Blue Angels
- Thread starter Toria
- Start date
Oh, don't you know it Toria! I was lucky enough in October to meet many of them while they were here for Fleet Week. I bought them and their wives/girlfriends a round of drinks back at the hotel bar. I could be a Blue Angels groupie!
Oh well, I've always had a weakness for Navy pilots.
A300Capt
Freight Dawg
One of my pals in the SLC base is a former Blue Angel. He was the 'Token Marine"
My current f/o is a former Blue Angel (during the mid 90's and was the narrator and then #3).
Aero_Engineer
Well-Known Member
Oh the Blue Angels, such a joy to watch them perform!!
mtsu_av8er
Well-Known Member
It's amazing the things that you just start to take for granted.
I spent a pretty good chunk of time at NAS Pensacola about ten years ago, and when I was there, The Blues were working up to begin their tour season. It was frigging way cool to constantly see and hear them through the day. Then it almost became an annoyance.
Fast-forward to last summer. The Blues were performing in Kansas City at the Downtown Airport, and my Thursday afternoon nap was cut short by their arrival. I was a little bit ticked, until I shook it off and went outside. The airshow wasn't until Saturday, but they shut the airport down several times and practiced both their high show and their low show several times on Thursday and Friday. The best seat in the house is definitely from the roof at the FBO!
I spent a pretty good chunk of time at NAS Pensacola about ten years ago, and when I was there, The Blues were working up to begin their tour season. It was frigging way cool to constantly see and hear them through the day. Then it almost became an annoyance.
Fast-forward to last summer. The Blues were performing in Kansas City at the Downtown Airport, and my Thursday afternoon nap was cut short by their arrival. I was a little bit ticked, until I shook it off and went outside. The airshow wasn't until Saturday, but they shut the airport down several times and practiced both their high show and their low show several times on Thursday and Friday. The best seat in the house is definitely from the roof at the FBO!
aloft
New Member
Who?
Maximilian_Jenius
Super User
Well, technically that would be the rwy 12 approach! But who needs to be technical!
:laff:
CaptBill
Well-Known Member
As a small boy, I remember my father taking me to the local airport for the weekend airshow. The Blues were there and I can still remember how I felt the first time they flew over my head. The roar of thier engines literally shook me to the bone. As a 10 year old boy, I had this amazing "awakening" that day that would provide the catalyst for my future flying. I had the special opportunity to fly for 10 years as a Navy fighter pilot and loved every minute of it. Like many things in life, the lifestyle is not as glamorous as it appears to the public, but it does have rewards that are hard to put into words. The Blues are indeed special!
Ahh, you must have made it to OZ.
Have a schooner of VB for me at Johno's Blues Bar in Cairns, and watch out for those saltwater crocs on the beaches of Northern Queensland mate! Have fun diving the Great Barrier reef. One of my all-time favorite dives!When you get back to Sydney, have another schooner of Victoria Bitter (VB) with some Fish and Chips from Doyle's in Watson's Bay. Happy, Safe Diving B!
I did not deduce that he was from OZ. He happens to be a friend of mine and I know that he's lucky enough to be on holiday Downunder.
Yes, I know that a schooner is NSW, and I know the regional differences in ordering beer. He's going to be in both NSW and QSL. I've spent a wee bit of time over there when working for my former boss who was filming a wee little movie called Star Wars at Fox studios in Sydney.
I prefer the schooner and actually like the Tasmanian beers the best.
Why do Queenslanders called their beer XXXX?
jtrain609
Antisocial Monster
I almost got hit by those guys once!
I was coming back from getting some BBQ and was flying over Fort Work Spinks, talking with approach and the radio calls went something like this...
Approach: "N73043 you've got traffic at nine o'clock, same altitude less than a mile a flight of 4 F-18's"
Me: "Ahh......oh, wow, in sight. You talkin' with those guys?"
Approach: "Negative, they're on with GCC I think"
So there went four Blue F-18's across my nose at a little less than a mile, left to right and then they turned back north towards the NAS. I hope they were talking with SOMEBODY, beacuse they were outside the TFR area and above FWS at like 3,500', so technically out of all airspace but MAING they were close to me.
I was coming back from getting some BBQ and was flying over Fort Work Spinks, talking with approach and the radio calls went something like this...
Approach: "N73043 you've got traffic at nine o'clock, same altitude less than a mile a flight of 4 F-18's"
Me: "Ahh......oh, wow, in sight. You talkin' with those guys?"
Approach: "Negative, they're on with GCC I think"
So there went four Blue F-18's across my nose at a little less than a mile, left to right and then they turned back north towards the NAS. I hope they were talking with SOMEBODY, beacuse they were outside the TFR area and above FWS at like 3,500', so technically out of all airspace but MAING they were close to me.
H46Bubba
Well-Known Member
When they arrivein the area, they usually fly around to get a visual of the local area before they begin their pratices. They also use aerial photos in their preflight. They were on militay freq with NAS. One of my LPO's got accepted for the Blue's as an airframe QA. Even the mechanics and support positions have to go through a rigorous acceptance process. I applied when I was up for shore duty but I didn't make it of course. I had a little blemish in my record.
Toria
Well-Known Member
Well, technically that would be the rwy 12 approach! But who needs to be technical!
I was very excited, type-o. Sorry.
zmiller4
Well-Known Member
Toria, did you go out to the airshow this weekend? I'm holding weekends off, so I got to go sunday...it was pretty cool, but we missed the blue angels. I was pretty interested in the decrepit old airplanes they've got out there, though.
Ooh, and I got to fly a 152 in Sacramento last week. It was, uh, interesting. I'm going to try to do a lot more GA flying--I didn't really realize how much I've missed it!
Ooh, and I got to fly a 152 in Sacramento last week. It was, uh, interesting. I'm going to try to do a lot more GA flying--I didn't really realize how much I've missed it!
Toria
Well-Known Member
I was on a flight to Vegas on Saturday afternoon that got held short of A-4 for the Angels to fly their whole show. Saw it all from the exit row of a SWA 73. They flew directly over 29R at about 1000 AGL. WOW!! Did not get out to the show because my friend got married in Vegas on Sunday. The air show might have been better.
I will get you into my 172 sometime. Summer flying. Get ready, you might hit your head on the top!
fish314
Well-Known Member
Zmiller,
Did you get a chance to sit in my airplane at that show? I was out there with three other guys and 4 tweets. One of them was for the show and we had kids climbing in and out of it all day, and the other 3 we retired to the boneyard. I'll try to post some pictures when I get them back.
Did you get a chance to sit in my airplane at that show? I was out there with three other guys and 4 tweets. One of them was for the show and we had kids climbing in and out of it all day, and the other 3 we retired to the boneyard. I'll try to post some pictures when I get them back.
Maximilian_Jenius
Super User
Toria
Well-Known Member
I was just teasing you in a fun, friendly manner. I'm not a correction nazi!
Right back at ya!
I was just plain crazy happy that someone pulled all those strings for me to get there in the first place! Read here: blonde and very excited....no telling what will come out of my mouth, then my foot usually goes in!