The Blue Angels are a lot of fun to watch.

[Whazzup]

I'm from Cordova Park originally.

I know they flew south of here. My best friend got to do the media flight with them in Savannah. She had just lost her dad, who had always wanted her to fly. It was the greatest video to watch.

She said she flew with the Angels and I sobbed with joy for her. There is NOTHING to replace that experience. She needed it very badly.

Tell me, is the Oyster Bar still standing? They finally put a Whataburger here.

Ah, the memories of home..Ft. Pickens on Wednesdays during training season....

Howdy there, Notatourist! There are two Oyster Bars. One is still standing (Perdido Key) the other is not (Warrington). Actually, the building was renovated slightly and is now a Shrimp Basket. There's a long and complicated story about why it closed down.

That would indeed have been an emotional thing for your friend to fly with the Blues. My boss got to do a VIP flight with them and he came back looking kinda green. Sat in his office with his head in his hands the rest of the afternoon. Our XO went for a VIP ride and he had to go home and lie down! Wimps!
Hurricane Ivan pretty much wiped out the road to Ft Pickens and you can only get there by boat or by riding a bike through the sand. They are trying to figure out where to get money to redo the road, but they know it will just wash away again with the next big storm. Ivan changed the landscape around here big time - my area of Pine Forest Estates is now called Pine Barren Estates!
When did you live here?

[Shorty82]

I'm from Cordova Park originally.

I know they flew south of here. My best friend got to do the media flight with them in Savannah. She had just lost her dad, who had always wanted her to fly. It was the greatest video to watch.

She said she flew with the Angels and I sobbed with joy for her. There is NOTHING to replace that experience. She needed it very badly.

Tell me, is the Oyster Bar still standing? They finally put a Whataburger here.

Ah, the memories of home..Ft. Pickens on Wednesdays during training season....

That is very cool about your friend getting to fly with the Blue Angels.

As Wazzup has said, the road to the Fort was completly destroyed by Ivan. The Fort was damaged and had a lot of sand in it afterwards but I believe the Park Service has done what they can to fix it. Fort Barrancas though is in great shape and can still be easily visited. I bet the parade ground or the battery on the front would be great places to watch the Blues practice from. I might have to try that sometime. I was meaning to try to get to a practice of the Blues but never made it.

[Princess Susi]

I love the Blue Angels! We used to see them a LOT when we lived in the San Francisco Bay Area. I miss watching them. Here in Colorado we have the Thunderbirds. Have not seen a show yet, but we do get to see many of the Air Force jets going over from time to time. I love those jets! Thet are cool.
susi

[Shorty82]

I love the Blue Angels! We used to see them a LOT when we lived in the San Francisco Bay Area. I miss watching them. Here in Colorado we have the Thunderbirds. Have not seen a show yet, but we do get to see many of the Air Force jets going over from time to time. I love those jets! Thet are cool.
susi

I want to see the Thunderbirds perform but they never perform around here, and probably can't for the same reason you don't see the Blues in Colorado.

According to the Blue Angel's FAQ (click on FAQ's) the two teams can't perform within 150 miles of each other by order of the DOD and I guess to avoid any issues they don't perform near where the other does regularly, even when one team is more than 150 miles away.

Why don’t the Navy Blue Angels and the Air Force Thunderbirds fly together?
Current Department of Defense policy states the use of military aviation demonstration teams is for recruiting purposes, therefore the teams cannot fly within 150 miles of each other without special permission. Each demonstration team showcases U. S. military aviation capabilities to the public separately to maximize Navy or Air Force recruiting efforts. However, the Blue Angels or Thunderbirds may perform with the U. S. Army Parachute Team, the Golden Knights, or the U.S. Navy Parachute Team, the Leapfrogs.

I think that the two teams should each hold a show at the other's home base. That way the home crowd of one can see what the other team can do.

[Big Wallaby]

One of the things that was neat working at the Portland Airport was the fact that there was a base there. There is nothing in the world like watching a military team take off from the upwind end of the runway they're using. They kick the afterburners in and run 20' off the ground until right over the road, at which point they pull up to about 30-45 degrees and continue. When they're landing on 10L and you are in the right rooms at the Portland Airport Embassy Suites (the hotel where the Vice President stays when in town), you can actually look down on the landing military planes from about 400' off the centerline. Of course, larger aircraft come in at a much steeper angle.

One of the things that was neat there was watching a class of pilots being trained. They would start off visually very unsteady, taking off and climbing immediately like you want to do in a private plane. As they get more proficient, they stay lower and lower to the ground and you can see that their maneuvers are rock solid, even in a high wind. Then, a few months later, the next class comes in and it's a jittery fastest climb away from the ground available. Of course, all that is even more apparent on landing, but not as impressive since a good rule of thumb is that you don't generally want to use afterburners on landing (and during exceptions to that rule, you probably don't want to be landing anyway!).

Only thing better than fighter jets is the Space Shuttle, although it's sort of a one-trick pony as far as the show it gives to spectators. But that's one hell of a show. If you've never seen it, go see a shuttle launch from the NASA Causeway.

[Notatourist]

Howdy there, Notatourist! There are two Oyster Bars. One is still standing (Perdido Key) the other is not (Warrington). Actually, the building was renovated slightly and is now a Shrimp Basket. There's a long and complicated story about why it closed down.

That would indeed have been an emotional thing for your friend to fly with the Blues. My boss got to do a VIP flight with them and he came back looking kinda green. Sat in his office with his head in his hands the rest of the afternoon. Our XO went for a VIP ride and he had to go home and lie down! Wimps!
Hurricane Ivan pretty much wiped out the road to Ft Pickens and you can only get there by boat or by riding a bike through the sand. They are trying to figure out where to get money to redo the road, but they know it will just wash away again with the next big storm. Ivan changed the landscape around here big time - my area of Pine Forest Estates is now called Pine Barren Estates!
When did you live here?

Born there, left in 79. Sigh.

I heard about the road. I also heard those condos all came down...too bad. If you build on the beach, and you don't build to the hurricanes, well, it happens.

They'll figure it out. They should have more money now that W.D. Childers isn't there anymore.

I heard about the Oyster Bar in Warrington. That was years ago though.

And I love seeing the Angels fly. Man, it's ten hours drive to Pensacola from here....when's the show?

[Princess Susi]

The Thunderbirds were just at Cape Canaveral with their show on November 3-4th according to their website. Wow! They were pretty close to you down there. I love the F-16. But my favorite jet to see is the Stealth Fighter, the F-117. Ralphie saw a Stealth Bomber fly overhead one time. Cool. But I missed it :(
He said he saw it first and did not hear anything, but after it passed overhead, you could hear a huge noise. Ralphie attended the Air Force Academy back in the early 1980's and unfortunately his accident left him unable to complete school there. He was training in the Combat Control Team, the Air Force's counterpart to the Navy Seals. He liked all that stealth stuff. :twisted: Actually, he is one cool cookie, nothing really ruffles him, but he is tough, even with his disabilities.
susi

[ktulu]

Love them! They were just here (Fort Worth) We got to watch them for 4 days. The airport is just up the road from us and we got shows everyday.. Right over our rooftop!!!!!!!!
I have some great pictures :)
Deb

Wombat, we've got another local! I think this qualifies for something...

[BRWombat]

Wombat, we've got another local! I think this qualifies for something...

I noticed that too! Yay!!!

So... why not have the next SGT meet here in Texas??? Three of us are already here, and we're halfway between the coasts... :D: :D: :D:

As for the Blue Angels, love 'em, love 'em, love 'em!!! I love airshows in general, but they're my definite faves. My favorite move of theirs is when they have four jets do a slow fly-by in a diamond formation, and when every eye is on them at show center, one of the solos comes from behind them at full afterburner and scares everyone! And just when you barely gasp from that, the second solo comes from behind the crowd over their heads, again at full afterburner, for a second shock immediately after the first!! Even when I know it's coming it thrills me every time!!!

[Whazzup]

My favorite move of theirs is when they have four jets do a slow fly-by in a diamond formation, and when every eye is on them at show center, one of the solos comes from behind them at full afterburner and scares everyone! And just when you barely gasp from that, the second solo comes from behind the crowd over their heads, again at full afterburner, for a second shock immediately after the first!! Even when I know it's coming it thrills me every time!!!

They just did that maneuver a few minutes ago! As we "speak" the Blues are flying their show and should be just about finishing up. Traffic is starting to pour out the gates of the Naval Air Station. If you don't get a running start, it will take hours to get home. Pensacola LOVES its BLUE ANGELS and they always get huge crowds at their two local air shows. We get one every summer on Pensacola Beach and their homecoming show in November at the Navy base. Woot!