Holy Crap! The Blue Angels are practicing right outside our windows hear at work. These jets are fricking amazing and totally blowing my mind. I am having a hard time getting any work done as these things roaring by get the expected Pavlovian response of rushing from my desk to the window and ooh-ing and aww-ing. In formation, solo straight up, or just going by like really fast and stuff.
Hopefully the contrails don’t get me though.
Many years ago when I worked aboard NAS Jax, my cubicle was by the windows that faced the runway, although there were a few buildings in the way. Still, when it was air show season, I spent a lot of time staring out the windows during rehearsals.
The best place to watch the show, though, was from our boat anchored in the cove just north of the base. You know the maneuver where they fly straight down, then pull out at the last second? It’s very impressive when you’re looking directly up into the intakes!
I loves me some Blue Angels!
That’s one of the many things I miss about living in Seattle. We lived on Beacon Hill and spent lots of time watching them practice for Seafair. They’d go right over the house – about three blocks from the Veterans Hospital – that had to be deliberate.
And they were the last things we saw when we left --tied up in traffic trying to cross Lake Washington as they were practicing in August 1990.
Aren’t they something? I think the sound of the engines has a lot to do with the excitement.
You are so lucky!!! 
I’ve only seen them once, but they were fantastic!
This photographer got some great shots of them from SF 2007 Fleet Week. The most impressive ones start about halfway down, including one plane’s very low-level run UNDER the Golden Gate Bridge!
(WARNING: lots of pictures on one page, may load very slowly on low-speed connections)
What about the Thunderbirds? I just read on MSN where they have the first woman pilot to solo and the first black member too! So there!
Bollocks on the T-Birds. The Angels are IT, man.
Actually, on personal experience (they were both at the 928thTAG/128thARW in the same span of time I was) the Angels are the nicest bunch of guys you’d ever want to meet. Squared away, down to earth, decent guys, in a better-than-you sorta way. The 'birds were just arrogant.
I’ve got some shots of their landing routine, doesn’t matter where they are or when it is, the routine happens the same way every time. Awesome.
Why not take a ride on one.
I think I’ve posted about this before, but I got to fly “with” them once.
When I was stationed at NASG Homestead I was dating an Air Force guy who got the weekend job of supplying JATO bottles for Fat Albert, their C-130 support plane, for its bit at the end of the show. We were all sitting around on the backass end of the flightline at Opalocka shooting the shit when Fat Albert’s flight engineer walked over, looked at me, and said, “Wanna go for a ride?”
My response, of course, was, “Are you shitting me?”
They kitted me up in a set of coveralls that was about 9000 larger than I was and let me climb around the cockpit for a while before, gave me a bunch of signed memorabilia after (all sadly destroyed during Hurricane Andrew), and in between I got to go for jet-assisted ride that ended in a Vomit Comet-esque falling arc and everyone on board looked at the idiot on the other side with his arms floating in the air before realizing his own arms were doing the same thing.
Kick. Ass.
I strongly recommend bumming a ride if you ever get the chance.
From your link …
A couple years ago, I was visiting Chicago during…Memorial Day? It was warm out. Purely by coincidence, I was checking out this medical oddities museum that used to be a really big mansion. It’s right by the North Street Beach, where all these dignitaries had gathered for an extra-good view of a Blue Angels performance.
The view of this from the third floor picture window of that museum. Makes you proud of the human race.
When I was a kid my dad got me into the airport he worked at to see them. He took me back to the hanger where they had all the jets, and the pilots were all standing around, some in gear some out. I met all the pilots, sat in one of the planes, and generally just enjoyed it. Of course, this was about 25 years ago.
I live close enough to the Naval Academy that every year when the Blue Angels come in to perform for graduation, they spend two or three days practically buzzing my house at the end of their runs. The first year I lived here, I honestly was wondering if WWIII had started or something – there’s no mistaking the sound of afterburners, and it’s not something we normally hear around here. It was only when I went outside and looked up and saw those gleaming blue and gold planes flying in formation that I realized what was going on. It really had me worried for a while there, though!
I flew with No. 7 in 1993 (92?) when they performed in Sigonella, Sicily.
I was the assistant station manager and news director for the AFRTS television station there. A reporter from “La Sicilia” backed out of his media flight at the last minute, so the Angels called up to the TV station at about 0700 and asked if we wanted to send a military reporter up. If so, he would need to be at the air station in less than 20 minutes.
Background: I hate flying. Never liked it. It’s a control thing I believe.
I didn’t want to go, but seeing as none of my reporters was scheduled to be in until 0800, and I didn’t have the balls to tell the master chief that I turned down a once-in-a-lifetime news story opportunity. So I packed a camera kit up and headed out. Before leaving, I called the master chief at home and told him to send a crew down to the airport for some B-roll of me… in training, getting in the rear seat, etc.
Arrived down at the airport at the prescribed time, they outfitted me in a flight suit and I was given a safety brief. At about that time the master chief himself shows up to shoot the b-roll. Nervous doesn’t begin to describe how I felt.
Anyhow, did the complete flight profile: supersonic (we could do that there as we “performed” of the Med) passes, barrel rolls, loops, verticle climbing w/rolls… the works. After about 30 minutes, the pilot asked if I’d like to take the controls.
Did I! By this time, I was over the jitters, nerves and sheer terror and was having the time of my life.
He urged me to do a couple of barrel rolls. The highlight was when I rolled left when he thought I rolling right and he banged his head against the widscreen.
I did nearly yark, but I adroitly edited that out of my final story (they provided me with a tape of my flight filmed with a pencil camera embedded in the back of the pilot’s seat).
I am no longer afraid of flying and that flight remains the high point of my naval career and, as of this point, my life (Yes, it beats out my wedding day and the day my son was born… but I’d never tell **MrsChief ** that!)
I have hung my Blue Angels VIP flight certificate in every office I’ve worked in since. I kinda like having my COs walk in and instantly become envious.
I’m a moron. I flew with them Sept. 11 (!), 1992. It says so right on my certificate.
I remember seeing them when they came to Erie “International” Airport (some planes fly the 26 miles to Canada) when I was a kid. They made a great impression that I still vividly remember. Sadly with the huge expense and safety issues they never have shows at the smaller airports.
I’ve had enough tac flights in a C-130 (including last night) to last me a lifetime. Good thing I get another 25 years or so more of them. I haven’t puked yet, but some of those flights got me pretty close. I assure you, the novelty wears off. The only thing we don’t have is JATO, but the new J-models are racecars compared to the 60s-tech C-130 that the Blues have. Glad you enjoyed the ride, though.
Now that’s not fair! They’re both pretty awesome. Give credit where credit is due.
Oh, yeah…ChiefScott, you’re a lucky bastard. THAT is the flight I’d love to take.
You want puking in an airplane? Papa Tiger used to get roped into flying search and rescue missions during Vietnam, where a C-130 would fly 200 feet above the water and a couple of guys, securely roped in, would lie on the open tail door looking down at the water. Apparently no one could avoid puking. The good news was there was no worries about hitting anything unfortunate since there was nothing but open water beneath them.
I worked in an office that was across the street from MCAS El Toro. When it was air show time we used to go up on the roof to watch them practice. I’ll swear you could see the smiles on the pilots faces as they went by right over our heads.
I would kill for a ride in one of those birds.
I was playing the “Would you rather” game with Ivylad.
I asked him, “Would you rather have sex with Pamela Anderson, or ride with the Blue Angels?”
I stumped him. He literally could not make up his mind. He stood there er-umming with this stunned look in his eyes, like he couldn’t believe he couldn’t pick one.
So, Sex with Pamela Anderson = Flying with the Blue Angels, apparently.
:smack: