Thunderbirds’ big air show coming back to Nellis next year

They're back.

The Thunderbirds air demonstration team will perform their neck-craning loops and breathtaking rolls in red-white-and-blue F-16 jets over Nellis Air Force Base in November after last year's public show at their home base was off the schedule.

"Yeah. We're going to be here. It will be awesome," Thunderbirds public information officer Capt. Sara Harper said Wednesday.

The team will cap their 2016 season with performances Nov. 12 and 13 at Nellis Air Force Base — where they are based — at the north end of the Las Vegas Valley. They will repeat their season-ending show as well in 2017 flying at Nellis on Veterans Day, Nov. 11, and on Nov. 12, 2017.

"It's a great way to conclude our 2016 and 2017 seasons right here at Nellis Air Force Base and perform for the home team crowd," Thunderbirds operations director Maj. Kevin Walsh said.

"It's nice to have family, friends and community partners join us as we put on our last demonstration of the season," he said.

The team will also perform an "appreciation show" March 8 for military families at Creech Air Force Base, at Indian Spring, 45 miles northwest of Las Vegas, according to the 2016 show season schedule released this week.

To meet cost-cutting mandates under the Budget Control Act of 2011 and associated sequestration, Pentagon leaders had to lop $46 billion from their planned spending by October 2013, cutting short the Thunderbirds' season and grounding the team for the November 2013 Aviation Nation show at Nellis, which was canceled.

The team was supposed to mark its 60th anniversary season in 2013 after having performed in 4,400 air shows in 50 states and 60 countries. The team, known as "America's ambassadors in blue," has been a recruiting tool for the Air Force. It was formed at Luke Air Force Base, Ariz., in 1953 and moved to Nellis in 1956.

The Air Force typically spends about $300,000 to hold the Nellis air show and host the Aviation Nation open house. In turn, the weekend shows combined draw about 100,000 spectators and inject about $19 million into the local economy, according to estimates.

The Thunderbirds performed at Nellis in November 2014 but the 2015 schedule didn't include public performances at Nellis.

The 2016 show schedule of 40 weekend events and flyovers begins Feb. 21 with the team flying over Daytona International Speedway in Florida.

"We are looking forward to sharing the pride and professionalism of our Air Force with some many in the 2016 show season," Walsh said.

Lt. Col. Christopher Hammond is the commander of the U.S. Air Force Air Demonstration Squadron. An Air Force Academy graduate from Abilene, Texas, with more than 2,000 flight hours and 400 hours in combat, he leads the six-jet formation in the No. 1 jet. He also commands the 120-member squadron.

In all the Thunderbirds have planned 74 demonstrations in 41 locations across the United States during the upcoming 2016 season.

"The biggest difference between this upcoming year, compared to 2015, is the larger number of military installations on our schedule," Walsh said.

Contact Keith Rogers at krogers@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0308. Find him on Twitter: @KeithRogers2