More than 20,000 spectators packed the Great State of Maine Air Show in Brunswick for a sold-out weekend of roaring jet engines, breathtaking formations and a spectacular display of American and British aviation excellence.
The U.S. Navy Blue Angels returned to Maine for the first time in five years, taking center stage with their F/A-18 Super Hornets. The jets thundered into the sky, flying tight diamond formations, dramatic head-on passes and precision maneuvers that left crowds at Brunswick Executive Airport watching in awe.
But this performance was especially personal for Maine.
Flying Blue Angel No. 5 was Lt. Cmdr. Connor O’Donnell, a Freeport native who first watched the Blue Angels in Brunswick as a 10-year-old boy while sitting on top of his parents’ car.
“I will remember it forever,” O’Donnell recalled.
Years later, he returned to the same Maine skies — this time inside the cockpit of a Blue Angels Super Hornet.
Maine was also represented behind the scenes by Sgt. Bryan Riquier of Durham, part of the team maintaining the Blue Angels’ C-130J Super Hercules “Fat Albert,” and aviation structural mechanic Kaleigh Temple, originally from Bowdoinham.
Adding an international spectacle, the Royal Air Force Red Arrows joined the show as part of their U.S. tour celebrating America’s 250th anniversary.
The British aerobatic team painted the Brunswick sky with red, white and blue smoke, even creating a heart and American flag-inspired formation in a powerful tribute to the longstanding bond between the United States and the United Kingdom.
The weekend also featured aerobatic champion Mike Goulian, Warbird Thunder’s vintage SNJ aircraft, Vacationland Jumps parachutists, U.S. Air Force C-17 and F-35A demonstrations, and a World War II-era C-47.
With both Saturday and Sunday sold out, the Great State of Maine Air Show delivered more than an aviation spectacle — it became a celebration of hometown pride, military service and 250 years of American history.
