Pensacola Beach Airshow Pensacola Beach, FL
Story and photos by Jeff Serpa
Red, white and “Blues” week kicked off July 7 for the annual Pensacola Beach Airshow. Pensacola has been known as “The Cradle of Naval Aviation” and the week long of daily events was non-stop aviation action over the Gulf Beach area. Not far down the road from Pensacola Beach, is historic Naval Air Station Pensacola, home to the United States Navy Blue Angels. In addition to being the home of the United States Navy Blue Angels, Naval Air Station Pensacola is also home to the National Naval Aviation Museum. The National Naval Aviation Museum is one of the largest aviation museums in the world. The 10,000 square foot Blue Angels Atrium is the ceremonial center of the museum, which is used for military and civilian functions. Surrounded by generations of Naval Training aircraft, the 75 foot tall Atrium is most noted for the historic full size Blue Angels A4-Skyhawk Diamond Formation display, hanging from the Atrium ceiling. The museum has some of the most historic aircraft you will ever see.
The Blue Angels kicked things off Wednesday Morning with “Breakfast with the Blues”. At around 07:30 am, The Blue Angels arrived over Pensacola Beach to do “circles and arrival”. For the next two hours, the Diamond formation and Solo’s, separately, performed a series of maneuvers familiarizing the team with the air space and area landmarks for the airshow.
Thursday brought a full Blue Angels Practice over Pensacola Beach. Friday was full dress rehearsal airshow for all aircraft scheduled to perform in the airshow and Saturday was the Official Pensacola Beach Airshow.
While there were no static aircraft at the Pensacola Beach airshow like a traditional airshow, the flying began at 10:30 and continued until the conclusion of the Blue Angels Flight Demonstration. A variety of aircraft flew prior to the official air box closure;
-Black Ducks WWII era aircraft
-Zenith 75 STOL
-Veterans Flight team in WWI Stearman Biplanes honoring WWII and Korean War Veterans
-HT-18 training helicopters from TAW-5, NAS Whiting Field
-Titan T6 Aerobatic Team
-United States Coast Guard MH-65E Dolphin Helicopter Search & Rescue Demonstration
At the conclusion of the pre-airshow flying, a B-1B Lancer from Dyes Air Force Base flew by in a teaser pass displaying what was to come a few minutes later, during the airshow.
At 11:40 the air box officially closed and the airshow was officially program under way. The Red Bull Air Force performed the Presentation of Colors, skydiving with a very large American Flag landing at airshow center. Once the skydivers were on the ground Aaron Fitzgerald in the Red Bull BO-105 helicopter and Kevin Colman in his Extra 330 SC, each gave the crowd a little preview of what was to come later in their aerial demonstrations.
The B1-B Lancer came back to do an impressive show of power with this powerful aircraft. Entering the show box with its wings extended, the B-1B Lancer gave the crowd a few passes with some moderated speeding power. Then next two phases were wings swept back and full afterburner power. Its not often you get the see the B1-B Lancer fly in this environment and it was a treat for sure. The B-1B Lancer was definitely a crowd favorite of this airshow.
After the B-1B Lancer, a Red, White and Blue Decathlon flown by RJ Gritter took to the sky’s for the first time in Pensacola, for an impressive aerial demonstration, followed by father and son Ken and Austin Rieder from Redline Airshows, flying precision formations in their RV-8’s. The Titan Aerobatic Team then performed a synchronized demonstration in their WW II era AT-6 Texans before Kevin Coleman and Aaron Fitzgerald came back for a high adrenaline, two aircraft routine to finish up with the Red Bull Air Force finale.
The Blue Angels started things out with a fifteen minute aerial demonstration with their C130J Super Hercules, affectionally known “Fat Albert”. After “Fat Albert, the sky’s were owned by six Blue and Yellow Boeing F-18 Super Hornets, performing an incredible precision aerobatic routine. Following the Blue Angels Aerial Demonstration, the beach crowd witnessed a rare sighting. The six F-18 Super Hornets paired up with Fat Albert for a Delta fly over Pensacola Beach with Fat Albert leading the way.
Airshow official’s estimate 170,000 people came out to the beach to watch the Pensacola Beach Airshow. Weather conditions play an important role in the execution of this air show. Clear skies, with a few clouds and light winds set the tone for some great aerial performances at Pensacola Beach for 2025.
