BRUNSWICK, Maine — In preparation for their appearance at the 2015 Great State of Maine Air Show, the U.S. Navy Blue Angels will fly an F/A-18 Hornet jet to Brunswick on Thursday morning.
Blue Angel No. 7, Capt. Jeff Juss of Durango, Colorado, and Blue Angel No. 8, Corrie Mayes of Marstons Mills, Massachusetts, will pass over Brunswick Executive Airport and land at about 7:25 a.m., according to a release from air show officials.
Kuss and Mayes will then hold a news conference before meeting with air show officials about the September 2015 event.
Tickets for the 2015 air show — scheduled for Sept. 5-6, 2015 — will go on sale at 8 a.m. Dec. 12, and will be available online at www.GreatStateofMaineAirShow.us.
The air show carries on a tradition that started when Brunswick was home to a Navy air base. For nearly four decades, annual free air shows sometimes drew crowds of more than 100,000.
After the base closed in 2011, civilian redevelopers worked with the Blue Angels and other aerobatics groups to continue hosting the show at the airport and neighboring properties formerly owned by the Navy.
The 2011 show, which took place just after the base closure and included ticket fees for the first time because it was no longer sponsored by the Navy, featured the Blue Angels and drew 25,000 fans.
The following year, attendance reportedly increased to more than 40,000 as the U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds claimed the main event spotlight.
The Blue Angels were scheduled to perform in Brunswick in September 2013, but sweeping federal budget cuts known as sequestration forced the high-profile aerial acrobatics team to cancel its appearance, and the directors of the Midcoast Regional Redevelopment Authority ultimately canceled the event entirely.
Since 2011, air show organizers have made it a point to distribute a portion of the admission proceeds to local charities.
BDN staff reporter Seth Koenig contributed to this report.