Air Force Thunderbirds, A-10, Navy Growlers wow sun-splashed crowd at Cocoa Beach Air Show
COCOA BEACH — Flying in tight diamond formation, four U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds transitioned into a single-file "echelon pass" lineup while soaring southward past hundreds of umbrellas and canopies carpeting Cocoa Beach's sunny shoreline.
Then — without warning — a fifth red, white and blue F-16 Fighting Falcon swooped overhead at high speed, startling Cocoa Beach Air Show spectators with its ear-splitting engine roar.
"Surprise, Cocoa Beach! That was Thunderbird 6 sneaking up on you with the sound of freedom," Thunderbirds narrator Maj. Jeffrey Downie informed the Lori Wilson Park audience.
More: Here's what you need to know about the Cocoa Beach Air Show
More: She was born in Melbourne. Now 'Mad' will fly A-10 to highlight the Cocoa Beach Air Show
Saturday, the Cocoa Beach Air Show drew tens of thousands of spectators to the oceanfront, snarling traffic across the city's State Road A1A corridor. Headlined by the Thunderbirds, the aerobatic performances continue Sunday across a prime viewing area extending from the Westgate Cocoa Beach Pier southward to Minutemen Causeway.
Opening ceremonies start at 11 a.m., with flight performances beginning about 11:15 a.m. The Thunderbirds are scheduled to fly from 2 to 2:45 p.m.
The air show lineup features the U.S. Navy EA-18G Growler, A-10C Thunderbolt II, B-52 Stratofortress long-range strategic bomber, C-17 Globemaster III and an Air Force Reserve 920th Rescue Wing combat search-and-rescue demonstration. Civilian stunt performers will also fly.
Nearby Patrick Space Force Base served as Saturday's deployment center of operations for the Thunderbirds, A-10s, Growlers and C-17. The hulking B-52 flew from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, while the civilian performers used Merritt Island Airport.
The Cocoa Beach Air Show marks the first of the 2023 season for Air Dot Show, the organizing company. The next show is in Fort Lauderdale from April 29 to 30, followed by dates in Augusta, Georgia; Ocean City, Maryland; New York; and Atlanta. The series ends Oct. 28 and 29 at Orlando Sanford International Airport.
Based in Houston, the Re/Max Skydiving Team kicked off Saturday's festivities. Mike Nugent jumped out of the squad's plane at 3,500 feet of elevation, then deployed his parachute and unfurled a large U.S. flag 1,800 feet above the beach. He floated down for a sand landing at the end of the national anthem.
"Conditions are awesome. Couldn't get any better. Light winds, clear skies, almost no cloud cover. Visibility's great," said fellow Re/Max Skydiving Team member Tyler Mathews, standing alongside Nugent after landing at Lori Wilson Park.
Nugent said the Texas skydivers spent Friday touring the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex.
"We've got a little bit better freefall visual stimulation here than in Houston. The water's not as pretty at home," Mathews said of jumping in Cocoa Beach.
A U.S. Coast Guard cutter floated off the Lori Wilson Park shore throughout the air show — with dozens of private watercraft forming a flotilla of seafaring spectators stretching northward toward Jetty Park.
The Brevard County Sheriff's Office aviation unit performed a training exercise for the crowd, saving a simulated swimmer in distress. Two rescue divers jumped into the ocean from the unit's UH-1H Huey helicopter, deploying an aquatic marker billowing orange smoke as Metallica's "Enter Sandman" blared from air-show speakers.
Air Force Capt. Lindsay "Mad" Johnson, who was born in Melbourne and earned a master's degree from the Florida Institute of Technology, experienced a homecoming by piloting the A-10C Thunderbolt II.
"Since commissioning through the United States Air Force Academy in 2014, Capt. Johnson has become a veteran instructor pilot with over 1,150 hours in the A-10 — including 87 combat missions amassing 430 flight hours supporting Americans and coalition ground forces over the skies of Afghanistan," Tech. Sgt. Allen Brewer told the crowd while she was airborne.
Firing fiery flares throughout her performance, Johnson performed low-altitude attack runs simulating use of her aircraft's 30-mm Gatling-style autocannon and 500-pound bombs. She also executed a slow-speed Air Force heritage flight alongside a World War II-vintage P-51 Mustang.
Johnson delivered a greeting and gave a shout-out to her family from her cockpit radio that was broadcast over loudspeakers.
"I love being back in my home state. Attack!" Johnson said.
Rick Neale is the South Brevard Watchdog Reporter at FLORIDA TODAY (for more of his stories, click here.) Contact Neale at 321-242-3638 or rneale@floridatoday.com. Twitter: @RickNeale1
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This article originally appeared on Florida Today: Air Force Thunderbirds, A-10, B-52 headline Cocoa Beach Air Show
