2023 Thunder Over NH Air Show at Pease: Here's how to get parking passes, premium seats
PORTSMOUTH — The Air Force F-16 Viper Demo Team is among the headlining performers announced for the 2023 Thunder Over New Hampshire Air Show. The list also includes a Jelly Belly-sponsored aerobatic performer and pilots from the Massachusetts and Vermont Air National Guards.
The show is set for Sept. 9-10 at the New Hampshire Air National Guard Base at Pease, home of the 157th Air Refueling Wing and a fleet of KC-46A Pegasus tankers.
"We’ve got a pretty solid military lineup for this year’s show," said Herb Gillen, promoter and producer for the event.
The last Thunder over New Hampshire Air Shows at Pease in September 2021, headlined by the Air Force Thunderbirds, drew an estimated 50,000 people. The 2023 show could be slightly smaller due to construction on the base, according to Gillen.
Tickets, parking passes for Pease show available soon
Admission to the show is free, but Thunder Over New Hampshire requires attendees to register for a free parking pass ahead of the event, as space is limited. The public can begin ordering tickets and parking passes starting on Tuesday, March 21 at 8 a.m. The air show’s “Insights” members, however, will be able to reserve free parking passes and purchase tickets in advance, beginning at 8 a.m. on Saturday, March 18.
Premium parking passes closer to the show line will be available for $75.
Information: thunderovernewhampshire.com
What to know about Air Force F-16 Viper Demo Team and other aircraft
The Air Force F-16s, which each weigh close to 20,000 pounds without fuel, can reach 1,500 mph. The Pease shows will also feature Vermont Air National Guard F-35A Lightning IIs, the Massachusetts Air National Guard F-15 Eagles and the KC-135 demonstration team from Fairchild Air Force Base in Washington.
Rounding out the lineup is the Air Force C-17 Globemaster Demo aircraft and the New Hampshire Army Guard UH-60 Blackhawk.
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Special performers will bring aerobatics and jelly beans to Pease
The show will also feature the U.S. Special Operations Command Para Commandos, which is an aerial parachute demonstration team, and individual aerobatic performers Rob Holland and Kent Pietsch.
A New England native, Holland now operates his own aerobatic flight school after accruing experience as a corporate pilot, commuter pilot, flight instructor and ferry pilot. Holland operates the 1,200-pound MXS-RH aircraft.
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Pietsch is sponsored by Jelly Belly, according to Gillen, who noted the performer comes equipped with bags of jelly beans for the crowd and has three main acts. One features him landing his aircraft on the back of a truck while it is traveling 60 mph on a runway. Pietsch, who has performed at over 400 air shows since 1973, flies an 800-pound Interstate Cadet with a 37-foot wingspan and additionally performs a “dead stick” routine in which he cuts the engine at 6,000 feet in the air and dazzles crowds with tricks as the plane descends.
The 2023 event will additionally include dozens of static aircraft for the public to view.
“It’s a great community. The folks that work at Pease are fantastic,” Gillen added. “It’s a very patriotic community. Being with the people and seeing the faces of people, especially of the kids, light up when they get to meet a performer or see their favorite aircraft is my favorite part of the show.”
This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: 2023 Thunder Over NH Air Show at Pease: Parking passes, F-16 Vipers
