COCOA BEACH AIR SHOW – BACK TO THE BEACH
APRIL 17-18, 2021
The 2021 Cocoa Beach Air Show will feature the U.S. Air Force’s top two demonstration teams when it returns to Florida’s Space Coast on April 17-18, 2021. The Air Force just announced that the F-22 Raptor Demo Team will join the U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds to double headline the show. Cocoa Beach will be the kickoff of the Thunderbirds 2021 season.
The U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds fly the F-16 Fighting Falcon and perform a combination of formation and solo maneuvers in an inspiring, patriotic, high energy demonstration. The four-jet diamond performs precision formation flight with the aircraft wingtips as close as four feet apart while performing loops, inverted rolls and even high-performance turns! The two solo jets perform high energy maneuvers together and from opposite directions closing in on each other as fast as 1,000 mph. The six jets come together in the delta formation as the finale for the show, flying difficult formations and signature breaks that fill the sky with speed, sound and smoke trails!
The F-22 Raptor is the fastest and most maneuverable fighter jet in the world today. The F-22’s twin engines produce more thrust than any other fighter. Combined with its sleek aerodynamic design, this allows the F-22 to “Supercruise” at 1.5 times the speed of sound without using fuel-consuming afterburner. The F-22’s unique thrust vectoring and advanced flight controls allow it to outmaneuver any other aircraft.
The F-22 Raptor demo puts thrust vectoring on full display during its demonstration defying imagination as it climbs straight up, stops in mid-air, then reverses towards the ground before flipping the nose around in a somersault at near zero forward speed. The F-22 makes sharp, sudden turns displacing and compressing air into vapor, and you often see the Raptor creating its own weather system with massive clouds that engulf the jet.
“We’re glad to be bringing the show back to the beach at a time where it can help the ailing tourism industry that has been so badly impacted in the past year. Having the double headliner of the Thunderbirds and F-22 Raptor Demo will kick the destination appeal of the Cocoa Beach Air Show into afterburner.”
Bryan Lilley
Chairman of the National Air, Sea and Space Foundation (organizer of the show)
The Valiant Air Command will be adding to the air show with four different warbird aircraft. Featured warbirds include their flagship, the C-47 “Tico Bell” — one of the hundreds of C-47s that flew across the English Channel on D-Day, dropping members of the 82nd Airborne behind enemy lines — as well as a TBM Avenger torpedo bomber, North American SNJ-4 trainer, and an N2S Steerman biplane.
In March, air show officials announced a B-52 Stratofortress long-range bomber has been added to the lineup. Bryan Lilley, organizer of the Cocoa Beach Air Show, shared his excitement of adding the B-52 to the show’s lineup. “The B-52 is a big, hulking, eight-engine rarity with a wingspan of 185 feet. The cool thing about the B-52 is its appeal to a broad audience. The first B-52s flew back in the ‘50s, so veterans as well as the guys who like warbirds enjoy seeing them. Young people like it too — it’s big, it’s cool, and it’s loud,” he said.
For 2021, the air show is implementing a series of “Stay safe initiatives” to ensure the safety of guests and spectators at the event. These initiatives extend across all the event premium viewing venues which include the Drop Zone Beach, Flight Line Club, and Sand Boxes—a viewing area designed with the at-risk, elderly, and families with small children in mind, to be able to enjoy the air show in their own reserved area of the beach. For additional information on the Stay Safe initiative please visit the Cocoa Beach Air Show website.
The Cocoa Beach Air Show will be broadcast by a Maryland-based professional livestream crew, offering new aerobatic viewing options during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“You’ve got a camera covering the action; you’ve got one on the jets, so you can watch what’s going on at the airfield; and you’ve got one on the narrator. People from the hotel-room balconies and people spread out across the beach can get the narration. Even if you’re not in the Cocoa Beach area, people can attend from around the world,” he said.
VIP and Premium Viewing tickets are on sale now at cocoabeachairshow.com
The Cocoa Beach Air Show will kick off this year’s AirDotShow Live Tour that will visit six destinations in 2021 including Fort Lauderdale, Atlanta, Ocean City MD, New York and Orlando. For more information on the tour please visit Air.Show – AirDotShow
