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Track News: Blue Angels, F-22 Raptor to thrill at Pocono Raceway

Posted by AR1 staff

–Press Release–

The vaunted United States Navy Blue Angels will make their first public appearance in the Northeast on May 27-28 as the featured aviation event of the Great Pocono Raceway Airshow.

The third edition of the Great Pocono Raceway Airshow will feature the Blue Angels for the first time among the several performers scheduled for the stadium-seating weekend event at Pocono Raceway.

The Blue Angels are a flight demonstration squadron of the United States Navy that was formed in 1946. The unit, which is the world’s second-oldest formal aerobatic team, has impressed crowds with its high-speed precision of formations, stunning rolls and incredible maneuvers in Boeing F/A-18 Super Hornet aircraft. Since their inception, the Blue Angels have performed for more than 500 million people around the globe.

“The iconic F-18s of the U.S. Navy Blue Angels and the F22 Raptor will bring an intense level of raw power, speed, and precision to the Great Pocono Raceway Airshow,” Pocono Raceway President Ben May said. “The addition of the MXS-RH, the SU-26M and the Vampire will showcase astonishing aerobatics and innovative maneuvers that will dazzle every eye while defying the limits of man and machine.  No one is going to want to miss this show.”

In addition to the Blue Angels, each day will feature four other shows ranging from premier fighter aircraft to classics in the two-hour shows that begin at 1 p.m. ET.

Also performing daily:

  • Air Combat Command F-22 Raptor Demonstration Team. This U.S. Air Force unit will showcase the unique capabilities of the world’s premier fifth-generation air dominance fighter aircraft with a number of precision aerial maneuvers like the power loop, split and tail slide. The F-22 Raptor’s combination of stealth, supercruise, maneuverability and integrated avionics, coupled with improved supportability, represents an exponentia at Joint Base Langley-Eustis in Hampton, Va., debuted in 2007 and have performed at more than 250 demonstrations across the world.
  • Vampire Airshows. This show is a mix of entertail leap in warfighting capabilities. The F-22 Raptor Demonstration Team, stationednment and education with the de Havilland Vampire DH-115, which was developed as the world’s first single-engine jet fighter. This classic aircraft can still perform rolls, Cuban eights, Shark tooths, inverted flight and high-speed passes along that is accented by a stunning smoke system.
  • Rob Holland Ultimate Airshows. Holland will impress with his stunts in the MXS-RH, a custom-designed, single-seat aerobatic aircraft made of carbon fiber and based off the popular MXS model. The aircraft, weighing just 1,200 pounds and powered by a 380-horsepower Lycoming engine, has the ability to pull 16 positive and negative Gs and roll at nearly 500 degrees per second. The plane’s ability, coupled with Holland’s talents, allows him to perform innovated maneuvers unequalled on the airshow tours.
  • Rick Volker Airshows. Volker will dazzle in the Sukhoi SU26M, which remains one of the most capable unlimited aerobatic designs due to a combination of a wing made for high lift at extreme angles and huge propeller that provides a 1:1 ratio of static thrust. The result is Volker being able to demonstrate complex signature maneuvers like giant cartwheels, rolling loops and horizontal tail slides to name a few.

All seating is general admission and located in the Pocono Raceway frontstretch grandstand. Single-day tickets for Saturday, May 27, or Sunday, May 28, begin at just $25 for adults and $10 for children 12 and under in the 200 level. Tickets also are available in the shaded 300 level for $50 each day (all ages). Tickets purchased at the gate are $30 for adults and $15 for children.

For more ticket information, please click HERE or call the Pocono ticket office at 1-800-722-3929 (Mon.-Fri., 9 a.m.-5 p.m.).

Gates will open two hours prior to the start of the show at 11 a.m. and parking lots will open at 10 a.m.

The event is under the planning and guidance of David Schultz Airshows LLC of Clearfield, Pa. Schultz Airshows has coordinated airshows and provided the air traffic control and announcing for over 500 events in their 25-year history across North America and the Caribbean.

Many of their events are well known in the region, including airshows along the Atlantic City Beachfront, Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, Dover AFB, Binghamton, NY, and Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, Pa.

For more information, please visit www.poconoraceway.com.