It has been 13 long years since Stewart International Airport hosted an air show. That drought finally comes to an end this coming weekend, August 29th and 30th, with the inaugural New York Air Show. Both military and civilian performers are scheduled.
Initially conceived as an air show to be held at Coney Island in Brooklyn, the show was moved to the airport just outside of Newburgh for logistical reasons. While Coney Island’s location could be beneficial for attendance, it could have other negative implications. Chief among those is the location smack in the middle of the busy airspaces of JFK, LaGuardia and Newark airports.
Headlining this weekend’s show will be the United States Air Force’s F-22 Raptor demo. Other military demos include the United States Navy’s F/A-18 Super Hornet and the United States Marine Corps AV-8B Harrier. The 106th Rescue Wing of the New York Air National Guard will also perform a combat search and rescue demonstration.
In addition to the military performers, several civilians will be performing as well. Long Island-based formation flying team the Geico Skytypers will be there with their World War II-era SNJ-2 trainers. Another civilian demo at the show will be the Horsemen, a three-ship P-51 Mustang team.
Aerobatic performers will include Andrew Wright in his carbon fiber monoplane and Mike Wiskus in the Lucas Oil Pitts S-1-11B. An L-39 Jet demo will also perform. For warbird fans, Panchito, a B-25 Mitchell bomber will perform. And opening the show will be the West Point Parachute Team with a flag jump.
As an added bonus, the air show will be hosting a flyover of the Statue of Liberty on Thursday morning. The flyover will include an F-22 and a P-51 that will be performing in the show, along with an F-16. It is scheduled to take place around 11:00 am.
For more information, check out the air show’s website. There, you can check out all of the performers, get directions to the show, and even buy discounted tickets. You can also keep up to date on the show by checking out the thread on the NYCAviation Forums. And be sure to check out the forums following the show to see some of the awesome photos taken by some of the many talented New York area aviation photographers.
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