Three Additional Military Aircraft to Perform at 2021 Cocoa Beach Air Show Set for April 17-18
By Space Coast Daily // April 2, 2021
US Air Force Thunderbirds also set to perform
BREVARD COUNTY • COCOA BEACH, FLORIDA – Three more military aircraft – a B-1 Bomber, B-52 Bomber and A-10 Thunderbolt II – will perform along with a star studded lineup at the 2021 Cocoa Beach Air Show scheduled for April 17-18.
“The Air Force just kicked the Cocoa Beach Air Show lineup into afterburner,” said Bryan Lilley, Chairman of the National Air, Sea and Space Foundation, organizer of the show.
“It will be quite the spectacle that flight aviation enthusiasts and beach goers will see over the oceanfront in two weeks.”
The B-1 Bomber is a supersonic, swept wing heavy bomber nicknamed the “BOne.” It is one of the most exciting aircraft one can see perform at an air show with its massive size, speed and wings that sweep back to form a delta configuration. The B-1 flies like a 300,000-pound fighter jet, with its four after burning engines. It can go into an unlimited vertical climb just like any high-performance fighter.
Flown by the U.S. Air Force since the 1950’s, the B-52 Stratofortress is a long-range strategic heavy bomber that can carry up to 35 tons of weapons and fly nearly 9,000 miles without refueling.
The B-52’s wings span 185 feet and are designed to vertically flex as much as 26 feet in flight. Small wheels are mounted near the end of each wing tip to keep them from touching the ground when fully loaded with fuel or during landing.
Better known as the “Warthog,” the A-10 Thunderbolt II is a single-pilot attack aircraft designed for short takeoffs and landings from primitive airfields. The A-10 can operate nearly anywhere and provide ground troops with close air support.
The entire aircraft was largely designed around its nose gun, a 30 mm Avenger cannon. The seven-barrel rotary cannon measures nine feet long and fires 30 mm armor-piercing shells at a rate of nearly 4,000 rounds per minute. As a result, it has been given the nickname “Tank Killer.”
The U.S. Air Force’s top two demonstration teams – the Thunderbirds and the F-22 Raptor Demo Team – will be the featured performers when the Cocoa Beach Air Show returns to Florida’s Space Coast. The Cocoa Beach Air Show will mark the kickoff of the Thunderbirds’ 2021 season.
Other scheduled show performers include the SOCOM Para-Commandos Parachute Team and the GEICO Skytypers Air Show Team, as well as aerobatic pilots Mike Wiskus and John Black.
Corporate sponsorship opportunities, hospitality packages and employee morale programs are available and volunteer registration is now open. For more information on the show or to purchase tickets visit https://cocoabeachairshow.com
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