Author Topic: Guess who is going to see the Blue Angles this weekend? (Read 2221 times)

Paul Taylor · « **on:** July 12, 2012, 10:55:38 AM »

Me!

Pictures may have to wait until I get home. I did not bring my laptop.

We just happen to be at the beach and found out they are doing a home show.

Yes!

john e. holliday · « **Reply #1 on:** July 12, 2012, 11:19:13 AM »

You are so lucky. It is great to watch the Blue Angels at work. We used to watch them get ready for the annual air show at the old Richards Gebaur air base and then watch the show over the weekend. To me one of the greatest teams flying.

Gene O'Keefe · « **Reply #2 on:** July 12, 2012, 12:29:09 PM »

The Thunderbirds are really good but the "Blue Angels" are the best ! .... nothing like a FA/18 Hornet !

Paul Taylor · « **Reply #3 on:** July 12, 2012, 01:04:31 PM »

One of the best air show I saw is when my youngest son said he was sick. We had to leave just as the angels were taking off. We had to walk a mile back to the car and as we got to the grassy shaded parking lot one of the F18's came over the trees and set off a bunch of car alarms. My son started feeling better so we sat and got a show!

Will Hinton · « **Reply #4 on:** July 12, 2012, 06:57:08 PM »

Paul, the first time I ever saw the Angels was in your back yard at NATC Memphis there in Millington in 1959. I was in avionics A school on the south side and they were there about halfway through my 26 weeks. What an introduction for a raw airman apprentice!

Don Hutchinson AMA5402 · « **Reply #5 on:** July 12, 2012, 07:10:45 PM »

First time I saw the Blue Angels they were flying the F6F Hellcat!
Don

Mike Keville · « **Reply #6 on:** July 12, 2012, 07:43:45 PM »

Ya' beat me, ol' man. First time I saw them they were flying the F9F Panther - NAS Willow Grove, 1953 Nats.

Paul Taylor · « **Reply #7 on:** July 12, 2012, 08:55:05 PM »

Ok I'll show my age.
First time I saw them I think was in the 70's out at Millington and I think they were in F4's.

I was just a kid.
Or should I say a much younger kid. :-)

wwwarbird · « **Reply #8 on:** July 12, 2012, 09:33:41 PM »

The "Blues" are the best military show for sure. I'm just a pup in this crowd, the first time I saw them was with the A-4's in Mankato Minnesota. The most recent time was the 2011 homecoming show in Pensacola, great to feel the history there. I wish I could have seen the F-4 show, that had to be really awesome.

Here's a little teaser for your weekend...

Glenn (Gravitywell) Reach · « **Reply #9 on:** July 12, 2012, 10:48:30 PM »

Got to tell you, I saw them once in Moose Jaw Saskatchewan, found them boring as old getout! Once you've watched the Snow Birds, the others just fade out.

Douglas Ames · « **Reply #10 on:** July 12, 2012, 11:18:50 PM »

I saw them at the Cleveland Airshow in `79. They had A4's back then. Very impressive.

Clint Ormosen · « **Reply #11 on:** July 12, 2012, 11:33:16 PM »

Quote from: Gene O'Keefe on July 12, 2012, 12:29:09 PM

The Thunderbirds are really good but the "Blue Angels" are the best ! .... nothing like a FA/18 Hornet !

Wrong!
Sorry guys. The Blue Angels are very good, but the Thunderbirds are the best by a HUGE margin. I know it might disappoint some of you Navy guys, but facts are facts.

(end of troll)

Dan McEntee · « **Reply #12 on:** July 13, 2012, 01:25:24 AM »

A lot of what kind of show you see from the Blue Angles , the Thunderbirds, or teams like the Snow Birds, depends on the site they are performing at and how much room they have for proper scatter zones and such. I've been fortunate to have seen all three teams in action. First off was the Blue Angles when I was about 5 and they were using the Grumman F-11 Tiger. That plane in that color scheme is still one of my all time favorites. I've seen them perform in the F-11, F-4, A-4, and the F-18. Living here in St. Louis near Lambert Field and the McDonnell-Douglas factory, I go to see them do short displays when the picked up both the F-4 and the F-18 factory fresh. As a kid, when they performed at Scott Airforce Base, they still based the Angles at the Navy Reserve base at Lambert, and back then they had lots of support aircraft that were neat to see take off and land. I've seen the T-Birds here and at Reno flying the F-4, T-38 and the F-16. During the Reno show, the two solo pilots were doing a maneuver that had them cross over each other and pull out of a loop at low level pointing toward the crowd, and one of them almost screwed the pooch and pancaked it. He got low enough and at a high enough angle of attack that his exhaust kicked up sand on the desert floor! Bet he had fun explaining that one at the post-show debrief. I have only been able to see the snow birds once, again at Scott Air Base, and they put a a completely different show. Slower paced and much quieter, but is is built on more visual effects and it is pretty cool. Cool enough to make me want to buy one of their t-shirts!. But of all three teams, I'll give the edge to the Blue Angles. They were the first team I ever saw, the first to do what they do, and they don't wear G-suits! I don't know when the next time I'll see any of them will be. Almost all of the local venues where they have flown are being closed in by developments and the good old fashioned airshow as we know it may be a thing of the past here in my area. Scott hasn't had an open house and show in a few years, and the land surrounding it is being developed, and so has the Spirit of St. Louis Airport. I have to get my yearly airshow fix during the week we are at Oshkosh doing the KidVenture thing (coming up in a week or so) and even that venue isn't large enough for any of the military aerobatic teams.
Type at you later,
Dan McEntee

Joseph Patterson · « **Reply #13 on:** July 13, 2012, 06:30:00 AM »

I been fortunate to have seen both the Blue Angels, the Thunderbirds, and a Canadian team fly in Baton Rouge, Lake Charles, La., Pensacola,Fl. and Alexandria, La. over the last 54yrs. Boy does that date me!! The Canadian team was flying F-86's. I don't believe they were called the Snowbirds, but I am probably wrong. The F-86's were painted Gold. They did a real tight precise routine. I believe I saw them in B.R., La. in 1962.
I saw the Thunderbirds at two different airshows in the fifties when they were flying the F-100 and the Blue Angels twice in the late fifties and early sixties when they were flying the F-11F Tigercat. They were great airshow airplanes. I remember the Thunderbird solos flying so low they started the green grass at the field to smoking. I also remember at one airshow a target was set up in the middle of the airfield and an F-100, probably from the base in Alexandria, La., strafed it from a shallow dive angle and hit the target. No way this would be allowed today as well as the super low flying.
My favorite planes were the F-100 and the Tigercat. The 100 was brutish and noisy and the Tigercat was quick and nifty. Now they use planes that are brutes, quick, and nifty all rolled into one!! The teams are all equal to me- they do pretty much the same routine.
I saw the Thunderbirds fly in Lake Charles, La. in the eighties and one of the solos had a close call on the head-on approach with the other solo in which they snap roll inverted just before they meet. One of them ended up heading toward the ground inverted and had to pull up and snap roll up -right real quick, which made him out of time with the opposing solo. My young son wanted to get a few of their autographs after the show so we ended up last in line and he got one of the solo's autographs. Turned out he was the pilot that had the quick pull-up. He was a Maj. Ben Jones, the brother of Bert Jones, the Baltimore Colts quarterback in the seventies. All he said was that the problem was created by both being slightly off their timing for the roll to inverted. Maj. Ben Jones was also a team member when the team had four fatalities in the desert in the early eighties.
Doug

Steve Scott · « **Reply #14 on:** July 13, 2012, 11:37:20 AM »

Quote from: wwwarbird on July 12, 2012, 09:33:41 PM

The "Blues" are the best military show for sure. I'm just a pup in this crowd, the first time I saw them was with the A-4's in Mankato Minnesota. The most recent time was the 2011 homecoming show in Pensacola, great to feel the history there. I wish I could have seen the F-4 show, that had to be really awesome.

Here's a little teaser for your weekend...

Oddly, that WAS the first Blues show I'd seen. I've only seen them perform in the F-4; the A-4 and F/A-18. Eight J-79s at burner were pretty impressive.

Now the T-birds, I've seen the F-100; F-4; T-38 and F-16 shows. I think they only did part of 1 season in the F-105. I got caught once unprepared during the F-16 sneak pass at McChord AFB in Tacoma, WA. The F/A-18 with the F404-GE-402 engines emit a "swoop" before the roar of the afterburners but the F-16 with it's F404-GE-402 hits you all at once like a clap of thunder. I remember "feeling" it in my chest cavity and it did literally scare the *#%@$ out of me.

I won't get into an argument over "who" is best (I'm a USAF vet and brat). Both put on great shows.

I was listening to a MN Twins ballgame on the radio a few years back during when they were in AZ for an exhibition game and the Blue Angels were flying a show next door. Announcer Dick Bremer was doing the play-by-play and obviously not an experienced air show spectator. He hit the deck during the Blue's sneak pass. Sounded like the solo pilot came right through the broadcast booth. Bremer was impressed and no doubt needed a change of clothes.

Steve Scott · « **Reply #15 on:** July 13, 2012, 11:46:37 AM »

USAF B-1B Lancer crews have a strategy of "strafing" targets in Afghanistan with sonic booms – no weapons. For anyone who's heard a B-1B on burner well, compare an M-80 with a class C firecracker. Five-hundred feet at Mach 1.5...

I've heard the effect on the recipients is totally "demoralizing".

wwwarbird · « **Reply #16 on:** July 13, 2012, 08:22:40 PM »

Quote from: Steve Scott on July 13, 2012, 11:46:37 AM

I've heard the effect on the recipients is totally "demoralizing".

Maybe more like "de-fecating".

Larry Wong · « **Reply #17 on:** July 13, 2012, 09:01:02 PM »

As I"M AIR FORCE I'M going for the

THUNDER BIRDS

Dan McEntee · « **Reply #18 on:** July 14, 2012, 01:12:19 PM »

Quote from: Joseph Patterson on July 13, 2012, 06:30:00 AM

I been fortunate to have seen both the Blue Angels, the Thunderbirds, and a Canadian team fly in Baton Rouge, Lake Charles, La., Pensacola,Fl. and Alexandria, La. over the last 54yrs. Boy does that date me!! The Canadian team was flying F-86's. I don't believe they were called the Snowbirds, but I am probably wrong. The F-86's were painted Gold. They did a real tight precise routine. I believe I saw them in B.R., La. in 1962.

You probably saw the other Air Force team, who's name escapes me now. They had gold colored airplanes and were still flying in the late 50's I think . I can't lay my hands on the reference book right now. They were featured in a theatrical release movie called "Air Cadets" in 1951 and I have a lobby card for that movie haning on the wall in my basement. It shows 4 P-80s or T-33s. The movie pops up on Turner Classic Movies every now and then.
The Blue Angles flew the F-11 "Tiger" , not tigetcat. The Tigercat was the F-7-F twin piston engine fighter, still a very cool airplane. The Tigercat would look great in Blue Angels colors!!!
Type at you later,
Dan McEntee

I saw the Thunderbirds at two different airshows in the fifties when they were flying the F-100 and the Blue Angels twice in the late fifties and early sixties when they were flying the F-11F Tigercat. They were great airshow airplanes. I remember the Thunderbird solos flying so low they started the green grass at the field to smoking. I also remember at one airshow a target was set up in the middle of the airfield and an F-100, probably from the base in Alexandria, La., strafed it from a shallow dive angle and hit the target. No way this would be allowed today as well as the super low flying.
My favorite planes were the F-100 and the Tigercat. The 100 was brutish and noisy and the Tigercat was quick and nifty. Now they use planes that are brutes, quick, and nifty all rolled into one!! The teams are all equal to me- they do pretty much the same routine.
I saw the Thunderbirds fly in Lake Charles, La. in the eighties and one of the solos had a close call on the head-on approach with the other solo in which they snap roll inverted just before they meet. One of them ended up heading toward the ground inverted and had to pull up and snap roll up -right real quick, which made him out of time with the opposing solo. My young son wanted to get a few of their autographs after the show so we ended up last in line and he got one of the solo's autographs. Turned out he was the pilot that had the quick pull-up. He was a Maj. Ben Jones, the brother of Bert Jones, the Baltimore Colts quarterback in the seventies. All he said was that the problem was created by both being slightly off their timing for the roll to inverted. Maj. Ben Jones was also a team member when the team had four fatalities in the desert in the early eighties.

That was a sad event, and I thought they lost all six in that crash. Heard it was due to a loose bolt on the elevator linkage of the lead T-38. He fought it for too long, and as every one else's eyes and focus were on him, they followed him right into the ground.I think they moved the hard deck up for practice sessions after that.
Type at you later,
Dan
Doug

Joseph Patterson · « **Reply #19 on:** July 15, 2012, 09:23:45 AM »

Dan, in the Thunderbird crash in the early 80's I believe it was (4) or (5) fatalities. It was the formation element that was killed. I believe they were in line abreast formation. The (2) solo pilots (one of which was Ben Jones) were practising their solo routine about 30-40 miles away. They were called by someone from the base who was monitoring the team radio transmissions to go to the formation team's area to check on them. The two solo's saw the burning plumes a few minutes later.
Now I'm relying on a limited memory about these facts which came in part from an article in a magazine in which Ben Jones gave a brief account of the tragic event. The crash was caused by the failure you mentioned. Probably can google up more accurate details than I've given.Small technicality about my error on the F-11F name, sorry.
There is an airport between New Orleans and Reserve, La. that has a Blue Angels F-11F Tiger on a pylon. I'll get by there in a few months and get some pic's to post here.
Doug

Lynn Weedman · « **Reply #20 on:** July 15, 2012, 10:41:20 AM »

The Blue Angles are the longest running military aerobatics demonstration team I know of, I've been watching them fly since I was a youngster at their base of origination (NAS JAX,FL). My dad used to take us to the base and it was always a fun and exciting time.
Also they used to fly at (CecilField, Jax, Fl) on occasion over the years. I acctually had the oppertunity to help build the latest 12 repacement Blue Angel F/A-18 aircraft where I work (CecilField, Jax, Fl).

But, I did serve in the Air Force and the Thunderbirds are also on the top of my list of demo teams because I worked on F-16's when I was enlisted.
So I guess it's in my blood !!! Blue Angels-Thunderbirds