Military Aircraft Formation Teams over Florida

The annual Sun ‘n Fun International Fly-In and Expo was held at the beginning of this month at Lakeland, Florida.  Lakeland Linder Regional Airport has been home to the event since the first fly-in was organized in 1974 and this year continued the tradition of assembling a very large number of aircraft for inspection by large audiences over six days.  The US Navy’s Blue Angels aerobatic team and the US Air Force F-22 Raptor were present but US military aviation was otherwise conspicuously absent as the post-sequester trend continues.  Those who rescue, restore and display warbird aircraft filled some of the void and several formation teams took to the sky with former military trainers.

(above)  Representing the other side in the 45-year Cold War, two groups unite for this flyby.  Leading this formation of prominent Warsaw Pact trainers are two Aero L-39 Albatros jet trainers – N139TB (119) and N239PW (239) – of The Hoppers display team and three Aerostar IAK-52TW trainers flown by the Aerostars aerobatic team.

(above)  The three-ship Aerostars team derives its name from the name of the Romanian firm which continues to produce the Yakovlev Yak-52 primary trainer as the IAK-52.  Available in tricycle or conventional landing gear configuration, this version, the IAK-52TW, derives its variant suffix from the tail wheel clearly visible as N621TW leads N252TW (right wing) and N718PH in a maneuver.

(above)  The North American AT-6 Texan advanced trainer of Second World War fame remains a popular warbird type today and its aerobatic abilities are familiar to millions of air show spectators today.  In this view, the four-plane Aeroshell aerobatic team is caught in a ‘diamond’ turn.

(above)  Known as the AT-6 in Army Air Forces service and the Harvard when wearing the blue, white and red roundels of British Commonwealth air arms, North American’s famous trainer was the SNJ when assigned to US Navy or Marine Corps units.  Six early SNJ-2 aircraft are flown by the GEICO Skytypers for their multiplane, modern version of traditional skywriting and for full aerobatic displays at air shows.  Here they are seen reforming during one of their aerobatic shows.

(above)  They’re back.  After a disappointing 2013 air show season, the US Navy Flight Demonstration Squadron is back in the spotlight with their Boeing F/A-18 Hornets.  The Blue Angels six-ship ‘delta’ formation heads for the midpoint of a roll with the team’s two-seat bird nearest the camera.