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I think that was the German 'Vikings' display team in '84, I was only about 6 at the time but I think the fast and lower guy overcooked the speed and went a bit 'überschall'. All I remember is the loudest noise on earth, even with my dad's (he'd realised what was about to happen) hands over my ears!

Will the Navy / DOD / whoever release the report into this incident that the public can access?

I remember reading a very detailed report into the Tbird solo crash from a few years back.


Thanks

Saw German Navy "Vikings" at Yeovilton in 1982 - Falklands year, most of the locals were in the South Atlantic and the visiting performers all seemed to "pull the stops out"
Those two German Starfighters have left an ever-lasting impression of noise speed and sheer insanity. So low the grass was kicking up behind them, oppossiiton passes with afterburner on at seemingly zero feet with visible shockwaves trailing. Incredible. You literally FELT their presence - and not just from the sound

That was the same show where when the "Marine Commando Assault" finale finished and the assorted multicoloured odd-ball Wessex that hadn't found a sea-berth landed en-masse, a hundred or more young kids ran through the safety barrier onto the apron to greet them. I still have bad visions of a single yank Chinook pilot screaming at them to get back as a Vulcan landed...

More on the "Diamond Crash" here...

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There has been an excellent fly on the wall documentary series on the Blue Angels and my observations are that the Blue Angels without a shadow of a doubt fly extremely close to each other and far be it for me to argue over inches... My thoughts are perhaps a trifle blunt when I say 'Who cares?'

As a spectator we want to be entertained and I guess impressed, the stunningly close formation is okay but with fast moving aircraft you will get more gasps and screams as two fast jets do their cross overs when they are at least the width of the run way apart.

The kit of the Blue Angels is immaculate, the way they march out to their aircraft is precision itself. The way the commentator\pilot holds the microphone is precision personified. There whole performance is extremely well rehearsed and I take my hat off to them but as public display I would tactfully suggest they 'Could do better'

They are very good and please do not misunderstand what I am saying... I am perhaps suggesting that if there was less dead time at the cost of flying 3ft apart and at the same time perform more entertaining manoeuvres then would that not be a better trade off?

I just feel they are trying to impress each other and their piers as opposed to the paying public. We all know the pilots are possibly the best of the best... and I say that with all sincerity, they have NO need to impress anyone. They have already walked the walk and talked the talk.

Seen the F5s of Patrouille de Suisse? They are pretty close

Glojo, I agree. I had the chance to see the Blue Angels over at NAS Oceana Air Show when I was on a tour out there. As you say, very close but nothing else. I wondered how the locals would have reacted had the Reds done a show before or after the Blues.....

Good show nontheless.

J_J

I think this might demonstrate the incident (apologies for the annoying advert) in a much clearer manner and having seen it and also the comments that this very senior, very experienced pilot had admitted that this was not the first error during his command then I hate to say this but his options were VERY limited and like others before him (in different circumstances) ... far better to gracefully step down as opposed to facing the alternative options.

This has done a degree of harm to this person's no doubt well deserved reputation, possible career but my God, they were seconds away from making an awful skidmark on that pristine condition runway!

I saw the Angels at Fleet Week at the old NAS Alameda in '12 with some optics I probably shouldn't have been using. They were more than 18" apart, but not by a hell of a lot. I'd guess at their closest? 36" Just a guess, though...