Punchy stuff from the Blue Angels
 

s'alright I suppose.

More exciting for the pilots than the crowd, I guess.

That's just daft.

What's their attrition like?

Former commander sacked a few days ago !

The reason there's no crowd is that is El Centro, the winter home of the Blues. It's where they train leading up to the airshow season.

Clucking bell !

I say them driving on the Freeway........ couldn't get past them as like they were joined at the hip taking over all lanes.
Saw them at a Gas station later, all following each other into the toilet very close together........weird or what.

That's barking, if you needed to get out you'd be straight into the wing..

Why would you want to get out, Nut?

Way more punchy back in the day when they had a real beast !

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rv8XfeOmgug

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vvYJED8m5-M

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a9xCP-LmLBA

He wasn't known by his name for no reason.........

Not much room for error there. :eek:

The Blue Angels are famed for their extreme close formation. In the days when they flew F4s, it wasn't unusual to lose a crew each season. With 12 inches between wingtips, they make other display teams look like tac formation. Red Arrows do their amazing things with nine. P de F and FT do theirs. These guys do astinishingly close formation in operational aircraft.

The Blue Angels - Set to Van Halen's Dreams - YouTube

Well if you're in the outside aircraft on the turn under the upper aircraft and over the film ship and you take a couple down the intakes where do you go?

That's what makes it so impressive. They do the near impossible and take risks doing it. I guess the answer to your question is (relative to the rest of the formation) backwards.

The trouble with that is two bloody great fins.

I prefer the A-4 edition of the Blues.

I and a fellow C130 GE spent a month at El Centro watching these chaps rehearse along with our "operators Albert". As Groundcrew we were particularly impressed with their "see off" routine, it was like watching the RAF Regiment QCS formation drill display. We were so impressed that we created our own routine to see Albert off every morning, and after lunch. As we always launched before the Blues "took the airspace" most of our routine was often watched by members of their team. Seeing the "mickey take"(no disrespect but sharp for US navy), they invited us all to a beer call and I still have a signed A3 photograph from the team, Groundcrew, not aircrew, although they were all there. Great Det, great people and happy memories.

Smudge:ok:

Is the throttle the sole means for them to format at the same speed or are air brakes used too?

How much would the throttle have to be moved to tweak the airspeed by a few knots?



Mickjoebill