Navy's Blue Angels return to the skies at Lancaster air show today

Navy’s Blue Angels return to the skies at Lancaster air show today

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The Blue Angels, in F/A-18 Hornets, prepare for the Los Angeles County Air Show at General William J. Fox Airfield in Lancaster. (Anne Cusack / Los Angeles Times)

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Kimberly Heredia, right, and Frank Heredia with son, Skylar, 5, watch the Blue Angels perform at Fox Airfield in Lancaster. (Anne Cusack / Los Angeles Times)

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Commander Tom Frosch signals as he heads to the runway to perform with the Blue Angels at Fox Airfield in Lancaster. (Anne Cusack / Los Angeles Times)

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The Blue Angels fly their F/A-18 Hornets during rehearsal for the Los Angeles County Air Show at Fox Airfield in Lancaster. (Anne Cusack / Los Angeles Times)

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Pilots from the Navy Blue Angels head toward their planes as they prepare for the Los Angeles County Air Show in Lancaster. (Anne Cusack / Los Angeles Times)

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The Blue Angels rehearse for the Los Angeles County Air Show at Fox Airfield in Lancaster. (Anne Cusack / Los Angeles Times)

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Jon Hiltz enters a F/A-18 Hornet to perform with the Blue Angels at Fox Airfield in Lancaster. (Anne Cusack / Los Angeles Times)

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Vintage aircraft are also part of the show. Pilot Brad Lane after flying a B-51 C Red Tail Mustang that was flown by the Tuskegee Airmen. Lane is the son of Donald W. Lang, one of the original Tuskegee Airmen, who passed away in 2007. (Anne Cusack / Los Angeles Times)

By Jason Wells

March 21, 2014 8:01 AM PT

Returning to the skies at full force after being grounded by federal budget cuts, the Navy’s famed Blue Angels aerial demonstration squad will be the headline act when the inaugural Los Angeles County Air Show kicks off Friday.

The air show will be the squadron’s first of the 2014 season after spending much of 2013 training at the Navy facility in El Centro, Calif. The Blue Angels were forced to cancel most of their 2013 season, including dates this fall in San Diego, Ventura and San Francisco, after the automatic federal budget cuts known as sequestration took effect.

Other acts scheduled for the show at General William J. Fox Airfield in Lancaster include the Red Bull Air Force, the Red Bull Air Force wing suit flyers and Chuck “Malibu” Aaron, billed as a “methodical risk taker” and the first civilian ever to be licensed to perform helicopter aerobatics in the U.S.

Tickets for the show, which runs Friday and Saturday, are $10 for children and $25 for adults. Gates open at 9 a.m., with performances ending around 4 p.m.

jason.wells@latimes.com

Twitter: @jasonbretwells | Facebook | Google+

Navy’s Blue Angels return to the skies at Lancaster air show today

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