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Blue Angels
- Thread starter Nickodell
- Start date
skywords
Donation Time
That sure is a spectacular picture.
If I were at that location at that altitude in my 600 lb T-craft. The people in those houses would be calling the FAA with loudly voiced complaints.
However when six 56,000 lbs F-18 jets fly over at 300+ knots with three feet seperating them. All carrying 11,000 lbs of jet fuel they say nothing.
But we all know they never crash. Don't miss understand me I love the Blue Angels. But one has to experience their performance at an airshow to fully understand the dangers they expose the spectators to. They are in fact America's finest pilots but even the best make mistakes. Just watch the footage from Ramstien when the Italian team collided and killed 80 and wounded hundreds. They were Italy's best. I think they need to tone it down a notch over the crowds. They performed at DM here recently and I elected not to go based on the over the crowd performance at the last DM show.
If I were at that location at that altitude in my 600 lb T-craft. The people in those houses would be calling the FAA with loudly voiced complaints.
However when six 56,000 lbs F-18 jets fly over at 300+ knots with three feet seperating them. All carrying 11,000 lbs of jet fuel they say nothing.
But we all know they never crash. Don't miss understand me I love the Blue Angels. But one has to experience their performance at an airshow to fully understand the dangers they expose the spectators to. They are in fact America's finest pilots but even the best make mistakes. Just watch the footage from Ramstien when the Italian team collided and killed 80 and wounded hundreds. They were Italy's best. I think they need to tone it down a notch over the crowds. They performed at DM here recently and I elected not to go based on the over the crowd performance at the last DM show.
Nickodell
Donation Time
I'm sure you read that they just lost one. Inexplicable - just went straight into the deck during a routine performance (as much as you can call any of their manoeuvers routine). Guy had two years experience with the team, was heading to the lead spot next year. Wife and parents watching. Sad. He was the 25th they've lost since the Blue Angels was formed.
The British equivalent is called the Red Devils. For crowd safety they usually perform over coasts. Some 20 years ago they were doing a routine just off the coastal city of Brighton, where my sister lives and was watching. The bottom plane in the group was recovering from a dive and misjudged the altitude, with the result that he clipped off the tip of a sailboat's mast in the marina. Made it back OK, but everyone thought he was going to auger in.
I don't go to air shows any more for the same reason, and for the same reason that I can't watch high wire acts or even figure skating. I'm always scared that someone is going to get hurt.
The British equivalent is called the Red Devils. For crowd safety they usually perform over coasts. Some 20 years ago they were doing a routine just off the coastal city of Brighton, where my sister lives and was watching. The bottom plane in the group was recovering from a dive and misjudged the altitude, with the result that he clipped off the tip of a sailboat's mast in the marina. Made it back OK, but everyone thought he was going to auger in.
I don't go to air shows any more for the same reason, and for the same reason that I can't watch high wire acts or even figure skating. I'm always scared that someone is going to get hurt.
RootesRooter
Donation Time
The Blue Angels perform during the SeaFair unlimited hydroplane races in Seattle every year the first weekend in August. The link is to a B&W photograph from 1978. It's reeeaaly spectacular in color. Back then, the FAA used to give an exemption allowing the Angels to fly almost directly over the pleasure boats anchored outside the hydroplane racecourse, classifying them as "participants," until the mid-90s when one of the planes did its ultra-slo-mo passby using almost nothing but thrust to stay aloft. I noticed that the plane started to wobble and appeared to momentarily go into a stall, but I know nothing about airplanes and didn't think too much of it. A local FAA inspector also saw it, thought a lot about it, and said the Angels couldn't continue here under the current rules.
After a two-year hiatus, the Angels came back. Today the pleasure boat fleet has to be farther away from the Angels' flight box, which unfortunately is also much farther away from the 25,000 spectators on the shoreline (not shown at right in the photo). Still a great show, tho!
Dick Sanders
Kent, WA
http://www.seattlegallery.com/generic1.html
After a two-year hiatus, the Angels came back. Today the pleasure boat fleet has to be farther away from the Angels' flight box, which unfortunately is also much farther away from the 25,000 spectators on the shoreline (not shown at right in the photo). Still a great show, tho!
Dick Sanders
Kent, WA
http://www.seattlegallery.com/generic1.html
skywords
Donation Time
That's a great picture Dick. Back in the A-4 Skyhawk days. I think they had more to fear from the Hydroplanes than the A-4's. They should go back to those birds. It will outfly the F-18 for a lot less money. They still use it as the aggressor at Top Gun. I have a friend that is building some A-4's at the airport. I will post some pic's when I get down to his hanger with a camera.
Nick didn't they fly the Electric Lightning at one time? An amazing airplane!
On another subject what was that large fighter bomber jet that Avro of Canada built only one of. They made a movie about the building of that airplane staring Dan Akrode as the CEO of Avro. Have you seen it? Was it called the Arrow? Really enjoyed that movie.
Nick didn't they fly the Electric Lightning at one time? An amazing airplane!
On another subject what was that large fighter bomber jet that Avro of Canada built only one of. They made a movie about the building of that airplane staring Dan Akrode as the CEO of Avro. Have you seen it? Was it called the Arrow? Really enjoyed that movie.
weaselkeeper
Silver Level Sponsor
I've had the misfortune to watch several military jets crash in the last 30+ years, as I spent a lot of time on a "aero repair and crash recovery" crew. We also had some responsibility to pick up what was left. Gruesome at times. About 2 1/2 years ago, as a spectator, I watched a Thunderbird F-16 crash on his opening manoever at an airshow @ Mountain Home AFB, ID. Airborne less than 15 seconds. There is an amazing picture taken from the tower side of this jet with the canopy separating and the seat just begining to fire up the rails. If I can figure out to copy it, I'd post it here.
To the pilots credit, he saw the ground coming fast out of the loop and turned the nose away from the crowd before jumping over the side. The tower guys had to just cr*@ when they saw this rolling pile of flame heading toward them. The pilot got one swing from the chute before he hit the ground HARD, but he stood up. Understanding the ejection sequence, I knew he was out, but most of the crowd missed it as all this happened so close to the ground. Most thought they has just seen someone die in front of them.
A very quick end to an airshow, but the bottom line, no one killed and it's only hardware.
To the pilots credit, he saw the ground coming fast out of the loop and turned the nose away from the crowd before jumping over the side. The tower guys had to just cr*@ when they saw this rolling pile of flame heading toward them. The pilot got one swing from the chute before he hit the ground HARD, but he stood up. Understanding the ejection sequence, I knew he was out, but most of the crowd missed it as all this happened so close to the ground. Most thought they has just seen someone die in front of them.
A very quick end to an airshow, but the bottom line, no one killed and it's only hardware.