Page 10 - World Airshow News Q3 2024

Airshow News

2024 WORLD AERObAtIC CHAmpIONSHIpS: NEW bLuES:
Holland Wins Blue Angels Announce

Multiple Medals New 2025 Officers

The U.S. Navy’s Blue Angels flight demonstration team has
announced the five new officers who will be joining the team
for the 2025 airshow season. The squadron selected two F/A-
18E/F Super Hornet pilots, a C-130J Super Hercules pilot, an
Events Coordinator, and a Flight Surgeon to replace outgoing
team members. The new officers are:
• Maj. Brandon Wilkins from Beaufort, South Carolina will
be a new Super Hornet Demonstration Pilot.
• Maj. Scott Laux from Chantilly, Virginia will be the second
new Super Hornet Demonstration Pilot.
• The new Events Coordinator will be Lcdr. Lilly Montana
from Vienna, Virginia.
• The new C-130J Demonstration Pilot will be Maj. Joshua
Horman from Smithville, Missouri.
• The new Flight Surgeon is Cmdr. Jen Murr from Jackson
Center, Ohio.
Earlier this year, the Blue Angels announced that Cmdr.
Adam “Gilligan” Bryan will succeed Cmdr. Alex “Scribe” Arma-
tas as the Commanding Officer and Flight Leader for the team
for the 2025 and 2026 airshow seasons.
The new team members reported to the squadron in Sep-
tember for a two-month turnover period and will begin training
with the team after the conclusion of the current airshow season.
NEW bIRDS:

American airshow star Rob Holland won the overall third Thunderbirds Announce
place Bronze Medal at the 2024 World Aerobatic Champion-
ships, held August 15-25 in Zamosc, Poland. Holland also New 2025 Officers
won the first place Gold Medal in the Four Minute Freestyle
competition. The USAF Thunderbirds have also announced five new of-
The overall competition consists of four cumulative medal ficers who will be joining their team for the 2025 and 2026 air-
flights, with the overall medals being awarded to the top three show seasons. The new Thunderbirds are:
scoring pilots after all four flights. Florent Oddon of France • Capt. Josh “Shadow” Burress will be the new Thunderbird
continued his reign as World Aerobatic Champion, winning #2, the Left Wing pilot.
the overall Gold Medal. The 2019 World Champion, France’s • Maj. Laney “Rogue” Schol will be the new Thunderbird #6,
Louis Vanel, was the 2024 Vice World Champion, taking home the Opposing Solo pilot.
the Silver Medal. On the way to his Bronze Medal, Holland won • Maj. Tyler “Wrath” Keener will be the new Thunderbird #7,
flight medals for three of his four flights – two Silver and one the Operations Officer.
Bronze. • Capt. Nick “Chronic” Belinski will be the new Thunderbird
France dominated the team competition, with French pilots #8, the Advance Pilot & Narrator.
capturing eight of the top eleven positions, earning France the • Capt. Janilie Vecchio will the new Thunderbird #10, the Ex-
team Gold Medal. Germany won the team Silver Medal and ecutive Officer.
Romania the team Bronze. The selected officers will report to the team in the fall and will
The Four Minute Freestyle is a separate competition judged begin training with the Thunderbirds for the 2025 season after
with different rules than the main Aresti contest. Freestyle the conclusion of the current airshow season.
flights are scored on three main categories – technical merit,
artistic impression, and positioning. Holland’s Freestyle Gold COmING tO “YOuR HOmE tV”:
Medal was the sixth of his career. France’s Oddon and Spain’s
Castor Fantoba were awarded the Freestyle Silver Medal and The AirSpace Channel
Bronze Medal respectively.
Lunar Sawyer, the owner of AirShow360 and Wild Blue Ro-
Photo: France’s Florent Oddon (Gold Medal, center) and Louis Vanel (Silver Medal, deo, has announced the launch of The AirSpace Channel, a dedi-
left) with America’s Rob Holland (Bronze Medal, right) on the podium at the 2024 cated aviation channel on Your Home TV. The AirSpace Chan-
World Aerobatic Championships (CIVA photo). nel features aviation-related content, sharing live-streamed

www.airshowmag.com 10 Quarter 3, 2024