This year’s event was held on October 28-29 at the Orlando Sanford International Airport. The featured military performers included the F/A-18 Rhino Demo (West Coast), USAF F-35A Demo Team and was headlined by the USAF Thunderbirds. Civilian performers included John Black, Michael Goulian and Scott Yoak. The Orlando stop was the final tour date of the Air Dot Show season.

Remax Parachute Team

The RE/MAX Parachute Team opened the show with a flag jump and several members flying large streamers attached to their legs. Sunday’s performance had to be scrubbed due to high winds.

Michael Goulian Aerobatics

Michael Goulian performed his aggressive and modern aerobatics display, which includes many rolls and other high-G force tumbles. Michael is considered one of the best aerobatic performers in the world and has also been a member of the Red Bull Air Racing team. His aircraft is custom built and can withstand higher g-forces than a human could tolerate. He is a difficult subject to photograph due to his constant rolling or other maneuvering, but I did manage to get one on the way down from one of them.

F/A-18 Rhino Demo Team (West) and Legacy Flight

The West Coast Rhino Team came out from NAS Lemoore to be a part of the Air Dot Show Orlando. The team consists of instructor pilots and WSOs from VFA-122 “Flying Eagles”. This was the final demonstration for the 2023 West Coast Team this year.

The Legacy flight was performed with Scott Yoak piloting the F4U Corsair.

John Black Aerobatics

John Black performed in his Super Decathlon. Although the aircraft does not look aerobatic, John is able to push the aircraft to the edge of the envelope. John has been flying since age 17 and he learned on this very type of aircraft. John is a retired Air Force pilot, and also flies a P-51 Mustang, L-39 Albatross, and an AT-6 Texan. He is also one of the few current civilian performers that uses colored smoke, which looks fantastic!

Scott Yoak P-51 Mustang Aerobatics

Scott Yoak performed an aerobatic routine in his P-51D Mustang “Quicksilver”. The display is a hybrid between standard aerobatics and maneuvers used by the pilots that flew P-51s and other similar warbirds of the era. Many of those maneuvers are still used to this day and look “easy” with the power of the Mustang along with the skilled pilot.

USAF F-35A Demo Team and Heritage Flight

Maj. Kristin “Beo” Wolfe piloted the USAF’s F-35A Lightning II. The display was full of high energy and vapor! The F-35 demo is part of the 388th FW based at Hill, AFB in Utah. I really enjoyed watching Maj. Wolfe perform several times in 2023, and she was my favorite demo of the year.

Here is a 3-shot gallery of the high speed flyby! Its hard to pan during these types of passes.

The Heritage Flight was led by Stuart Milson in the P-51D Mustang, “The Rebel”.

This was the final two demonstrations for Maj. Wolfe. When she came in, the celebration commenced with the traditional water hose down of her final demo flight. Once she got down from the jet, she was able to avoid the celebratory fire extinguisher hose down by the ground crew and safety pilot.

USAF Thunderbirds

The headline performers were the USAF Thunderbirds flying their F-16 Fighting Falcons – also known as the Viper!

The show was special for Thunderbird #2, Maj. Zachary Taylor. For Maj. Taylor, the show was considered his “hometown” show and had a number of friends and family in attendance. Prior to being selected for the Thunderbird team, Maj. Taylor was stationed in Japan for six years. The team arrived on Thursday, and he was able to fly over his local alma mater, Seminole High School, during football practice and make several puffs of smoke to announce the team’s arrival.

Around the Field…

The show did have a small static display area, which included several local warbirds and four F-16 Vipers from Shaw AFB, South Carolina.

The layout of the show does not really have space to accommodate numerous statics, so it was nice to have a couple to check out. The F-16s are configured for “Wild Weasel” missions, so it was a real treat to see. I had a fantastic time at the show, and I look forward to possibly covering it again sometime. Special thanks to the Air Dot Show team and local volunteers for the great hospitality.