DVIDS – News – Thunder air present returns to banks of Ohio River with KYANG plane

The Thunder Over Louisville air present will return to the banks of the Ohio River April 23 for the primary time in three years with a salute to america Air Power, organizers introduced right here Thursday.

“We will’t wait to be again on the waterfront for Thunder Over Louisville this yr and have fun considered one of our favourite traditions collectively once more,” stated Matt Gibson, president and CEO of the Kentucky Derby Competition, for which Thunder serves because the kick-off occasion. “After a few years away, we’re bringing Thunder again residence to among the best venues on the continent.”

The air present and fireworks show, which has drawn as much as 1 million spectators to the waterfront in previous years, was cancelled outright in 2020 due to COVID-19. A scaled-down air present with no public attendance was telecast from Bowman Subject in 2021, whereas fireworks shows have been staged at numerous areas across the neighborhood somewhat than downtown.

This yr marks a reversal to earlier type with the slogan, “The Legend Returns.” Officers promise an in depth show of army plane, together with the U.S. Air Power’s F-22 Raptor and C-17 Globemaster demo groups, F-16 Combating Falcons, A-10 Thunderbolt IIs, the B-2 “stealth” bomber, and the Kentucky Air Nationwide Guard’s brand-new C-130J Tremendous Hercules — all along with the return of the biggest fireworks show in North America.

The 2022 present will have fun the seventy fifth anniversary of america Air Power and Air Nationwide Guard, stated Wayne Hettinger, who has served as Thunder’s lead organizer since its inception in 1990.

Historic plane scheduled to carry out embody the P-51 Mustang, F-86 Sabre, F-100 Tremendous Sabre, and the Commemorative Air Power’s B-29 Superfortress, B-24 Liberator and B-25 Mitchell.

“We have been engaged on this specific present for 5 years as a result of we knew the seventy fifth anniversary of the Air Power was developing,” Hettinger stated. “You are going to see one of the best air tools that this nation has. We’ll be capable to do a complete historical past of the Air Power. If there was ever a yr for air present fans to deliver a digital camera to get photos of airplanes, boy, that is the yr to do it.”

The Kentucky Air Guard is once more serving as the bottom of operations for Thunder’s army plane, offering logistical and upkeep help from its services at Louisville Muhammad Ali Worldwide Airport.

“It’s a pleasure for the Kentucky Air Nationwide Guard to serve our superior neighborhood in any approach, and Thunder is a really particular approach for us to do this,” stated Lt. Col. Josh Ketterer, a Kentucky Air Guard pilot who coordinates the participation of army models for the present every year.

“This might be a very excellent occasion. We may have many plane we have now by no means seen right here at Thunder, and it is going to be actually nonstop from 3 p.m. proper till one of the best fireworks demonstration you are ever going to see.”

Gibson famous that Thunder is returning this yr to the bigger “Class 1” aerobatic field, which permits for extra strong participation from fast-moving, high-performance plane.