Page 38 - World Airshow News Final

AIRSHOW HIgHLIgHtS...

The Grand Finale

I n Autumn, airshows again move south and west for warmer
temperatures as the season ends. From the San Francisco
Fleet Week Air Show over the Bay, to NAS Jacksonville in
Florida, and to Wings Over Houston in Texas, there were
some great shows in the final six weeks of the 2024 season.
The Blue Angels Homecoming Air Show at NAS Pensacola
was a very special event this year as it featured the final 2024
performances for both the Navy’s Blue Angels and the USAF
Thunderbirds in a rare joint appearance. Veteran airshow an-
nouncer Rob Reider also celebrated his retirement from air-
show announcing at NAS Pensacola (see feature article else-
where in this issue).
The week after NAS Pensacola, a little further south in
Florida, the Stuart Air Show hosted the last-ever USAF tactical
demo of the A-10 Thunderbolt II. The Warthog (as the A-10
is affectionately known) is being phased out by the USAF, so
when Maj Lindsay “MAD” Johnson flew her final demo on No-
vember 10, it marked the end of A-10 flight demonstrations.
The Stuart Air Show was also the final flight demo for Maj Sam Top: A replica Ryan NYP, Charles Lindbergh’s “Spirit of St Louis”, with 1925 Ford Model T
“RaZZ” Larson, who completed his two-year stint as USAF pickup at the Old Rhinebeck Aerodrome in Red Hook, New York as it may have looked in
F-22 Raptor Demo Team commander/pilot. Both MAD and 1927 after it was built in San Diego, California (photo by Tom Pawlesh).
RaZZ were treated with the traditional spray-down at the con- Above: Ken and Austin Rieder dazzle the crowd in close formation at the Blue Angels
clusion of their final flights. Homecoming Air Show at NAS Pensacola (photo by Craig Scaling).
Here’s to a great 2024 airshow season.

www.airshowmag.com 38 The Final Issue