MCAS Beaufort Airshow makes soaring comeback
By Delayna Earley and Bob Sofaly
The Island News
BEAUFORT – The MCAS Beaufort Airshow returned to Beaufort this past weekend, attracting an estimated 100,000 spectators.
The airshow was held on Saturday and Sunday, April 22 and 23, at the Marine Corps Air Station (MCAS) Beaufort, and despite some initial concern about the weather on Saturday, visitors came out in droves to view the aerobatics demonstrations, precision parachuters, military aircraft demonstrations and static aircraft exhibits.
While tickets were available for purchase to get into the box seating closer to the flight line, the event was free for the general public to attend.
“We had a larger turnout on Sunday, we believe the potential rain did affect Saturday,” said Gunnery Sgt. Robert Dea, Staff Non-Commissioned Officer In Charge (SNCOIC) of Communication Strategy and Operations (COMMSTRAT). “We were excited to open the base to the public and provide them with an airshow after not having one for the past four years.”
Typically, MCAS Beaufort hosts an airshow every two years, but the last airshow to be held in Beaufort was in 2019.
The show that would have been held in 2021 was canceled due to the coronavirus.
“Last year was the first full airshow season that we have had since COVID-19 hit, so it is such a great feeling to be able to get back out this year,” Cmdr. Alex Armatas, flight leader of the Blue Angels, said.
The Blue Angels will be flying in 34 airshows for the 2023 season, which lasts from March to November. The MCAS Beaufort Airshow is the sixth airshow of their season.
A historic airshow
The airshow featured the Blue Angels, the U.S. Navy’s demonstration team, which performed as the last event of the day.
This year, for the first time in the history of the Blue Angels, a woman is piloting one of the F/A-18 Super Hornets during their demonstrations.
U.S. Navy Lt. Amanda Lee, 37, of Mounds, Minn., who pilots the No. 3 aircraft, was greeted by the crowd with cheers on both Saturday and Sunday as she climbed into the cockpit of her jet.
Lee has been in the Navy for 16 years and has been a Naval Aviator for 10 years.
Lee said she gets to fly all over the country with the best flight demonstration team.
“I never get to see much of where we are flying. I never get to look down,” Lee said. She continued to say that she is always looking up at the Super Hornet flown by the “Boss,” Cmdr. Armatas, in the No. 1 aircraft.
Lee said when the team first arrives at an airshow venue, they will fly in non-formation looking at the ground for landmarks.
“It was awesome to fly (over Beaufort) today. There is so much water and long docks. It was really beautiful,” she said after Saturday’s show.
Lee said the weather for Saturday’s airshow was beautiful but got “a little textured” with turbulence.
Mingling with the Blue Angels
The Blue Angel pilots and support personnel were treated like royalty on Saturday and came down Paris Avenue in Port Royal with a police escort and sirens blaring.
After getting settled, the pilots began signing autographs and posing for pictures with fans. They signed programs, models of the FA-18 Super Hornet and just about any other memento from the airshow that would hold their signatures.
The Airshow After Party was hosted by the Town of Port Royal in partnership with the Beaufort Chamber of Commerce and was held on following the first day of the airshow.
This is the second Airshow After Party that the town has thrown, the first one being held during the 2019 airshow weekend.
It gave members of the community the chance to meet the Blue Angels and the other amazing performers from the MCAS Beaufort Airshow, Phillips said.
“We like to just shut the street down and throw a party for the community,” Port Royal Town Council Member Kevin Phillips said.
“You have your [airshow] reception in Beaufort, but you have your after party in Port Royal,” Phillips joked.
Crowd members enjoyed music from the Dirty Boot Brass Band and from the Paris Island Marine Corps Band during the free event.
There were also several food trucks there, as well as a beer wagon and a tap truck.
Thankfully, the weather stayed clear and warm with a slight breeze picking up by show time.
People brought their own chairs to sit and listen to the music and members of the community danced in the street, according to Phillips.
Not just an airshow
This year, for the first time, MCAS Beaufort invited 5th graders in the community to come to the air station on Friday, April 21, during the airshow rehearsal to partake in various science, technology, engineering and math related exhibits and displays.
“We always try to make each airshow bigger and better than the last one,” Ssgt. Kayla Rivera said about the show. Rivera is a member of the MCAS Beaufort COMMSTRAT team.
“Having so many people come out for this year’s airshow was a great experience for the Marines. The 5thgraders who participated in the STEM activities had a great time,” Gunnery Sgt. Deas said.
As the airshow is typically held every two years, the next MCAS Beaufort Airshow should be in 2025.
Delayna Earley lives in Beaufort with her husband, two children and Jack Russell. She spent six years as a videographer and photographer for The Island Packet and The Beaufort Gazette before leaving the Lowcountry in 2018. After freelancing in Myrtle Beach and Virginia, she joined The Island News when she moved back to Beaufort in 2022. She can be reached at delayna.theislandnews@gmail.com.
Bob Sofaly has been photographing people and what they do in Beaufort since Ronald Reagan was elected president in 1980. He can be reached at bobsofaly@gmail.com.
PHOTO GALLERY
Delayna Earley/The Island News U.S. Navy pilot Lt. Amanda Lee gives the ‘okay’ symbol as she prepares for takeoff during the Blue Angels’ demonstration during the Beaufort Air Show on Saturday, April 22, 2023, at Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort in Beaufort. Lee is the first female to pilot one of the Blue Angels F/A-18 jets as part of the demonstration team.
