The Bethpage Air Show at Jones Beach: Celebrating 15 Years of Greatness

Weather reports for the holiday weekend are looking good, as several hundred thousand spectators are expected to attend what has come to be a Long Island tradition for the Memorial Day weekend.  Celebrating its 15^th year, the Bethpage Airshow at Jones Beach will once again once again take flight this Saturday and Sunday. As usual, this year’s show features some of the industry’s top performers.

“In 2004, we decided to host an Air Show to celebrate the 75^th anniversary of Jones Beach State Park and we were fortunate enough to have the United States Navy Blue Angels perform,” states George Gorman, Deputy Regional Director, New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation.  “The event was tremendously successful and as a result, an annual event was born. In addition to our consistent list of top civilian performers, we are extremely honored to have the United States Navy Blue Angels perform once again for our 15^th year.” 

In addition to the Blue Angels, the show will also feature The Royal Canadian Air Force Snowbirds for the second year in a row. Other anticipated military performers include The United States Air Force F-22 Raptor demo team, and The US Army Golden Knights parachute team. Westhampton’s own 106^th Rescue Wing is also expected to put on a demonstration. The list of civilian acts are once again among the industry’s best. They include Sean Tucker, Matt Chapman, The GEICO Skytypers (with a new routine this year), and John Klatt flying the Jack Links Screamin’ Sasquatch Jet Waco.

In addition to the show at the beach, Long Islands own American Airpower Museum at Republic Airport will be open throughout the weekend. The museum provides an opportunity for those who wish to get a more up close and personal look at some of the aircraft on the ground to do so. The museum will also be flying a host of warbirds both during the airshow and at the airport.

The show’s remote beach venue transforms the normal two-day airshow into a three-day event that includes Fridays practice show.  “Attendance has increased over the first few years, with a record attendance of over 450,000,” states George Gorman. With the weekend forecast calling for mostly sunny skies, high attendance numbers are expected. This year’s event may very well be one for the record books. For more information on the airshow, timely performer updates and photos of the show, please visit this year’s forum thread.