Air Show Returning to March Air Reserve Base After 4 Year Hiatus

MORENO VALLEY, CA - March Air Reserve Base next month will host its first air show in four years, with a line-up of Air Force and civilian demonstrations that are certain to entertain the crowd, officials said Friday.

"The Thunderbirds will be here," base public affairs chief Linda Welz told City News Service. "We're anticipating that up to a half-million people will turn out."

"March Field AirFest 2016: Thunder over the Empire" has been in the works since last year, when U.S. Air Force higher-ups gave the go-ahead for the Moreno Valley base to host its first show since 2012, according to Welz.

The biennial events require months of advance planning and budgeting, she said.

The 2014 AirFest was grounded because of spending caps imposed under the federal Budget Control Act of 2011. The fiscal "sequestration," as it became known, was a short-lived attempt to hold down discretionary spending.

Welz told CNS that the April 16-17 show will be every bit as exciting as the last one.

The Thunderbirds, flying F-16 Fighting Falcons, will be the capstone to weekend aerial entertainment, but numerous other acts are in the mix, including a solo U.S. Navy F-18 Hornet tactical demo, a mock dogfight between an F-86 Sabre and a Russian MiG-15, and formation stunts by the Patriots Jet Team.

March's 452nd Air Mobility Wing will deploy some of its aircraft for the show, featuring flyovers by mammoth C-17 Globemasters and KC-135 air tankers.

Jon Melby will be on hand for stunts in his Pitts muscle biplane, while John Collver will run through a series of aerobatics in his T-6 Texan, code- named "Wardog."

Pilots from the Commemorative Air Force are slated to make low passes in "planes of fame," including a P-51 Mustang, Mitsubishi Zero, F6F Hellcat and British Spitfire.

There will be a large inventory of aircraft that fest celebrants can check out on the tarmac, as well as other equipment displays, according to Welz.

Admission and parking will be free.

– By City News Service. Image courtesy of March Air Reserve Base.