The Navy Blue Angels and U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds are back. Their sequestration-driven hiatus from public performances is over, and the first performance will be a T-birds fly-over during the Tournament of Roses parade on New Year’s Day in Pasadena, California. The Blue Angels will perform 68 demonstrations in 34 locations in 2014; and the Thunderbirds schedule calls for 66 performances in 34 locations — including two shows during EAA AirVenture Oshkosh, on August 2 and 3.
Last year’s airshow schedule was crippled by the late cancellation of performances by both teams due to a shutdown of funding from the government sequester. Not only were the two jet teams grounded, but U.S. government participation in airshows around the world was cut off as well. At the Paris Air Show, for example, no U.S. military aircraft performed.
