Thunder Over Michigan 2026 - The Red Arrows

Even with the Smoke over Michigan, leading to the cancellation of the Friday show due to weather being below minimums for safe flying, the show went on Saturday.

Smoke was still present, and having the show run from 3pm to 9pm with the airshow performances themselves taking place from 6-9pm made lighting conditions rather unpleasant for photographers.  The joy of dealing with smoke and the sun shining right in your lens through breaks in the smoke made a less than ideal photographic environments.

For all that, the airshow offered some neat performances.

The highlight of the show was the Royal Air Force's Red Arrows, with this being their first time performing in Michigan, on a special tour for America's 250th anniversary. 

Flying here via Iceland, Greenland, Newfoundland and on down to Michigan their next and final US performance will be at Oshkosh.

The Red Arrows did a staggered formation takeoff of  3, 2 and 2 for sevena aircraft in the air.

They quickly assembled into formation and the show began.

It began with a unique formation that may never occur again:  The Red Arrows with the US F-16 Falcon Demonstrator jet:
 

 

 

Very cool.

 

After the F-16 departed the formation, the main Red Arrow show began, starting with their namesake: a  Red Arrow formation:

 

 Lots of cool formation acrobatics then took place.

 The pilots were having an interesitng time keeping sight of each other in the smoky conditions which made it a tad harder than a typical show.

It ended with a formation break 

 

and then a landing in beautifully timed, spaced, and tightly executed sequential order, with a perfectly spaced formation taxi back to the ramp.

An impressive display of precision team airmanship under difficult conditions. 

The RAF Red Arrows did a phenomenal display and very well represented the best of the Royal Air Force and the United Kingdom.

MiG-23 Down At Thunder Over Michigan

I didn't make it to Thunder Over Michigan this year.  Thus year, MiG-23 didn't make it out. No cause has been announced yet, with one rumor calling it a bird strike, and NTSB is investigating.

The Detroit News: Plane crashes during Thunder over Michigan airshow finale at Willow Run

Both pilots of the MiG ejected safely, with no reported serious injuries from both the ejection and splashing into Belleville Lake. 

Aircraft crashed into a parking lot beside an apartment building outside the airfield.  Aside from some cars getting trashed, it appears that thankfully no one was hurt.

Thanks to Matthew W for the provided a link to Twitter with video of the incident.

Thunder Over Michigan 2021

The air show, while rather different from previous years, was still quite a show.

In short it was a lot shorter as I only had a ticket for the morning show.  The updside to viewing the show form beside your car is all your gear, food etc was close at hand.  The downside was good shots were often hard to get due to being blocked by other people's vehicles or people standing up in their truck beds etc and not being able to get to the front of the viewing area but being stuck viewing from where you were parked.

We could however walk and see the static displays before the show, which were a lot thinner than in normal years, butt here will still things to see.

Much more to report and some great pictures to show.

Thunder Over Michigan Gets Covidized

Last year, Michigan's best airshow, Thunder Over Michigan was cancelled due to Covid.

This year it will go on, but unfortunately in a much more restricted and limited fashion than in years past.

It's going to be a drive-in airshow.

The Detroit News: Thunder Over Michigan air show to return to Ypsilanti in August 

Tickets will be for $165 per car, and you can fill your car up with attendees, but t hat's quite a bit more than the $15 general admission of past years, by quite a lot, unless you get a minivan and pack 11 people in it - which would kinda kill off the whole point of this social distancing overkill.

Unfortunately, that $165 doesn't even get you in for the whole day, but only half the show.

You have to choose between a morning or afternoon slot.  F-35 Demo team in the morning, or The US Air Force Thunderbirds in the afternoon.

No walking around the aircraft and seeing the static displays, just staying in your car or out on the passenger side, with commentary on the show coming over the radio.

Certainly it's going to be a much different and sadly limited airshow experience than in years past.