The Thrill of Flying with the Blue Angels

By Russ Albertson

Ernie, the C-130 Herclues used by the Blue Angels. (Russ Albertson)The U.S. Navy Blue Angels have thrilled hundreds of millions of spectators at airshows across the country since 1946.  The team demonstrates seemingly effortless precision in all their maneuvers as they fly the beautiful Boeing F/A-18 Hornets just inches apart.  The team was established just after WWII as the U.S. Navy saw its budget diminishing.  The Chief of Naval Operations, Admiral Chester Nimitz, directed his staff to find a way to promote Naval Aviation and keep the public aware of the need for a strong military.  The Navy Flight Exhibition Team was born in 1946. Lieutenant Commander Roy “Butch” Voris, a Navy Ace in WWII, was selected as the first flight leader and the team acquired the name “Blue Angels” when one of the first pilots on the team saw a reference to the Blue Angel Nightclub in a magazine.   

The team, led by Lt.Cdr. Voris, chose the best pilots he could find to fly the Grumman F-6F five-piston engine Navy carrier fighter. The F-6Fs were painted dark blue with gold trim, which was changed to dark blue and yellow as the team transitioned to the F-8F Bearcat in August, 1946.  The team started with four aircraft flying the signature “Diamond” formation and later added two “Solo” aircraft.  The team  has flown 10 different aircraft and received their first jet, the Grumman F-9F Panther, in 1949, and today the team flies the Boeing F/A-18 Hornet.  The Hornets are at the end of their carrier arrestment service life.  The Hornets are modified by the team with an inverted fuel pump to ensure uninterrupted fuel flow for extended up-side down flying.  Other modifications include the removal of the nose cannon, the addition of a fluid smoke system, stop watch, and an adjustable tension spring to the control stick, …and of course that beautiful Blue and Gold paint scheme!

The secret to the team’s success is a tradition of excellence that dates back to the very beginning.  Being chosen for a spot on the team has always been considered a great honor and this attracts the very best Naval and Marine aviators, maintenance and support personnel.  These service men and women represent the finest qualities of our nation and the Blue Angels set a very high goal for our nation’s young people.  The team attracts the very best and then chooses the most experienced and motivated people they can find.  The new applicants are subjected to extensive interviews to make sure they can fit in to the grueling training and show schedule.  These folks must be very skilled in the job they are seeking on the team and, just as important, they have to a have a compatible personality to fit in this very unique team.  New team members are sent to NAF El Centro, Calif., located in Imperial County just east of San Diego.  Here, in the clear desert skies, the team is able to practice two flights a day, six days a week.  The team will have completed 120 training missions when they are finally ready for the show season to start in March. 

Capt. Ben Blanton and the crew of the Blue Angel’s C-130. (Russ Albertson)I was able to see first-hand the result of all the practice and team work by the Blue Angels on a trip to El Centro last March just before the start of their show season. NAF El Centro, located south of the Salton Sea, is the perfect training ground for many Navy squadrons.  Bombing ranges and wide-open airspace for air-to-air combat are just a short flight away from the base.  Lieutenant Colonel Bob St. Austin accompanied me on this trip for additional photography. 

As we drove up to the Blue Angel Administration building, I could see the team’s blue and yellow Hornets being readied for the second practice flight demonstration of the day.  Across the ramp was the team’s Lockheed Martin C-130T Hercules in standard gray Marine camouflage nick-named Ernie. Ernie was enlisted to help out the team while the beautiful blue and yellow Hercules referred to as Fat Albert was in for scheduled heavy “Ernie” with a view of the Hornets. (Russ Albertson)maintenance.  After meeting with the Blue’s public relations team, we walked out to Ernie for a flight in the practice airshow routine that precedes the Hornets at every show.  We met Captain Benjamin Blanton, USMC pilot, and his crew on the C-130.  Capt. Blanton explained the flight would be a “normal” airshow routine and how the flight showcases the tremendous performance capabilities of the C-130.  All the maneuvers performed are flown by all Marine pilots on missions in the Hercules as they support troops in combat, or other missions. 

The first C-130 Hercules used by the Blue Angels arrived in 1970, and is an essential part of the team.  The aircraft is powered by four Allison T-56-A-16 turboprop engines producing 4,500 shaft horsepower.  The aircraft was in production at Lockheed for 50 years, in more than forty variants from troop carrier, gunship, air View of the cockpit of the C-130 Hercules. (Russ Albertson)refueling, reconnaissance, and medical evacuation.  It has been equipped with skis for flights to both poles and is a work horse for the team carrying essential parts and personnel to airshow sites across the country.  An all-Marine crew mans the Hercules consisting of two pilots, a flight engineer, one loadmaster and four flight mechanics.  It can carry 45,000 pounds of Blue Angel personnel and equipment and definitely gets a workout during an airshow season.   

After the pre-flight was completed, Capt. Blanton assembled his crew at the aft end of the C-130 and went a very thorough briefing on our flight. Lt. Col. St. Austin and I were directed to troop seats in the aft cargo compartment that faced inward along both sides of the compartment.  We were given another safety briefing on the exits and told to “hang on!”  At first I didn’t take them seriously, but I buckled in tight just as they advised; and Taxi-out in the C-130 with a view of the Blue Angel Hornets. (Russ Albertson)strapped my camera bag in the seat next to me.  The cargo ramp was open at the aft end of the fuselage, not far from us, and soon we heard the engines start.  The load master stood next to me by the aft side door exit and wore a headset to stay in communication with the flight crew as we started our taxi roll.  Two other crew members stood next to an extended metal folding ladder strapped to the cargo bay floor.  I remembered what Capt. Blanton had said about our initial takeoff; that it would be a max effort climb up to about 800 feet with a zero-G push over and I was excited to experience the very show I had watched so many times from the bleachers. 

I shot a few pictures out the back of the plane as we turned and could see the Blue Angel Hornets sitting in a line framed by the C-130 open ramp.  As we turned onto the runway the loadmaster closed the rear cargo ramp and door and we stopped briefly as the flight crew ran up the engines to full power before releasing the brakes.  The lightly loaded Hercules lurched forward and I tried to brace myself sitting sideways.  I looked over at Bob and he was doing the same.  The load master and two crew members were hanging on too.  After a very short takeoff roll, Capt. Blanton pulled the big Hercules up to 45 degrees nose up at 200 mph to simulate a short field takeoff and climb over an obstacle.  After a few moments, he pushed the nose down to level flight and now I was glad I took the advice to “hang on.”  We all went weightless for a few seconds and I saw the two crew members float past the horizontal as they held on to the ladder….I was floating completely off my seat, held only by the seat belt, and I couldn’t get a good picture of them. Lt. Col. St. Austin was in the same situation across from me and I wondered if he had ever done this to his crew in the USAF during his long career flying the Lockheed C-141 jet transport!    

Next Capt. Blanton returned for a Parade Pass; a curving turn out in front of the crowd. This shows off the beautiful blue and yellow Blue Angel painted scheme on the big Hercules along with the roar of its four turboprop engines.  Next we did a high-speed flat pass followed by a minimum radius turn that put about two Gs on all of us in the back.  I caught a few glimpses of the ground as it flashed by out of the aft exit door window and I could see that we weren’t very high off the ground.  Capt. Blanton later told me that all these maneuvers “displayed the tactical characteristics of the Lockheed C-130 and are based on actual techniques we would use in a combat environment.  We flew up to 60 degrees of bank; pulled 2 Gs and hit 400 miles per hour.” 

Our last maneuver was a push over to a landing with a maximum effort stop.  He explained that this landing technique would be used in combat to land on a short runway in a hostile environment.  He slowed the big Hercules to 100 mph, with the landing gear and flaps down, and pushed over to a steep, 25-degree, nose-down descent path.  He said, “that’s about eight times what you normally experience in a commercial passenger airplane!”  

After touchdown, Capt. Blanton selected the propellers to full reverse thrust and stopped the aircraft in only 1,000 feet!  The deceleration to a stop was very impressive but the flight demonstration wasn’t over yet!  As the loadmaster opened the aft ramp, I saw and felt us start to backup and turn as Capt. Blanton kept the props in reverse thrust and backed up to the edge of the runway before selecting forward thrust and moving on to the taxiway.  The C-130 may have been painted in standard Marine colors but there was no denying that we were flying with the Blue Angels!