Nor'easter July 2, 2010 : Page 44
The Blue Angels Visit Annapolis by beckyESTERLE What a rush! For the second year in a row, I had a front-row seat at the Blue Angels Air Show in Annapolis. The Blue Angels, the U. S. Navy flight demonstration team, performs an air show as part of commencement week at the Naval Academy. The Blue Angels practiced May 25 and did their air show at 2 p.m. May 26. The air show takes place over the Severn River. They park a white bus on the Route 450 Bridge and station two Y-P (Yard Patrol) boats at the mouth of the Severn River to mark the air show “run-way”. The graduates and their fam-ilies get front-row seating on the Naval Academy grounds. The gen-eral public can view the show from the academy grounds if they show a photo ID. We anchored my friend Ryan’s Beneteau farther out from the mouth of the Severn. There was a huge fleet of every imaginable watercraft there: sail, power, jet skis, tour boats, big yachts, military and Maryland Department of Natural Resources craft patrolling. The weather was sunny and hot as we set up the grill on the stern of the boat and started grilling while serving appetizers. It’s a rough life, but somebody has to do it! The show started with the Blue Angels transport aircraft, “Fat Albert”, performing maneuvers and flyovers to warm the crowd up for the star performers, the Blue Angels. Their aircraft were colorful, loud and fast. There was no truth, though, to the rumor that one would fly under the Route 50 Severn Bridge. My only complaint? The day was way too short. We’re already plan-ning for next year’s show. continued on page 46 44 Say you saw it in Nor'easter Bank left,NOW! Lined up and level… “Now, where is that runway?” www.noreastermagazine.com / JULY 2, 2010 Photos: E. Esterle
The Blue Angels Visit Annapolis
becky Esterle
The Blue Angels Visit Annapolis
What a rush! For the second year in a row, I had a front-row seat at the Blue Angels Air Show in Annapolis. The Blue Angels, the
U. S. Navy flight demonstration team, performs an air show as part of commencement week at the Naval Academy.
The Blue Angels practiced May 25 and did their air show at 2 p.m. May 26. The air show takes place over the Severn River. They park a white bus on the Route 450 Bridge and station two Y-P (Yard Patrol) boats at the mouth of the Severn River to mark the air show “runway”.
The graduates and their families get front-row seating on the Naval Academy grounds. The general public can view the show from the academy grounds if they show a photo ID.
We anchored my friend Ryan’s Beneteau farther out from the mouth of the Severn. There was a huge fleet of every imaginable watercraft there: sail, power, jet skis, tour boats, big yachts, military and Maryland Department of Natural Resources craft patrolling.
The weather was sunny and hot as we set up the grill on the stern of the boat and started grilling while serving appetizers. It’s a rough life, but somebody has to do it!
The show started with the Blue Angels transport aircraft, “Fat Albert”, performing maneuvers and flyovers to warm the crowd up for the star performers, the Blue Angels. Their aircraft were colorful, loud and fast. There was no truth, though, to the rumor that one would fly under the Route 50 Severn Bridge.
My only complaint? The day was way too short. We’re already planning for next year’s show.
The Aircraft:
Fat Albert: An all-Marine Corps crew of three officers and five enlisted personnel operate the Lockheed-Martin C-130T Hercules, affectionately known as Fat Albert Airlines. Fat Albert joined the team in 1970 and flies more than 140,000 miles each season.
It carries more than 40 maintenance and support personnel, their gear and enough spare parts and communication equipment to complete a successful air show.
Boeing S/A-18 Hornet Powerplant:
Two General Electric F404-GE-400 lowbypass, turbofan engines Length: 56 feet Height: 15.3 feet Wingspan: 40.4 feet (with missiles) Wing area: 400 square feet Speed: Mach 1.7-plus (1,200 mph) Crew: One (two in two-seat trainer version) Max takeoff weight: 56K lbs.
(approx.) Fighter escort missions Cost: Approximately $18 million.
The Blue Angel’s Hornets are standard aircraft, the only modifications being the removal of the nose cannon, which is replaced with the smoke tank, and a spring on the stick to make maneuvering easier, The aircraft are fully functional and can be converted back to combat configuration easily.
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