ST. CLAIR COUNTY, Ill. — Fans of the U.S. Navy Blue Angels will be able to see them fly next spring as a Scott Air Force Base Airshow and STEM Expo is set for May 13-14, 2023.

Pilots Lt. Cmdr. Thomas Zimmerman and Lt. Cmdr. Brian Vaught, who joined the Blue Angels team in September, flew into Scott AFB Tuesday to meet the team and help plan for the upcoming airshow.

They began a five-month rigorous training program at NAS Pensacola and Naval Air Facility El Centro, California, before beginning the March 2023 airshow season.

For a third season, the pilots will be flying in the Super Hornet airplanes, according to Zimmerman, but audiences will see new stunts.

“You’re going to see the same Blue Angel flair and the same Blue Angel formations that we’ve flown for 77 years, but we also have some new tricks and new twists added to it with our upgraded airplane,” he said.

Becoming a Blue Angel was a childhood dream come true for Zimmerman.

“Looking up as a six-year-old, watching the blue and gold airplanes fly by, one day to think that I could be standing here is incredibly humbling, but hopefully also a message out there that someone watching the show, you can be up there one day shortly. It’s possible, so just set goals, achieve them and your wildest dreams could come true,” he said.

Zimmerman will be a narrator during the airshow and one his favorite moments is watching people’s reaction to the Blue Angels Sneak Pass move.

For more information about the Scott Air Force Base Airshow and STEM Expo in May, click here.