Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Lauderdale air show returns May 6-7
No Navy Blue Angels or Air Force Thunderbirds this year
The Fort Lauderdale air show will rock, rumble and roll across the beach skies the first weekend in May, hoping to build on last year’s success after a few years of show turbulence.
This year’s headline act is from another country’s military: the Canadian Forces Snowbirds. The Canadian-built jets fly at speeds up to 370 miles an hour. At times, the jets are just four feet apart, punctuating their stunts with puffy ribbons of white smoke.
Also in the lineup for the show: the U.S. Navy F-18 Super Hornet, a twin-engine fighter aircraft; the Air Force F-16 Viper, used for air-to-air combat as well as airto-surface attacks; and private act Sean Tucker, with his Team Oracle aerobatic biplane act.
More performers will be revealed soon, Ford Lauderdale Air Show producer Bryan Lilley said Monday. For more information about the acts and the show spon-
sored by Ford, go to fortlauderdaleairshow.com.
The popular U.S. military air show flight teams, the U.S. Navy Blue Angels and the U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds, won’t be there. Both have amazed viewers with their speed, roar and mathematical precision in past air shows held at Fort Lauderdale beach, but Lilley says his fledgling production needs continuity to book those acts, and the show faltered in recent years.
The Thunderbirds, who performed at the air show last year, will perform at the 2018 show, he said, and the Blue Angels have been requested for 2019.
“In 2016, we came back in a very large way,” said Lilley, a Melbourne businessman who produces air shows in Melbourne, Ocean City, Md.; New York City, and this year, Atlanta. “We’re in the process now of getting that continuity.”
Fort Lauderdale’s air show, an extravaganza that began in 1995, has seen highs, lows, dips and twirls over the years. It even sputtered to a halt for five years, until Lilley resurrected the show in 2012, with help from business partners Dev and Ramola Matwani, Fort Lauderdale developers.
The inaugural show wasn’t exactly a victorious blast-off. Rain ruined the second day of the 2012 show. The following year, federal budget cuts grounded the headline act, the Thunderbirds. In 2014, the show was called off because the airspace was needed for commercial air traffic, while a new runway was under construction at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport. And in 2015, the show was canceled yet again. That time, a large portion of the viewing area on State Road A1A was under construction, after a storm destroyed part of it.
But the jinx wore off last year.
“It really came back as the Super Bowl of air shows last year,” Lilley said. “It was tremendous.”
Sunny days and jets breaking the sound barrier brought crowds thick with thousands of people on Mother’s Day weekend last year. This year, Mother’s Day is May 14, the weekend after the May 6-7 air show.
The show lands beach residents in a virtual traffic lockdown for the weekend, but Fort Lauderdale Mayor Jack Seiler said as long as residents have warning ahead of time, complaints are few. Most people are proud to host the event, he said, adding that Lilley adds “credibility” to the show because of his track record in the business.
“This is another way of recognizing and honoring the men and women who serve in our military,” Seiler said.
Viewing will be free in the central beach area, from Sunrise Boulevard at State Road A1A, to the south. Lillley said this year, the paid viewing area will start a bit north of Sunrise Boulevard, so the intersection can remain open to ease traffic gridlock.
Tickets for the premier viewing areas can be purchased online.