H.B. flying high on preparations for second air show
The second annual Breitling Huntington Beach Airshow will feature the famed Blue Angels fighter jets and the Snowbirds, a popular military jet demonstration team from Canada.
The announcement was made Tuesday at the International Council of Air Shows convention in Las Vegas.
Next year’s Huntington Beach show will be held from Sept. 29 to Oct. 1.
This year’s flyovers in October were performed by the Air Force Thunderbirds and the Breitling Jet Team. The Thunderbirds will return for the 2018 show, it was announced Tuesday.
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Barbara Caruso, a media representative for the city, said the Blue Angels and the Snowbirds will be the only jet team performances in 2017, but the show will also include air aerobic acts. She said further details will be released as the event gets closer.
The Blue Angels was formed in 1946 by a group of aviators from the Navy and Marine Corps. The six-jet team travels the country performing death-defying air shows that are meant to mirror the flying techniques used in the military, Huntington Beach air show director Michael McCabe said in an interview Tuesday.
Because of the danger inherent in the group’s routine, McCabe said, the Blue Angels rehearse more than 130 times before they set off for their touring season, which involves about 35 shows from March to November.
“Their spectacular demonstrations will thrill the young and young at heart,” McCabe said in a news release. “If you haven’t seen them, the grace of the Snowbirds followed by the precision of the Blue Angels will leave you breathless.”
The nine-jet Snowbirds team was formed in 1971 by the Royal Canadian Air Force and is also considered one of the most renowned in the world.
McCabe said the group mostly performs air shows in Canada but chose Huntington Beach as one of its few U.S. destinations next year.
In order to land the prestigious Blue Angels, McCabe said, the event organizers had to go through a long process, including applying to the Pentagon two years in advance.
McCabe said the Pentagon tirelessly scrutinizes each event before giving its approval, with safety and the popularity of the show in mind.
He added that the Pentagon chose the Huntington Beach event in large part because of how successful the city was with its inaugural air show this year.
McCabe, in presenting an overview to the City Council last month of the 2016 show, estimated that 550,000 people attended. The Orange County Register has reported that safety and security costs associated with the event exceeded $200,000.
Police spokeswoman Jennifer Marlatt said there were no policing issues during the 2016 show and that the department has not yet begun preparing for next year’s event.
In October, as Surf City geared up to present the air show as part of its stable of major annual events — including the U.S. Open of Surfing — McCabe described the community as the perfect location for the show.
“The physical plan, the layout, the long, sandy beach — what better site could there be for an air show?” he was quoted as saying.
Admission to the show is free. A portion of the vendors’ proceeds will go toward the Aerospace Educational Foundation of Huntington Beach, a nonprofit dedicated to fostering education in the aerospace industry.
McCabe believes the 2017 program will be even better than this year’s.
“I think it will exceed it in every measurable way and that’s a huge success,” he said.
Twitter: @benbrazilpilot
