The Great State of Maine Air Show is an airshow held in August at Brunswick Executive Airport in Brunswick, Maine. After being run for a number of years by Naval Air Station Brunswick, the event returned in 2011 with an all-volunteer base.
| Great State of Maine Air Show | |
|---|---|
 Blue Angels at the show | |
| Genre | Air show |
| Venue | Brunswick Executive Airport |
| Location(s) | Brunswick, Maine |
| Country | United States |
| Website | Official website |
Event History
editAir Shows took place at Naval Air Station Brunswick on random years throughout the 1980s, 1990s and early 2000s organized by the United States Navy and featuring dozens of military and civilian aerial performers. The 33rd Annual Great State of Maine Air Show which took place in 2008 was expected to be the last, as Brunswick was expected to be closed by the 2005 Base Realignment and Closure process.[1] A record number of 150,000 people showed up for the two-day event.[2] The Base was officially decommissioned on 31 May 2011 with an onsite ceremony. On the same year it was announced that the Great State of Maine Air Show would return to the skies of Brunswick on August 26 and 27 of 2011, It would be organized and put-up by an all-volunteer base without the participation from the US Military.[3] The show would take place on the same location as before as the Naval Station had become Brunswick Executive Airport. Despite not being organized by the Military, the United States Navy Blue Angels were still to be featured at the Show after their first appearance in Maine since 2007. The United States Air Force also supported the event with the A-10 Thunderbolt II Demonstration and a USAF Heritage Flight. Civilian aerobatic and warbird performances rounded out the rest of the show. Military Static Displays were canceled due to Hurricane Irene which was moving towards the south. Despite some bad weather, the Show was still an overall success. The next show took place on August 25 and 26, 2012 with an additional night Air Show on August 24, it was headlined by the USAF Thunderbirds and also featured the F/A-18C Hornet Demonstration from the US Navy. The Texas Flying Legends Museum which is based at Wiscasset Airport for part of the year, brought over a restored B-25 Mitchell, P-51D Mustang, P-40 Warhawk, F4U Corsair, and one of only two flyable Mitsubishi A6M Zeros to the Show and participated in a warbird flight that involved mock-aerial combat. The planned 2013 Show was canceled due to Budget Cuts in Congress known as sequestration. The show did not take place in 2014 either because the organizers failed to book a head-lining military act. That year however, the Blue Angels announced their 2015 schedule which included the Great State of Maine Air Show.[4]
References
edit- ^ Adams, Glenn (5 September 2008). "Winging it, at 779 mph". Lewiston Sun Journal. Associated Press. p. A2. Retrieved 22 October 2024.
That'll be this weekend, when the Navy's Blue Angels join other aerial acrobats for the 2008 Great State of Maine Air Show at the Brunswick Naval Air Station. The Saturday and Sunday spectacles will be historic because they'll be the last at the coastal Maine base, which is slated to be phased out during the next year and shut down as part of the federal base-closure process.
- ^ "Brunswick Air Show draws 150,000 people". Bangor Daily News. Associated Press. 9 September 2008. p. B5. Retrieved 22 October 2024.
- ^ Sharp, David (22 August 2011). "Navy is gone but air show continues in Maine". Portsmouth Herald. Retrieved 22 October 2024.
- ^ Sharp, David (31 August 2015). "Great State of Maine Air Show returns after 2-year hiatus". Foster's Daily Democrat. Retrieved 22 October 2024.
External links
edit
- Official website Archived 2011-10-13 at the Wayback Machine
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