June 4, 2014  

Blue Angels headlining Great Tennessee Air Show

Smyrna Airport to host U.S. Navy pilots June 14-15

The U.S. Navy Blue Angels will return to town for the Great Tennessee Air Show June 14-15. They’ll bring with them an expected crowd of 50,000 fans of the aeronautical acrobats.

Historically, the airport has only put on the Great Tennessee Air Show when it could secure the U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds or the Blue Angels. While the air show has been the signature event in Smyrna for more than 40 years, isn’t always held annually. However, it was able to host the Thunderbirds in 2011 and the Blue Angels in 2012.

In February 2013, USA Today named The Great Tennessee as one of the world’s top 10 shows.

Blue Angels Lt. Cmdr. Michael Cheng and Lt. Ryan Chamberlain visited the airport in January flight for a site visit.

“Our demonstration pilots will do a minimum of 120 practices prior to their first public demonstration,” which took place in March in El Centro, Calif., Cheng said at the time.

Based in Pensacola, Fla., the Blue Angels have 65 performances scheduled in 34 cities for the 2014 year.

“We have a lot of guys with a couple years’ experience on the team, and we kind of had an opportunity to hold over those pilots because of the sequestration of 2013. We got a chance to do some things we don’t normally get to do,” Cheng said, such as flyovers at football games when the Naval Academy played Notre Dame and Army.

All of the maneuvers performed during the show are what the pilots are trained to do, Cheng added.

“We just do them a little faster and lower,” he said.

Other performers include the Shockwave Jet Truck, which speeds down the runway at 300 mph, the Lucas Oil Skydivers and Scooter Yoak and the P-51 Mustang.

http://archive.tennessean.com/article/D4/20140604/MICRO0501/306040027/Blue-Angels-headlining-Great-Tennessee-Air-Show