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Flying with GEICO Skytypers Air Show Team

A real-life Maverick helps me check off a bucket-list adventure in the sky over Ocean City
The GEICO Skytypers blow smoke not long after takeoff from Ocean City Airport. The popular team is one of the highlights of the Ocean City Air Show taking place June 19 and 20.
Ron MacArthur
June 17, 2021

Check one off from the bucket list. On June 17, I flew with the GEICO Skytypers Air Show Team as they prepared for the Ocean City Air Show this weekend. I’ve seen many air shows over the years, and have always wanted to fly with one of the teams. The GEICO team made that happen for me and other media members.

My pilot, Tom Daly, has been flying most of his life, piloting helicopters for 30 years as a member of the New York City Police Department. He’s been flying with the GEICO team for 25 years. The Long Island, N.Y. resident is a ninth-degree black belt, owns a martial arts school, was dean of the School of Aviation at Dowling College and holds five land-speed records he set on three different motorcycles. Talk about a real “Maverick.”

The Skytypers team, known for their tight formations and smoke “skytypes,” flies low-level precision maneuvers and tactics used by military pilots. They will join an impressive schedule of air show teams, including the U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds.

The air show takes place from noon to 3:30 p.m., Saturday, June 19, and Sunday, June 20, above Ocean City. For more information, go to ocairshow.com.

My stomach was churning a bit, but the flight with the GEICO team was amazing, and the weather was perfect.
The aircraft flown by the GEICO team are training planes used during World War II.
The pilots, constantly in radio contact with one another, fly extremely close together throughout their performance.
GEICO Skytypers pilots put on a mini show over the Atlantic Ocean along the Ocean City coastline.
The team prepares to fly over Ocean City after arriving from New York to prepare for this weekend’s air show.
Pilot Tom Daley, a 73-year-old retired New York City helicopter pilot, has been flying with the GEICO team for 25 years.
WBOC’s Lisa Bryant is among media who were invited to fly with the team on June 17.
With their trailer in the background, the first three of six planes park on the tarmac.
Three of the Skytypers prepare to land at Ocean City Airport after flying from New York to perform in the Ocean City Air Show.
The six GEICO Skytypers World War II-era planes are ready to head to the runway.

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