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From The Cockpit: US Navy Blue Angels

Scott Wolff 1 Comment Navy

Happy Sunday, FighterSweep Fans! Our celebration of Independence Day continues this afternoon as we go inside the cockpit with the U.S. Navy Flight Demonstration Squadron.

I remember seeing the Blue Angels for the first time when I was a young boy. One of the pilots of was a high school classmate of my father’s, which warranted an extra up-close-and-personal tour of the A-4 Skyhawk and time spent hanging out with the team. As you can imagine, it only fueled my hunger to one day become a pilot.

There’s not much I can say about the Blues that hasn’t already been said a thousand times over. No offense to my friend Cheetah and his teammates on the Thunderbirds, but I enjoy the Blue Angels demo to a much greater degree than any other demonstration team I’ve seen to date.

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They fly lower, faster, and tighter formations in their F/A-18 Hornets than their Air Force counterparts in the Block 52 Viper are allowed. Not only that, but they’ve got BERT! But I digress…

So in this clip, you’ll see the demonstration from the perspective of the Slot Pilot, or the #4 position on the team. This particular venue is Sea Fair in Seattle, Washington. If you’re paying attention, you’ll recognize Boeing Field, Vashon Island, and you can even see the Space Needle in the distance at a couple different points. Hats off to Coast Guard Lieutenant Commander Jim Hiltz, who managed to stay awake for the entire performance!

Get after it!

About the Author

Scott Wolff is an accomplished writer and renowned aviation photojournalist. He has held the position of Managing Editor for a print flying lifestyle magazine, and is the Host and Editor for FighterSweep. Scott's area of expertise is military flight operations, drawing on ten years of experience working extensively with all branches of the armed forces. He holds an FAA pilot certificate, the culmination of a life-long passion for flying airplanes. Scott has received military altitude chamber training, emergency egress training, and has logged time in a variety of civilian and military aircraft. He is also a member of the International Society of Aviation Photographers and Nikon Professional Services.

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