The 50th anniversary of the Sun 'n Fun airshow in Lakeland, Florida, was hosted this past April 9th - 14th. Headliners included the United States Air Force Thunderbirds, the F-35A Lightning II demonstration team with new commander and demo pilot Melanie “Mach” Klusener, the F/A-18 Rhino demo, the debut of both the new rebranded Titan Aerobatic Team with their T-6 Texan aircraft as well as the New Polaris Ghost Squadron with commander Jared “Rook” Issacman in his Mig-29 Fighting Fulcrum.
This year, being the 50th anniversary, Sun 'n Fun wanted to showcase the history of what's happened over the last 50 years, which included some of the original aircraft that had formerly performed in the show over the last 50 years, including the P-51 of Stallion 51 Flight Operations, Tora! Tora! Tora!, and many more.
Other than the 50th anniversary, Sun 'n Fun was happy to unveil the new night show, which included former Navy SEALS, Patriot Parachute team, with their debut PYRO! The Titan Aerobatic, F-35 Lightning II, F-18 Rhino, and Polaris Ghost Squadron also performed in the night show throughout the week.
Some static displays throughout the week included current: QF-16 Fighting Falcon, C-17 Globemaster III, MQ-1 Predator, E-9 Widget. Warbirds: VC-121 Constellation “Bataan”, TBM-3E Avenger, P-40 Warhawk, SBD Dauntless and various P-51 Mustangs from across the country. And Sun 'n Fun's own F-14 Tomcat in their beautiful VF-31 USS Theodore Roosevelt paint job.
The debut of the Polaris Ghost squadron with their 8-ship demonstration highlighting the Mig-29 Fulcrum, 3 Alpha Jets, and 4 L-39 Albatros was also a very big hit this year. Their mission through aviation is to provide training to their astronauts for the upcoming span of Polaris Dawn missions to space over the next few years, and to raise funds and awareness for St. Jude, which is fostering support and funds to keep a 100% free bill for all families.
Sun 'n Fun is scheduled for April 1st - 6th in 2025. Fans across the world are both excited and anxious to return for the 51st year of Sun 'n Fun.
Check out more photos below!!!
