DAUPHIN COUNTY, Pa. — Blink and they’ll fly by!
US Navy Blue Angels Lilly Montana and Scott Laux visited Harrisburg International Airport on Tuesday in preparation for the 2025 AirDotShow tour on Memorial Day Weekend.
“The mission of the blue angels is to showcase the teamwork and professionalism of the United States Navy and Marine Corps through flight demonstration and community outreach while inspiring a culture of excellence and service to country,” Laux described.
The team has thrilled audiences with aerobatic maneuvers for more than 75 years.
In 2021, the Blue Angels transitioned to the Boeing F/A-18 Super Hornet which has a max speed of more than 800 miles per hour.
“Everything that we do in order to secure the jet is choreographed, there’s no such thing as minutia,” Laux said.
Training for the Blue Angels can be rigorous and intense.
There are currently 158 active-duty Sailors and Marines involved.
Chairman Bryan Lilley says HIA will be the third stop in the show’s eight-destination tour.
“Whenever you can go and take an event like an air show with such a huge aviation following and go to a place that is a destination or place people like to go on vacation, you combine all of that together it’s just the perfect opportunity.”
It’ll be the first show at the airport in roughly 30 years.
“I think the last time we were able to find records of an air show here was in the 90s,” Lilley said.
Organizers hope the show will inspire the next generation of servicemen and aviators, especially young women and those from underrepresented groups.
“We are made up of 140 different individuals, and so I acknowledge I’ve been the minority in a lot of those squadrons I’m employed with but I’m no lesser for it, I make a family that starts off as friends,” Montana said.
The show is scheduled for May 24-25, 2025.