Season Kicks Off March 21 In Melbourne, FL

The GEICO Skytypers will perform and sky type at more than a dozen air shows during 2015, sharing the skies at eight events with the Blue Angels and four with the Thunderbirds.

The world-famous SNJ warbirds will fly from their Long Island, NY base to air shows along the East Coast between March and November. Five of those shows are hosted by U.S. military installations – a fitting partnership for the team flying vintage WWII-era planes.

"Our SNJs trained the pilots of the Greatest Generation," said Steve Kapur, GEICO Skytypers pilot and team marketing director. "We consider it a privilege to inspire kids, honor veterans and fly these warbirds on behalf of our sponsor GEICO at air shows all across the U.S."

The GEICO Skytypers perform a low-level precision flying demonstration at air shows utilizing six, vintage WWII aircraft.  But the team also uses 21st-century technology to type giant messages 10,000 feet up in the sky.  These dot-matrix style messages are 1,000 feet tall, can be viewed from 15 miles away in any direction and are created 17 times faster than the more traditional sky writing method.

Three stops on this year's GEICO Skytypers' air show circuit will also feature an air vs. sea race between the pilots and their water-bound counterpart, the Miss GEICO offshore racing team.

"We know our sister speedboat team is the eight-time world-champion," said Larry Arken, Commanding Officer and GEICO Skytypers Flight Lead. "But one of our pilots, Tom Daly has his own world speed record at Bonneville Salt Flats, Utah and he never likes to come in second – even when he's racing in a 75-year-old warbird."

The GEICO Skytypers also plan to repeat a fan favorite; a race of all six SNJs against Bill Braack's 10,000 horsepower jet car at the Wings Over North Georgia Air Show in Rome, GA.

(Image from file)

FMI: www.facebook.com/GEICOSkytypers