The Air & Sea Show is an annual

air show An air show (or airshow, air fair, air tattoo) is a public event where aircraft are exhibited. They often include aerobatics demonstrations, without they are called "static air shows" with aircraft parked on the ground. The largest air show m ...

founded by producer Mickey Markoff in 1995 in

South Florida South Florida is the southernmost region of the U.S. state of Florida. It is one of Florida's three most commonly referred to directional regions; the other two are Central Florida and North Florida. South Florida is the southernmost part of th ...

. 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. In recent years, the event has been scheduled during Memorial Day Weekend in

Miami Beach, Florida Miami Beach is a coastal resort city in Miami-Dade County, Florida. It was incorporated on March 26, 1915. The municipality is located on natural and artificial island, man-made barrier islands between the Atlantic Ocean and Biscayne Bay, the ...

around

Lummus Park, Miami Beach Lummus Park is a public, urban park in Miami Beach (Miami-Dade, Florida), on the Atlantic Ocean. Description The park is on the eastern side of Ocean Drive, from 5th to 15th Streets. When redesigned and improved in the mid-1980s, it became par ...

. The event includes military and civilian performances, and was designed to help the

U.S. military The United States Armed Forces are the military forces of the United States. The armed forces consists of six service branches: the Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force, Space Force, and Coast Guard. The president of the United States is the ...

with recruiting, morale, retention, and to reconnect the U.S. military with the American public, giving it the unofficial nickname of Super Bowl of Air Shows. It has since developed into a tribute to veterans and active service members, and has been rebranded as 'A National Salute to America's Heroes". The show has been produced and promoted by Mickey Markoff since its inception in 1995.

History

Since its inception in 1995, it featured many unique aircraft and display teams like the Brazilian Air Force

Smoke Squadron The Aerial Demonstration Squadron ( pt, Esquadrão de Demonstração Aérea), popularly known as Smoke Squadron (Portuguese: ''Esquadrilha da Fumaça'') is the Brazilian Air Force's air demonstration squadron. History Its first display was on ...

, the Royal Canadian Air Force Snowbirds, the ShowCopters, the Northern Lights, an L-39 Albatros and a replica of the

Fokker Dr.I The Fokker Dr.I (''Dreidecker'', "triplane" in German), often known simply as the Fokker Triplane, was a World War I fighter aircraft built by Fokker-Flugzeugwerke. The Dr.I saw widespread service in the spring of 1918. It became famous as the ...

painted as

the Red Baron Manfred Albrecht Freiherr von Richthofen (; 2 May 1892 – 21 April 1918), known in English as Baron von Richthofen or the Red Baron, was a fighter pilot with the German Air Force during World War I. He is considered the ace-of-aces of t ...

. Civilian performers included

Kirby Chambliss Kirby Chambliss (born October 18, 1959 in Corpus Christi, Texas) is an American world champion aerobatic and air race pilot who raced in the Red Bull Air Race World Series under the Red Bull brand. Biography Chambliss was born in Corpus Ch ...

, Ian Groom,

Jim LeRoy Jim LeRoy (April 5, 1961 – July 28, 2007) was an American aerobatics pilot. He died upon impact in a crash at the Dayton Air Show in Ohio. Background A former US Marine Corps Scout/Sniper, Jim LeRoy held a B.S. degree in Aeronautical/Aerospace e ...

Wayne Handley Wayne Handley (born March 26, 1939 in Carmel Valley Village, California, Carmel, California) is an American airshow performer, former naval aviator, agricultural pilot, Aerobatic Competency Evaluator (ACE), and coach for upcoming and current air ...

, Freddie Cabanas,

Gene Soucy Gene Soucy is an American aerobatics pilot. The son of 2 pilots, he would wash airplanes at a local airport in exchange for flight time while growing up in Kentucky. He soloed in a glider at age 14, and in a regular airplane at 16. Soucy began fl ...

, the

Red Baron Pizza Red is the color at the long wavelength end of the visible spectrum of light, next to orange and opposite violet. It has a dominant wavelength of approximately 625–740 nanometres. It is a primary color in the RGB color model and a secondary ...

Squadron, the

Lima Lima Flight Team The Lima Lima Flight Team is a precision formation flying demonstration team based in Naperville, Illinois. The name derives from the FAA identifier of the field where the team originated. Naper Aero Club (LL-10) is located in the western suburbs ...

, the

Starfighters Inc Starfighters Inc is a civilian organization that uses F-104 Starfighters for contract testing and flight simulations. History Starfighters Inc, based in Clearwater, Florida, began as a private venture founded in 1995 to restore and fly three f ...

F-104s and a

South African Airways South African Airways (SAA) is the flag carrier airline of South Africa. Founded in 1934, the airline is headquartered in Airways Park at O. R. Tambo International Airport in Johannesburg and operated a hub-and-spoke network, serving ten destin ...

Boeing 747-400 The Boeing 747-400 is a large, long-range wide-body airliner produced by Boeing Commercial Airplanes, an advanced variant of the initial Boeing 747. The "Advanced Series 300" was announced at the September 1984 Farnborough Airshow, targeting ...

flyby. From 2001 to 2007 the Air & Sea Show occurred as an extension of

Fleet Week Fleet Week is a United States Navy, United States Marine Corps, and United States Coast Guard tradition in which active military ships recently deployed in overseas operations dock in a variety of major cities for one week. Once the ships dock, ...

, with appearances by many military aircraft and ships, such as the U.S. Air Force's B-52, B-1 Lancer, B-2 Spirit,

F-117 Nighthawk The Lockheed F-117 Nighthawk is a retired American single-seat, twin-engine stealth attack aircraft developed by Lockheed's secretive Skunk Works division and operated by the United States Air Force (USAF). It was the first operational airc ...

, C-5 Galaxy, A-10, F-15C, and F-16 East and West Coast demonstration teams, F-15E Strike Eagle Demonstration Team in 2006, the U.S. Navy F-14 Tomcat,

F/A-18 Hornet The McDonnell Douglas F/A-18 Hornet is an all-weather, twinjet, twin-engine, supersonic aircraft, supersonic, carrier-based aircraft, carrier-capable, Multirole combat aircraft, multirole combat aircraft, designed as both a Fighter aircraft, ...

, and F/A-18E/F Super Hornet and the U.S. Air Force F-22 Raptor in 2007 along with the United States Marine Corps

AV-8B Harrier II The McDonnell Douglas (now Boeing) AV-8B Harrier II is a single-engine ground-attack aircraft that constitutes the second generation of the Harrier family, capable of vertical or short takeoff and landing (V/STOL). The aircraft is primaril ...

V-22 Osprey The Bell Boeing V-22 Osprey is an American multi-mission, tiltrotor military aircraft with both vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) and short takeoff and landing (STOL) capabilities. It is designed to combine the functionality of a convention ...

and AH-64 Apache from the

Florida Army National Guard The Florida Army National Guard is Florida's component of the United States Army and the United States National Guard. In the United States, the Army National Guard comprises approximately one half of the federal army's available combat forces ...

. Display 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 The 920th Rescue Wing (920 RQW) is part of the Air reserve component, Air Reserve Component (ARC) of the United States Air Force. The wing is assigned to the Tenth Air Force of the Air Force Reserve Command (AFRC). The 920th Rescue Wing is stat ...

and the United States Coast Guard as well as a beach invasion from various Navy and Marine Corps units. Unofficially, the event has been nicknamed "The Super Bowl of Air Shows". 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. In 2017 the Air and Sea Show returned, this time at

Miami Beach Miami Beach is a coastal resort city in Miami-Dade County, Florida. It was incorporated on March 26, 1915. The municipality is located on natural and man-made barrier islands between the Atlantic Ocean and Biscayne Bay, the latter of which sep ...

, Florida on Memorial Day weekend featuring an all military lineup. 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 Louisiana Air National Guard (LA ANG) is the aerial militia of the U.S. state of Louisiana. It is, along with the Louisiana Army National Guard, an element of the Louisiana National Guard. As state militia units, the units in the Louisiana A ...

, 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 2020 event was pivoted to honor frontline workers fighting the pandemic with a flyover of the Blue Angels. The 2021 show featured, along with the U.S. Air Force Reserve Para-Rescue demonstration which consisted of the 920th Rescue Wing and A-10s of the Maryland Air National Guard, Customs and Border Protection drug interdiction exercise, and Coast Guard search-and-rescue, flybys of a

B-52 Stratofortress The Boeing B-52 Stratofortress is an American long-range, subsonic, jet-powered strategic bomber. The B-52 was designed and built by Boeing, which has continued to provide support and upgrades. It has been operated by the United States Air ...

from

Barksdale Air Force Base Barksdale Air Force Base (Barksdale AFB) is a United States Air Force (USAF) base in northwest Louisiana, United States, in Bossier Parish. It is contiguous to Bossier City, Louisiana, along the base's western and northwestern edge. Barksdale AFB ...

, an

F-16 Fighting Falcon The General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon is a single-engine multirole fighter aircraft originally developed by General Dynamics for the United States Air Force (USAF). Designed as an air superiority day fighter, it evolved into a successful ...

from Homestead Air Reserve Base, CH-53E Super Stallions from Marine Corps Air Station New River, F-15 Eagles from the Louisiana and Florida Air National Guard, B-2 Spirit from Whiteman Air Force Base and joint formation flyovers of trainer aircraft from

Laughlin Air Force Base Laughlin Air Force Base is a facility of the United States Air Force located east of Del Rio, Texas. Overview Laughlin AFB, the largest pilot training base in the US Air Force, is home to the 47th Flying Training Wing of the Air Education and ...

, Sheppard Air Force Base and Randolph Air Force Base as well as 4 A-10s from Moody Air Force Base alongside a KC-135 Stratotanker from

Andrews Air Force Base Andrews Air Force Base (Andrews AFB, AAFB) is the airfield portion of Joint Base Andrews, which is under the jurisdiction of the United States Air Force. In 2009, Andrews Air Force Base merged with Naval Air Facility Washington to form Joint B ...

. Demonstrations included the Commemorative Air Force Red Tail Squadron P-51C Mustang "By Request", the United States Army Golden Knights, USASOC Black Daggers and the debut of the British Army

Red Devils (Parachute Regiment) The Red Devils are the Parachute Regiment's parachute display team. The team wears the distinctive maroon beret. The Red Devils are regular serving paratroopers from the four battalions of the Parachute Regiment who have volunteered to serve on ...

Display Team. The show was originally slated to include a concert, but was cancelled due to concerns over budget. The 2022 event featured the USAF's F-16 Viper and the Navy's F/A-18 Super Hornet demonstration teams along with the Coast Guard and Para-Rescue search-and-rescue demonstrations and Customs and Border Protection's drug interdiction exercise. F-16s of the 482nd Fighter Wing, B-52 Stratofortress, and B-1 Lancers performed flybys while the C-17 Globemaster III from Wright-Patterson Air Force Base did a brief demonstration. For the first time in the show's history, the Army's Golden Knights and Black Daggers alongside the Navy's Leap Frogs and British Army Red Devils participated in the event. The event culminated in an evening concert headlined by 3 Doors Down and a fireworks extravaganza on Saturday night. A majority of the performances occurred on Sunday before thunderstorms forced the event to be cut short. The 2023 show debuted the Army SaluteFest which showcased Army assets on Saturday along with a nighttime drone show and performances by Natti Natasha, JVKE, Chris Janson and Breland. New performances included a demonstration from the Army Special Operations Command with UH-60 Black Hawks and AH-64 Apaches from the

82nd Airborne Division The 82nd Airborne Division is an Airborne forces, airborne infantry division (military), division of the United States Army specializing in Paratrooper, parachute assault operations into denied areasSof, Eric"82nd Airborne Division" ''Spec Ops ...

in securing a hijacked ship and the beachhead. The United States Air Force's F-35A Lightning II Demonstration Team headlined the event along with flying next to an

A-1 Skyraider The Douglas A-1 Skyraider (formerly known as the AD Skyraider) is an American single-seat attack aircraft in service from 1946 to the early 1980s. The Skyraider had an unusually long career, remaining in front-line service well into the Jet Age ...

for the Heritage Flight. The Skyraider also flew with the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet for the Navy Legacy Flight on Sunday only. The show ended with a missing man formation from the Army's Golden Knights, the Navy's Leap Frogs and the British Army Red Devils. The event culminated in a concert on Sunday with the Air Force Band and the Air Force Honor Guard Drill Team before Big & Rich closed out the weekend with a fireworks spectacular. The 2024 show included the debut of the United States Marine Corps F-35B Lightning II from

VMFAT-501 Marine Fighter Attack Training Squadron 501 (VMFAT-501) is a training squadron in the United States Marine Corps, consisting of 28 F-35B Lightning II aircraft and serves as the Fleet Replacement Squadron. Known as the "Warlords," the squadron i ...

and the Altus Joint Demonstration Team and flybys of a

Bell 412 The Bell 412 is a utility helicopter of the Huey family manufactured by Bell Helicopter. It is a development of the Bell 212, with the major difference being the composite four-blade main rotor. Design and development Development began in the ...

from the National Nuclear Security Administration. The event was highlighted by a formation flyover of the B-1, B-2 and B-52 bombers which occurred on Saturday.

Notes

From 1995 to 1998, Shell Oil Company was the show's sponsor with McDonald's owning sponsorship from 2002 to 2007. 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, signature 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 water after performing a flat spin. A spokesperson of Groom's said it was likely he blacked out during the flat spin.

References

External links

Official website of Hyundai Air & Sea Show in Miami
{{DEFAULTSORT:Air and Sea Show Aviation in Florida Air shows in the United States Events in Florida 1995 establishments in Florida 2008 disestablishments in Florida Annual events in Florida

History

Notes

Accidents and incidents

See also

References

External links