Air & Sea Show

The Air & Sea Show is an annual air show in Miami Beach, Florida in which military and civilian performances take place around Lummus Park, Miami Beach. The event is produced and promoted by Mickey Markoff from its inception in 1995. The show usually took place on the first weekend of May in Fort Lauderdale, and drew hundreds of thousands of people to the beach to watch.[1]

Air & Sea Show
F/A-18 Hornet flying in Ft. Lauderdale during 2016 Air Show
FrequencyAnnually
Location(s)Fort Lauderdale
Miami Beach
CountryUnited States of America
InauguratedMay 6, 1995 (1995-05-06)
FounderMickey Markoff
Most recentMay 25, 2019 (2019-05-25)
SponsorsShell (1995-1998)
McDonald's (2002-2007)
Hyundai Motor America (2017-present)

History

Since its inception in 1995, it featured many unique aircraft and display teams like the Brazilian Air Force Smoke Squadron, the Royal Canadian Air Force Snowbirds, the ShowCopters, the Northern Lights, an L-39 Albatros and a replica of the Fokker Dr.I painted as the Red Baron. Civilian performers included Kirby Chambliss, Ian Groom, Jim LeRoy, Wayne Handley, Freddie Cabanas, Gene Soucy, the Red Baron Pizza Squadron, the Lima Lima Flight Team, and a South African Airways Boeing 747-400 flyby. From 2001 to 2007 the Air & Sea Show occurred as an extension of Fleet Week, with appearances by many military aircraft and ships, such as the U.S. Air Force F-15E Strike Eagle in 2006, the U.S. Navy F/A-18E/F Super Hornet and the U.S. Air Force F-22 Raptor in 2007. Aerial teams such as the Blue Angels and the Thunderbirds and parachute teams such as the U.S. Navy Leap Frogs, the U.S. Army Golden Knights, and the Air Force STARS were also featured. Notable performances were search and rescue demonstrations from the United States Air Force Reserve 920th Rescue Wing and the United States Coast Guard. The show was canceled in late 2007 after it was unable to find a new title sponsor after McDonald's decided it would no longer would be taking on that role.[1]

2012

The air show, then named the Lauderdale Air Show occurred for the first time on April 28–29, 2012. It featured many veteran performers who flew during the Air & Sea Show years like the United States Navy SEALs Leap Frogs parachute team and F/A-18 Hornet, the Air Force's Thunderbirds and B-1 Lancer, the United States Coast Guard Search and Rescue Demonstration, Kirby Chambliss, and Mike Wiskus. It also featured first time performers Rob Holland, Mike Goulian, the Skytypers Air Show Team, the 101st Airborne Division Screaming Eagles, the Black Diamond Jet team (consisting of 5 L-39 Albatros and one MiG-17 jets), the Red Bull Helicopter and Red Bull Air Force who performed alongside Chambliss, and flyovers of two Northrop F-5 Tigers from VFC-111 although the Sunday show was cancelled due to heavy rain.

2013

Originally, the Thunderbirds and the Navy's F/A-18 were slated to perform at the 2013 show which was on April 20–21 before sequestration grounded all military demonstration teams. The show went on regardless with civilian acts and featured the Spanish Air Force Parachute Team in their only North American event.

2014

The event was cancelled due to construction of the south runway at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport.

2015

The event was cancelled once again, this time because of reconstruction work on Florida State Road A1A.

2016

After a two-year delay, the now renamed Fort Lauderdale Air Show returned on May 7–8, 2016 in conjunction with Fleet Week at Port Everglades. It featured an all-star lineup that included the return of, after a ten-year absence, the Royal Canadian Air Force Snowbirds, the Thunderbirds, the U.S. Navy F/A-18 TAC Demo, the GEICO Skytypers, the U.S. Coast Guard rescue demonstration, Mike Wiskus, and the United States Marine Corps. AV-8B Harrier II for the first time in 12 years. Other acts that performed were, in their first appearance ever, the Royal Canadian Air Force McDonnell Douglas CF-18 Hornet, the Breitling Jet Team, Matt Chapman in the ERAU Extra 330 and the first civilian air show performance of the U.S. Air Force's Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II.

2017

The Lauderdale Air Show, sponsored by South Florida Ford, returned on May 6–7, 2017 with the Snowbirds as the headline act and featured the return of Sean Tucker after 10 years as well the F-16 Viper and the F/A-18F Super Hornet after 12 and 10 years, respectively. It also featured the Special Operations Command parachute team.

2018

The 2018 show was originally headlined by the Thunderbirds but were forced to cancel after the death of Major Stephen Del Bagno, the slot pilot. The show went on with the return of Mike Wiskus, Matt Chapman, the GEICO Skytypers, the SOCOM Para-Commandos, the Coast Guard rescue demonstration and the Super Hornet. The Quicksilver P-51 and the Korean War Hero F4U Corsair made their first-ever appearance as well. The Sunday show was cut short due to rain showers.

2019

The 2019 air show featured the Blue Angels for the first time in 13 years. The F-22 Raptor also performed for the first since time since 2007 when it debuted, along with Mike Wiskus, the GEICO Skytypers, the Special Operations Command parachute team, the Dash AeroSports L-39GXT Super Albatros, an air/sea race between Miss GEICO and two of the Skytypers, a C-17 Globemaster III from Altus Air Force Base and flyovers of F-16s from Homestead Air Reserve Base and A-10s from Moody Air Force Base.

2020

The Thunderbirds were the headliners for the 2020 show but later cancelled. Due to COVID-19, the event will take place on November 21-22, 2020 which featured the U.S. Air Force's Fairchild Republic A-10 Thunderbolt II, General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon, F-22 Raptor and F-35 Lightning II demonstration teams and the newly formed C-17 Globemaster III West Coast Demonstration Team along with the signature contracted performers.[2] In addition the Miss GEICO catamaran and Larry Labriola's Aero L-39 Albatross Jet Trainer also performed. It was the first time since the 2003 event that the A-10 performed at Fort Lauderdale Beach. For the first time in Fort Lauderdale Air Show history, due to COVID-19, a live stream was provided of the entire event.[3]

2021

The 2021 event will take place on Mothers Day Weekend, May 8-9 with the Blue Angels debuting their F/A-18E/F Super Hornets.

2022

The 2022 event is tentatively scheduled for April 30-May 1.

Successors

In 2012 a revived show started called the Fort Lauderdale Air Show.[4]

In 2017 the Air and Sea Show returned, this time at Miami Beach, Florida on Memorial Day weekend featuring an all military lineup.[5]

The 2018 show went on although some of the performers had to cancel on Saturday because of heavy rain and wind from Subtropical Storm Alberto. The sea portion of the show was cancelled on Sunday but the air show went on. Performers included the F-35 Heritage Flight Team and a flyby/demonstration combo of a C-17 from Wright-Patterson Air Force Base.

The 2019 show featured the newly formed F-35A Lightning II Demonstration Team and the Blue Angels who originally were scheduled to perform in Pennsylvania. The lineup included three parachute teams, the Golden Knights of the Army, the Leap Frogs of the Navy, and the United States Army Special Operations Command Black Daggers along with an F-15 of the Louisiana Air National Guard, the B-52, C-17 Globemaster III, A-10 Thunderbolt IIs, search and rescue from Coast Guard Air Station Miami, drug interdiction exercise from U.S. Customs and Border Protection and the Commemorative Air Force Red Tail Squadron P-51C Mustang.

The 2020 show was originally scheduled on May 23 and 24 with the Thunderbirds headlining but was cancelled due to COVID-19.

The 2021 event is scheduled to take place on May 29-30.

The 2022 event is scheduled to take place on May 28-29.

Notes

From 1995 to 1998, Shell Oil Company was the show's sponsor with McDonald's owning sponsorship from 2002 to 2007.

Currently the Fort Lauderdale Air Show has no sponsor while Hyundai Motor America is the current sponsor for the Air & Sea Show.

Accidents and incidents

On April 30, 2004, while practicing for the Air & Sea Show, featured performer Ian Groom died of blunt force trauma when his Sukhoi Su-31 dove into the Atlantic Ocean. Witnesses said the aircraft was in a nose-down attitude and spun into the ocean after performing a flat spin. A spokesperson of Groom's said it was likely he blacked out during the flat spin.[6][7]

References
  1. Kaye, Ken; Yee, Ivette (December 15, 2007). "Air & Sea Show pulls out of Fort Lauderdale after losing sponsor". The Sun Sentinel. Retrieved July 7, 2017.
  2. Valys, Phillip. "Fort Lauderdale Air Show 2020 guide to high-flying stunts, parking, tickets, livestream". sun-sentinel.com. Retrieved 2020-12-01.
  3. Valys, Phillip. "Fort Lauderdale Air Show 2020 guide to high-flying stunts, parking, tickets, livestream". sun-sentinel.com. Retrieved 2020-12-01.
  4. McCormick, Bernard (May 2016). "Enjoy A Brief History Of The Fort Lauderdale Air Show, As The Big Headliners Get Ready To Soar Over The Beach". Jupiter Magazine. Retrieved July 7, 2017.
  5. Degnan, Susan Miller (May 26, 2017). "Air & Sea Show, military meet & greet, highlight patriotic festivities on Miami Beach". The Miami Herald. Retrieved July 7, 2017.
  6. Kaye, Ken; Olmeda, Rafael; Hernandez, Jaime; Fleshler, David (May 1, 2004). "Air Show Pilot Killed". The Sun Sentinel. Retrieved July 7, 2017.
  7. Phillips, Rich (May 3, 2004). "Florida air show marks aerobatic pilot's death". CNN. Retrieved July 7, 2017.
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