July 1, 2026 Sail 250 - The Airshow

 Wednesday July 1, 2026   Celebrating Sail 250 with an Airshow

Sail 250 also included fly overs.  The US Navy Blue Angels, but also the British Royal Red Arrows and France's Patrouille de France.  We got 4 shows.  Practices on Thursday and Friday and then the main shows on Saturday and Sunday.   The official flyover "box" was just off Ft. McHenry, so easily visible from our boat.  Then multiple direct fly overs of the boat with their deaf defying noise as they circled around to regroup. Gave us a good opportunity for some close-up pictures.   Airshow also included other aircraft.  AirForce F-16 Viper, Osprey, assorted helicopters - USCG, MD State Troopers, Baltimore PD, etc.  Both Saturday and Sunday had spotty rain and low lying clouds which had us questioning if they would be able to fly but for the most part conditions turned out okay.   British team had to cut their routine a bit short on Sunday but humorously radioed "they apologize for bringing typical British weather with them".   Visiting aircraft used red, white and blue colored smoke in their display.  A nice touch. The Blue Angels would fly last each day.  To my eye they had the tightest formations flying much closer to each other.   We've seen their performance numerous times - Off NAS JAX when we lived in Florida, in Annapolis for Naval Academy Graduation, Solomons off NAS Patuxent River, and now here in Baltimore.   It never fails to awe and inspire.