From our friends at AirshowStuff.com, comes news that all North American air show fans have been waiting for, the US Navy is set to reintroduce their Naval Aviation Tailhook Legacy Flight program in 2016 which will see the pairing of active US Navy aircraft in formation with civilian-owned and operated vintage naval aircraft. The Government Sequester of 2011 saw the cancellation of this exceptionally popular air show phenomenon, as well as the individual military air show demonstration performances due to the lack of available funds for all but essential military activities. This year saw the renewal of the single-ship demo teams and static displays for all military service branches, and next year the Navy will roll forwards with their Heritage Flights again. The US Navy announced on Saturday (September 19th) that they will publish a draft schedule of air show attendances at the ICAS Convention being held this year in Las Vegas, Nevada between December 6th and 9th. WarbirdsNews will of course let our readers know more once the details become available.
Richard Mallory Allnutt's aviation passion ignited at the 1974 Farnborough Airshow. Raised in 1970s Britain, he was immersed in WWII aviation lore. Moving to Washington DC, he frequented the Smithsonian’s National Air & Space Museum, meeting aviation legends.
After grad school, Richard worked for Lockheed-Martin but stayed devoted to aviation, volunteering at museums and honing his photography skills. In 2013, he became the founding editor of Warbirds News, now Vintage Aviation News. With around 800 articles written, he focuses on supporting grassroots aviation groups.
Richard values the connections made in the aviation community and is proud to help grow Vintage Aviation News.
Whelps, I was just in Reno and the F-16 / P-51 worked just fine for me……
Just to clarify – the news was released on the TACDEMO Facebook page and the Legacy Flights went away in 2013 when the sequester cancelled TACDEMO flights. There were Legacy Flights during the 2012 air show season. Text of the release is below:
“2015 brought the return of the U.S. Navy’s Hornet and Super Hornet Tactical Demonstration teams to air shows around the country. We have big news as well for this next calendar year. Courtesy of the men and women of VFA-122, VFA-106 and the Navy warbird pilots you know and love…the Naval Aviation Tailhook Legacy Flight is returning to an air show near you in 2016! Your TACDEMO teams will grace the skies with the same tactical performance you are seeing this year, but with an added “bonus”. They will have the option to integrate formation flight and several thrilling maneuvers at the tail end of their performance, which will include your modern day Hornet or Super Hornet and as many as three warbirds from Naval Aviation’s past. Tailhook Legacy Flight training for all of the crews will begin in February of next year and a 2016 schedule will be announced around the same time. We hope you are as excited as we are to once again be able to witness these spectacular flights of living history and ask that you stay tuned as the goal of Commander, Naval Air Force, Pacific and Atlantic is to release a “draft” TACDEMO and Tailhook Legacy Flight schedule at this year’s International Council of Air Shows Convention, held in Las Vegas, Nevada from 6-9 December 2015.”