U.S. Navy Blue Angels

[4given]

I am going to take my son to see the Blue Angels for his first time today at the Vidalia, Georgia Sweet Onion festival. We were supposed to go last year and the number 6 plane crashed at the air show in Beaufort, S.C. the day before the Vidalia show. The pilot did not make it, my son cried for half a day, he was 7 last year.

I'm from Jacksonville, Florida and lived near the Naval Air Station Jax. That is where the Blue Angels started, so I have seen them several times. This will be my first time seeing them fly the F-18 Hornet.

Last summer we vacationed near Pensacola and got to watch some YF22 Raptors fly down the beach. They are some awesome jets, I wonder if the Blue Angels will upgrade to them?

I'll try to post some pics later.

[antitox]

Switching to F-22's would be nice. Then they could do those tight vertical flips.

Or they switched to the F-35's they could throw in VSTOL maneuvers.

[BeNotAfraid]

Have fun! My husband was stationed at NAS Jax until we moved here two years ago. He used fly in the 60 helicopters you always see flying around :)

My husband just took a bunch of kids to see the Blue Angels when they were up here a few weeks ago. Our kids are too little, maybe next year...

EDIT****Sorry guys, I have no idea how I ended up in the Mens area. I promise I NEVER come in here, I clicked on the title from the main forum page thinking I was in Anything Goes. Sorry :(

[Chris]

I live in Pensacola, Florida and the Blue Angels are based here. You can see them flying around the west side of town and along the beach when they are in town and not doing airshows. They are quite a show to see. :thumb

[whamo]

I got my very own (almost) private Blue Angels Air Show!

I was in an F-14 squadron stationed at NAS Oceana in Virginia Beach. I'm one of the few people alive that made it through 4 years in the military without ever peeling a potato or washing a dish. Instead of KP, I got assigned to the Fuel Pits for temporary duty.

I was working Saturday, the day before the annual Oceana air show when the Blues arrived. They landed and fueled up (their own personnel did the fueling, they didn't want us touching their birds). Later they flew their practice air show. Things were pretty slow on the base on Saturdays, especially the day before the air show, so a couple of us drove a fuel truck close to the center of the field on the edge of the runway to watch the show. We sat on top of the fuel truck.

It was an absolute blast! In one maneuver all six jets fly straight up vertically and then split in 6 different directions, and then fly back towards each other and converge over one point in the center of the airfield. My buddies an I were probably within a hundred yards or so of that spot! It was amazing! We had the perfect vantage point.

They were flying A-4 Sky Hawks at the time, not in the same league as the F-18's they fly now.

I wish you a safe and enjoyable air show.

[Chula]

I wanted to go to the Vadalia show but had other obligations.
I did get to see the Air Force's Thunderbirds a couple of weeks ago.
They are good but the Blue's are better!! GO NAVY !!

[4given]

It'll take me a couple of days to sort out the pics took 264 of them. I'll pick out the best ones and post a few. When I lived in Jacksonville I used to see them all the time in the F4's and A6's.

[Chris]

Looks like on the Blue Angel website they are using the F-18's now??

http://www.blueangels.navy.mil/

[4given]

they have been using the F18's for awhile now, I just wonder how long it will be before they move to the Raptors? Those are even more awesome to watch fly. I figure if they go to the Raptors they will have to wear the pressurized flight suits. They are not wearing them in the F18's, all other naval aviators wear them.

[Wally]

Got to see the Blues in F4 Phantoms at Dulles TransPo '72, then saw them in A4 Skyhawks in Reading PA in the late 70s.

Absolutely incredible - (1-3000 feet ?) low cloud cover and these 2 A4s are doing an airshow. They'd pop into the clouds and then pop out flying at each other. The cloud cover was so low that the local mountain top was obscurred - couldn't see the Pagoda. I think they were nuts back then. I did see one of the A4s at Cape May Airport Museum (unflyable)

It's been years, but the Blues have been to Reading a couple times since in F18s. I joke we have tire marks on our company's roof since we're on the approach to the runway. Looking forward to the next generation - F35s?
Please, please, please.....