demo.
We saw what the World War II fighters were capable, now we fast-forwarded to a modern day fighter. The F/A-18 Hornet is a multi-role fighter used by the US Navy. It can reach speeds of Mach 1.8. It demonstrated many of the maneuvers that it can use to overwhelm the enemy.
After the Hornet landed, Gary Ward took to the sky in his MX2. Gary performs amazing aerial acrobatics in his MX2, an aircraft specially designed for acrobatic performances. The show concluded with a drag race against Jerry McCart’s Wicked Willy Jet Funny Car. Gary and Jerry raced down the runway with the amazing backdrop of the Wall of Fire.
Then it was time for our first of two jet teams, the Black Diamond Jet Team. The Black Diamonds were briefly delayed when one of their jets had to taxi back to the ramp with mechanical problems. But that didn't keep them from putting on an amazing performance. The Black Diamond Jet Team is a civilian jet team that consists of five L-39 Albatros and two Russian Mig-17. Their performance included maneuvers such as the diamond loop where the aircraft are just inches apart, the Make-A-Wish Roll in which the five L-39’s fly in formation while a Mig-17 barrel rolls around the entire formation and several other high-intensity maneuvers.
Finally after several hours of great aerial entertainment, we had reached the grand finale, the Blue Angels performance. While the Blue Angels made their final preparations for their performance, the F8F Bearcat flew again to entertain the crowds.
The Blue Angels then took to the air. The diamond formation, Blues 1 thorough 4, were first off the runway followed by the opposing solos, Blues 5 & 6. These six jets make up the Blue Angels aerial demonstration unit. The Blue Angels fly the F/A-18 Hornet, specially designed for performance. Their performance consists of alternating maneuvers performed by the diamond formation and the solos. Their forty-five minute show is packed with high-speeds and pin-point accuracy providing a breathtaking aerial show. The Blue Angels performance wrapped up the show. It was a great conclusion to a great show.
The performers, air show staff and volunteers made the 2012 Florida International Air Show an overwhelming success. Their hard work and dedication led to a very enjoyable show. Not to mention that this was all done to help the community as the proceeds from the show go towards local charities.
Click on the photo above to view my photos from the 2012 Florida International Air Show.
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