🛩️ I Swung by the 2025 FourLeaf Air Show—and It Was a Total Barrel of Fun!
This Memorial Day weekend, I left the treetops and touched down at Jones Beach State Park for the 2025 FourLeaf Air Show—and let me tell you, it was a high-flying, sonic-booming, g-force-grinning good time.
With blue skies above and the roar of afterburners echoing off the surf, this wasn’t just another banana on the bunch—it was the ultimate air show experience. Here’s the full scoop, straight from this airborne ape’s notebook.
🦍 Thunderbirds: The Apex Predators of the Sky
When I say the U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds stole the show, I’m not monkeying around. These six F-16 Fighting Falcons screamed in from Long Island MacArthur Airport (ISP)—a flight that takes less time than it does to peel a banana—and immediately owned the skies with diamond formations, knife-edge passes, and mind-bending loops.
Precision? Check.
Speed? Over 500 knots at points.
Crowd reaction? Pure chimp-chatter and awe.
🎯 Skill That Hits the Bullseye
Just when you thought the Thunderbirds were the main event, the U.S. Army Golden Knights floated down from 12,000 feet with pinpoint parachute landings that could make a tightrope-walking chimp jealous. These soldiers brought the calm before (and after) the jet-fueled storm.
🚀 Stealth, Power, and Jaw-Dropping Maneuvers
U.S. Navy F-35C and Marine Corps F-35B—dual stealth machines showing off vertical landings and high-G turns.
F/A-18F Super Hornet (“Rhino”) and EA-18G Growler—ripping through the beach airspace like it was jungle canopy.
C-17 Globemaster III and HH-60 rescue demos—the heavy hitters of the 105th and 106th Air National Guard Wings from New York, showing the muscle behind the mission.
Let’s just say: even the seagulls looked impressed.
🐵 Going Bananas for the Civilians
The civilian acts weren’t monkeying around either:
Aarron Deliu twirled his aerobatic plane like a lemur in a tailspin—wild, controlled, and fearless.
David Windmiller, a Long Island local, made the sky look like a jungle gym with jaw-dropping tumbles and spins.
Warbird Thunder Airshows and American Airpower Museum brought vintage warbirds growling through the sky. (Nothing like hearing a P-51 Mustang thunder overhead while eating a soft pretzel.)
And yes… the Flying Rams from Farmingdale State soared in a formation tight enough to make even chimp acrobats clap from the treetops.
🛠️ The Crown Jewel: B-29 “Doc”
A personal highlight? The legendary B-29 Superfortress “Doc” lumbering across the sky like the granddaddy of aerial dominance. Seeing it fly is like catching a gorilla doing ballet—majestic, rare, and oddly graceful.
📱 Keep Your Tail in the Know
Word to the wise: if you plan to catch next year’s action, download the FourLeaf Air Show app by texting “Airshow” to 516-842-4400. It’s a great way to track performers, parking, and plan your banana breaks.
🍌 Final Thoughts from This Chimp in Focus
From the thunder of afterburners to the graceful drift of parachutes, the 2025 FourLeaf Air Show was a full-on aerial safari. I left with a sunburn, a full SD card, and a newfound respect for the pilots who dance in the clouds like trapeze artists on afterburners.
If you didn’t swing by this year, you missed a sky-party of epic proportions.
But don’t worry—I’ve got more shows in my sights and more monkey business to cover. Keep your eyes on the sky… and your browser tuned to chimpinfocus.com.
Stay curious, stay airborne, and as always—never let go of the vine.
✌️🐒
