Look! Up in the air! Is it a bird? Is it is a plane?
Actually, it’s several planes; it’s the Blue Angels. The Blue Angels is a name for the Navy Flight Demonstration Squadron that was established in 1946, and each year its handpicked members provide air-show demonstrations for some 15 million spectators.
As the oldest military-sanctioned flying demonstration team, the Blue Angels currently perform as many as 70 shows per year in about 35 different locations during the March-November show season, including an April 12-13 stopover in Smyrna for air-show fans who lined up for hours and blocked area roadways to see the Angels fly.
The recent Angels’ visit was the squadron’s only Tennessee show in 2008 and part of The Great Tennessee Air Show 2008, a two-day aviation entertainment spectacular at the Smyrna Airport.
As someone who attended the Blue Angels’ local demonstration, such an air show is something one must attend to appreciate. The roars of the squadron’s six planes and the expressions on people’s faces add to the great time and experience.
Watching the routines, with the planes synchronized in flight and operating as they were one, is a sight to behold. And with 37 different routines in the squadron’s repertoire, don’t worry about seeing the same routine twice.
The squadron is composed of six pilots who fly their respective planes at the same time and in the shape of a diamond. Among those chosen to fly for the 2008 season is Lt. Paul Brantuas, a 10-year veteran of the U.S. Navy and a first-year member of the Blue Angels, who flies the right wing of the diamond.
Currently assigned to Strike Fighter Squadron 125 at the Naval Air Station in Lemoore, Calif., the 34-year-old who grew up playing football, running track and occasionally surfing said he never aspired as a youth to join the military.
“I had no thoughts of even entering the military until around my senior year of college,” said Brantuas, a 1997 graduate of San Diego State University, whose father was a pilot and influenced his own decision to become one.
To become a member of the Angles, an applicant must be a career-oriented, carrier-qualified, active-duty Navy or Marine Corps tactical jet pilot with a minimum of 1,250 flight hours. New demonstration pilots and support officers are selected by unanimous vote and the chief of Naval Air Training selects the squad’s flight leader/commanding officer.
Mike Grimes of Greencastle, Ind., is one such support officer for the Angels, serving as construction mechanic and crew chief on the No. 6 jet of the diamond.
“We take pride and responsibility in these planes. We have to check everything and make sure it is ready for the pilots to take flight; if anything goes wrong it is on us,” Grimes said.
According to the squadron’s Web site, blueangels.navy.mil, the Angels’ planes are Boeing-manufactured F/A-18 Hornet aircraft that are 56 feet long and 15.3 feet high, with a wingspan of 40.4 feet with a missile. Each craft costs about $18 million?yep, each one?and is capable of speeds just under Mach 2, or 1,400 mph. Also, the maximum rate of climb of the F/A-18 is 30,000 feet per minute.
The squad was created to enhance Navy and Marine Corps recruiting efforts and to represent the naval service to the United States, its elected leadership and foreign nations while serving as positive role models and goodwill ambassadors for the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps.
I would recommend viewing the Great Tennessee Air Show to anyone in the mood to go out with the family, relax and have some good old-fashioned fun.
