Check Out These Stunning Images Of The Rare NYC Flyover Featuring the Thunderbirds, the Red Arrows, F-22s and F-35s

Some of the best images of Aug. 22 flyover. (Image credit: RAF Red Arrows/Crown Copyright)

What a flypast over Hudson River.

History was made on Aug. 22, 2019, as the U.S. Air Force’s Thunderbirds, the RAF’s Red Arrows (the Royal Air Force aerobatic team is in the U.S. for a tour of North America between August and October) and a flight of two F-35As Lightning II jets of the F-35 Demo Team and two F-22s of the Raptor Demo Team flew over NYC ahead of the New York International Air Show to be held at New York Stewart airport this weekend.

Overall, 20 aircraft (including a Red Arrows Hawk jet that acted as camera ship) conducted the flyover on the Hudson River near the Statue of Liberty and Verrazzano Bridge performing passes at 2,500-3,000 ft and trailing colored smokes.

Unfortunately, the U.S. Navy Blue Angels, initially slated to take part in the aerial parade, could not join the rest of the teams because of operational requirements.

Here are some of the coolest images we found online.

First of all, the following video (fast forward to 13:15 mark to spot the first jets) shows the flyover:

More photographs were shared online by the Red Arrows:



About David Cenciotti
David Cenciotti is a journalist based in Rome, Italy. He is the Founder and Editor of “The Aviationist”, one of the world’s most famous and read military aviation blogs. Since 1996, he has written for major worldwide magazines, including Air Forces Monthly, Combat Aircraft, and many others, covering aviation, defense, war, industry, intelligence, crime and cyberwar. He has reported from the U.S., Europe, Australia and Syria, and flown several combat planes with different air forces. He is a former 2nd Lt. of the Italian Air Force, a private pilot and a graduate in Computer Engineering. He has written five books and contributed to many more ones.