Breitling Jet Team will headline the Melbourne air show
The Breitling Jet Team will headline the upcoming Melbourne Air & Space Show, zooming at up to 565 mph in a close-formation "aerial symphony" above Orlando Melbourne International Airport and surrounding neighborhoods.
Based in Dijon, France, the team flies seven black-and-gray L-39C Albatros twin-seat military training jets. The stunt squadron will kick off its 16-show North American schedule in Brevard County, performing on Saturday, April 2 and Sunday, April 3.
"Melbourne Air & Space Show attendees can expect to see a very elegant and exciting display by the Breitling Jet Team. The first part of our display shows some very close formation flying, sometimes within just a few feet of each other. Our second half of the performance brings some excitement with high-speed passes, signature maneuvers like our famed Apache Roll, and a final salute with some surprises at the end," said Jacques Bothelin, Breitling Jet team leader.
Air show officials revealed the mystery headliner Thursday morning.
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The Breitling Jet Team embarked on its first tour of the U.S. and Canada last year. The first stop was the Sun ‘N Fun Fly-In & International Expo in April in Lakeland, and the pilots landed in Titusville before flying past the Vehicle Assembly Building at Kennedy Space Center for a photo shoot.
The team later logged flights over the Grand Canyon, Lake Michigan, Hoover Dam, the Statue of Liberty, Niagara Falls and Mount Rushmore.
Military performers and other acts will be announced in the next couple weeks, said Bryan Lilley, air show chairman. The Navy Blue Angels, two F-22 Raptors, two F-16 Fighting Falcons and two Marine Corps MV-22 Ospreys appeared during the Melbourne Air & Space Show last March.
Melbourne officials happy with air show, music fest
Lilley said the Breitling Jet Team is his event's first international jet team. He likened the squadron with "an aerial symphony."
"They're unlike anything that we've really ever seen in the U.S. They actually transition formation in mid-flight," Lilley said.
"We're used to seeing a team hold a formation going all the way across the sky, and they'll come back around and do another formation. These guys stay very close to the show center, and they'll start in one formation and right in front of you they'll transition into another one. And they turn around and do it again," he said.
After performing on the Space Coast, the team will return to Lakeland from April 8-10 and fly during the Fort Lauderdale Air Show on May 7-8 before heading to events in New York, Tennessee and Illinois.
"The Breitling Jet Team is very excited about visiting Melbourne. We spent quite a bit of time in Florida last year at the start of our inaugural American tour doing some training in Lakeland. We are even more excited to be back in Florida again this year for the start of the second year of our American tour, especially being so closed to the ocean in Melbourne," Bothelin said.
Organizers have added a Friday Night Flight — featuring fireworks launched from aircraft — to kick off the air show on April 1. The AeroShell Aerobatic Team and a SubSonex microjet have been announced as performers.
Night flights, fireworks added to Melbourne air show
Lilley said stunt pilot Kent Pietsch will also perform during the air show. He is known for landing his Interstate Cadet atop the roof of a moving recreational vehicle.
Contact Neale at 321-242-3638, rneale@floridatoday.com or follow @RickNeale1 on Twitter