Fort Lauderdale Air Show Ready for Takeoff

FORT LAUDERDALE, FL — After what essentially amounted to a five-year hiatus, the Fort Lauderdale Air Show returned to South Florida last year. The show is ready for takeoff again this weekend with every branch of the U.S. military represented along with featured performances by the heart-stopping Snowbirds of the Royal Canadian Air Force.

The event is free outside of the VIP viewing area but parking will be hard to come by. You'll want to claim your spot on the beach as early as possible. Organizers from B. Lilley Productions tell Patch that the best free viewing areas will be south of Sunrise Boulevard. Parking will be available on a first-come basis at the Galleria Mall on Sunrise Boulevard. (Sign up for our free Daily Newsletters and Breaking News Alerts for the Aventura Patch.)

Alternatively, you can pay $250 for a VIP pass to the Flight Line Club at the gate and score exclusive beach viewing access, a catered lunch and a reserved parking pass in Birch State Park within walking distance of the show. VIP guests also have access to a golf cart valet. The cost is less if purchased online.

Please like Aventura Patch.

The first aerial performers hit the skies at 12:30 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday. The show is scheduled to wrap up around 3:30 p.m. each day.

The nine-member Snowbirds' team braved uncooperative afternoon downpours on Friday ahead of the two-day event as Patch caught up with Maj. Craig "Nacho" Sharp of the Royal Canadian Air Force making final preparations to his Canadair CT-114 Tutor.

The Snowbirds (not your neighbors) told Patch that they expect to be able to perform their "high" show on both days, including the crowd-wowing side-by-side formations that bring pilots within 3 or 4 feet of one another at speeds that can reach 800 miles per hour.

Sharp said that the side-by-side formation is the most technically demanding of all the maneuvers.

"We always fly off the most stable aircraft in the formation and that is the lead aircraft," explained Sharp. "So, the boss is actually #1. He is going to be out front and we fly off of his maneuvers."

The maneuver requires 100 percent trust that the other pilots will not stray into one another's air space as they focus on the lead pilot.

"He’s talking on the radio so he’ll call pulling up, powering back and he’s talking through his maneuvers so we can anticipate those maneuvers even if you’re way back in the formation. I’m still looking all the way to the front aircraft and out of my peripheral vision I’m watching the guy right next to me," said Sharp. "I’m not even watching him, which is kind of the scary part. But if we all fly off the most stable platform, then we won’t be bouncing around and moving as much as you think."

Even the slightest deviation can mean certain disaster. "Out of my peripheral, I have to watch out because if he is out of position I’m going to have to focus my attention on him now, so that we don’t actually collide," Sharp explained. "To say that in another way, it is 100 percent trust in one another — 100 percent trust that we’re going to be in our position at all times."

Sharp will be flying plane #9 as one of two soloists in the Snowbirds along with his fellow pilot in plane #8.

"We do high-speed passes at over 800 miles per hour and we miss by only 15 feet," Sharp said. "We also have a lot of the slower big formation loops. We do a heart in the sky and the love dedications to the crowd as well."

All of the maneuvers require painstaking practice by the Snowbirds twice a day for six months out of the year. Unlike the U.S. teams — the Air Force Thunderbirds and Navy Blue Angels — the Snowbirds fly exclusively in training jets circa 1960s. They were retired from the Royal Canadian Air Force in 2000 except in the case of the Snowbirds.

"Because they were so good for formation flying and how we use them as Snowbirds, we kept them," Sharp said. "We’re the only squadron in the Canadian forces that still flies this jet and they are about 54-years-old now, but they are absolutely perfect for how we use them."

In contrast to the Snowbirds, Mike Wiskus performs a solo act in his Lucas Oil Pitts Super Stinker, one of only three such aircraft ever made.

"I’ll be right down to the water and then I’ll pull a vertical spiral right up to about 1,000 feet, tumble end over end, come back right down to the water upside down," said the Minneapolis-based pilot. "It's a lot of tumbling, a lot of rolls, a lot of noise, a lot of entertainment."

U.S. Air Force pilots will be flying the F-16 Viper and P-51 Mustang at the show while the Navvy brings the F-18 Super Hornet. The Army is represented by the Para-Commandos.

The U.S. Coast Guard will be doing a search and rescue demo while the Geico Sky Typers will wow the crowd in World War II aircraft.

With all the complexity and precision required to perform each of his aerial maneuvers, Wiskus had little trouble deciding which element of his performance posed the greatest difficulty.

"Getting here," he said without any hesitation.

A member of the Snowbirds' flight crew checks out Maj. Chris Sharp's #9 Canadair CT-114 Tutor. Photo by Paul Scicchitano.