U.S.Navy Blue Angels – The World’s Best

I love my home in Kentucky but a close second is Pensacola Florida. Pensacola is a great small city with one big plus, A BEACH. Not just any beach, the white sand, the Gulf of Mexico and The Blue Angels.

The Blue Angels are my favorite. A perfect blend of speed, power, expert flying and the power to scare off any terrorist with half a brain.

Officially the Blue Angels are the U.S. Navy's Flight demonstration team but they are so much more. Just to witness these precision pilots is something every American should do with pride. When you are in Pensacola, their home base, you have the opportunity to see them up close and personal.

You can also visit the Naval Air Museum on the Naval Air Station. With the addition last Thanksgiving of the newest hanger, this free attraction is the best place to learn about our nations naval flight history.

Getting back to the Blue Angels, they come home every July for the biggest event of the year, The Pensacola Beach Air Show. This year the Air Show is July 8 and 9.

The Blue Angels travel the nation doing 65 shows in 35 cities. They will be in Evansville Indiana June 11 and 12. I hope you will find time to attend.

Being a member of the Blue Angels team is no easy task. The following taken directly from their website.

A total of 16 officers voluntarily serve with the Blue Angels. Each year the team typically selects three tactical (fighter or fighter/attack) jet pilots, two support officers and one Marine Corps C-130 pilot to relieve departing members.

The Chief of Naval Air Training selects the "Boss," the Blue Angels Commanding Officer. Boss must have at least 3,000 tactical jet flight-hours and have commanded a tactical jet squadron. The Commanding Officer flies the Number 1 jet.

Career-oriented Navy and Marine Corps jet pilots with an aircraft carrier qualification and a minimum of 1,250 tactical jet flight-hours are eligible for positions flying jets Number 2 through 7. The Events Coordinator, Number 8, is a Naval Flight Officer (NFO) or a Weapons Systems Officer (WSO) who meets the same criteria as Numbers 2 through 7. The Marine Corps pilots flying the C-130T Hercules aircraft, affectionately known as "Fat Albert," must be aircraft commander qualified with at least 1,200 flight hours. Read More by going to their official sight.

A great photographer and good friend, David Kranak, took some photos of the May 2011 airshows in Pensacola and New Orleans. He was kind enough to share the with us. Enjoy!