Blue Angels touch down on LI for Bethpage Air Show

The six F/A-18 Super Hornets zipped by in diamond formation at high speed, before breaking off one-by-one as dozens of spectators snapped pictures on their cameras and phones. 

The Blue Angels, the world’s oldest and most renowned flight demonstration squadron, performed the maneuvers as part of a preview of this weekend's Bethpage Air Show at Jones Beach during a public demonstration at Republic Airport in Farmingdale.

Lt. Griffin Stangel of Madison, Wisconsin, who joined the elite squadron last year, said in an interview that the jets will perform on Long Island at speeds of more than 600 mph while operating a mere 18 inches apart.

"It's pretty impressive and takes lots of practice to get there," Stangel said. "It's a work in progress every day trying to get a little better and make it look a little bit tighter."

The show will mark the ninth headlining performance for the Blue Angels, the Navy flight demonstration team and their blue-and-yellow insignia F/A-18E Super Hornets, at Jones Beach. The team was scheduled to perform in 2020, but the show was canceled due to the pandemic.

The Jones Beach show will be the first for Capt. Jackson Streiff of Omaha, Nebraska, who pilots 'Fat Albert,' the Blue Angels' C-130 Hercules support aircraft, which performs directly before the Super Hornets.

Streiff said Long Islanders this weekend should expect loud noise from the jets and a thrilling show.

 "We'll fly low and do some maneuvers and then the jets will come in," Streiff said. "And they can expect to see some pretty spectacular maneuvers."

Anthony Ceglio, director of Republic Airport, said he's been in the aviation industry for decades but still gets thrills watching the Blue Angels.

"It's incredible," he said. " … When the Blue Angels come in, and they land and when they get their low approach; you don't see that very often."

In addition to the Blue Angels, the show will include appearances by the Army's Golden Knights Parachute Team, Mike Goulian and his aerobatic Cirrus sport plane, female aerobatic pilot Jessy Panzer, Long Island aerobatic star David Windmiller and the American Airpower Museum Warbirds.

Additional performances will include the latest generation Air Force stealth fighter, the F-22 Raptor, the Navy's F-35C TAC Demonstration Team, the Coast Guard, the 106th Rescue Wing New York Air National Guard HC-130 / HH 60 Demonstration Team and the Farmingdale State College Flying Rams.

The 2022 show, which is scheduled for May 28-29 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., is co-sponsored by Newsday and is free to the public. The standard $10 vehicle use fee will be collected each day. There is no vehicle fee charge for 2022 NYS Empire Pass cardholders.

More than 289,000 fans attended the show in 2018, the last time the Blue Angels performed live at Jones Beach. 

On average, about 350,000 fans typically come out for the Memorial Day weekend show between both days, said George Gorman, regional director of the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historical Preservation for Long Island.

Streiff said preparing for the Jones Beach show is "very challenging" and pilots must navigate around bridges, trees and towers.

"Every place we go is different with new exciting challenges," he said. "I don't think I've worked a day in my life since I started flying this airplane. It's definitely a lot of fun."

With Steve Langford

By Robert Brodsky

robert.brodsky@newsday.com@BrodskyRobert

Robert Brodsky is a breaking news reporter who has worked at Newsday since 2011. He is a Queens College and American University alum.