A Boeing F/A-18 Hornet from the fleet of the Blue Angels landed at the Lynchburg Regional Airport late Wednesday afternoon for a pre-visit for next year’s air show.
The air show will include the Blue Angels, two female pilot performers, vintage airplanes, the Korean P-51 warplane and at least one Candy Bomber, used in the Berlin airlift, said Dave Young, president of Freedom Aviation at the Lynchburg airport. The show will take place May 20 and 21.
More than 100 people rimmed the hillside by the control tower at the airport in anticipation of the F/A-18, which was carrying Lt. Tyler Davies and Captain Corrie Mays of the Blue Angels.
The plane made a pass over the tarmac before looping around. Out of sight, its roaring engine sounded like a thunderstorm.
The twin-engine, two-seat aircraft travels faster than 700 mph, just under the speed of sound, Mays said.
Mays, 35, has been in the Marines for nine years. She has about 800 hours of flight time in the Hornet alone.
“I want people to come out and expect to have an amazing weekend,” Mays said.
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