This past weekend the
Blue Angels performed in San Francisco at the annual "Fleet Week". The Blue Angels is the US Navy's elite flight demonstration squadron, with aviators from both the Navy and Marines. The Blue Angels team was formed in 1946, making it the second oldest formal flying aerobatic team in the world.
Currently the squadron uses F/A 18 Hornets for demonstrations and a C-130T Hercules for their logistics, carrying spare parts, equipment, and to carry support personnel between shows.
Click on a photo to enlarge and view in HD.
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| The Blue Angels F/A-18 Hornets fly in their trademark tight diamond formation, maintaining 18-inch wing tip to canopy separation. |
Most of the show alternates between various maneuvers performed using the Diamond Formation as a base point. When in the Diamond, the jets are in tight formation and usually at lower speeds (400 mph).
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| Blue Angels number 1, 2, 3, and 7 roar past during the Fleet Week 2015 air show over the San Francisco Bay |
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| It is incredible that all four aircraft are only 3 ft. from each other... and only 120ft. off the ground... at 650mph. |
According to the US Navy the highest speed flown during any airshow that the Blue Angels perform is 700 mph (just under Mach 1) and the lowest speed is 120 mph.
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| The jets have just come out of an inverted loop more that half a mile in the sky. |
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| Blue Angels in the double farvel formation over the SF bay near pier 39 heading to the Golden Gate. |
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| Lone jet number 5 roars only 50 ft. overhead at about 650mph. |
The Solos showcase the high performance capabilities of their individual aircraft through the execution of high-speed passes, slow passes, fast rolls, slow rolls, and very tight turns.
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| The only shot that I was able to capture all six jets in the Delta Formation. |
More photos from fleet week will be posted in the near future.
The current members of the 2015
[update] U.S. Navy Blue Angels are:
- Flying Blue Angel No.1, Captain Thomas Frosch, USN (Commanding Officer/Flight Leader)
- Flying Blue Angel No.2, Lieutenant Matt Suyderhoud, USN (Right Wing)
- Flying Blue Angel No.3, Lieutenant Andrew Talbott, USN (Left Wing)
- Flying Blue Angel No.4, Lieutenant Commander Nate Barton, USN (Slot)
- Flying Blue Angel No.5, Lieutenant Mark Tedrow, USN (Lead Solo)
- Flying Blue Angel No.6, Lieutenant Ryan Chamberlain, USN (Opposing Solo)
- Flying Blue Angel No.7, Captain Jeff Kuss, USMC (Advance Pilot/Narrator)
- Events Coordinator, Blue Angel No.8, Captain Corrie Mays, USMC
- Flying Fat Albert, M1, Captain Dusty Cook, USMC
- Flying Fat Albert, Major Mark Hamilton, USMC
- Flying Fat Albert, Captain Katie Higgins, USMC
- Executive Officer, Commander Bob Flynn, USN
- Maintenance Officer, Lieutenant Commander Declan Hartney, USN
- Flight Surgeon, Lieutenant Joe Schwartz, MC USN
- Administrative Officer, Lieutenant junior grade Phillip Harper, USN
- Supply Officer, Lieutenant Gregory Bollinger, USN
- Public Affairs Officer, Lieutenant junior grade Amber Daniel, USN
Till next time...
~John Thomas
AMDG
