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People frequently mock Yuma and the desert southwest for the intense summer heat. This year they will envy us.In a few short days we will be able to witness the performace of the US Marine Corps Silent Drill Platoon and Drum and Bugle Corps. Then it is just a short drive to see the US Navy Blue Angels at the NAF El Centro open house. Finally, in mid-March, we will host the USAF Thunderbirds at the MCAS Yuma open house. As an added bonus, we will see the US Navy Leapfrogs and the US Army Golden Knights also featured at...

I have strong feelings about the Blue Angels' annual visit. I do not like it. I find it to be a loud, violating display of military power that goes against what I stand for. During last year's Fleet Week, my students charged to our classroom's rattling windows at the first omniscient roar. With mouths gaping and eyes wide, they gazed out in hopes of seeing "The Angels" shoot overhead. We happened to be talking in class about our society's epidemic of violence and its many mediums of proliferation.

When the six F/A-18 Hornets in the U.S. Navy's Blue Angels flight demonstration team thrill the crowds at the Naval Air Station Patuxent River Air Expo in Maryland this weekend, they'll be soaring on biofuel. Each of the six Hornets will be powered by a 50/50-blend of jet fuel and camelina-based biofuel, according to a Navy press release. Camelina is a high-oil flowering plant grown in rotation on land used for wheat and on land too marginal for food production, according to Sustainable Oils, the company providing it to the military. Sustainable Oils says camelina can also reduce carbon emissions...

PENSACOLA, Fla. -- The Blue Angels flight demonstration team is ready to start performing again. The squad announced Friday that it will resume its air show season June 18 in Davenport, Iowa. The team was ordered to go on a safety stand-down after a May 22 performance in Lynchburg, Va., where four of the six F/A-18 Hornets flew below their specified altitude. All six aircraft landed safely about three-fourths of the way through the scheduled performance without damage to the planes or injury to the pilots. The stand-down led to the departure of the squad's commander, Navy Cmdr. Dave Koss....

Enjoy this video. http://www.youtube.com/watch_popup?v=W6tB8Lf7YoU

The U.S. Navy Blue Angels are known for their precision and close formation flying in the F-18 Hornets. In this photo, the "Echelon Parade" formation is lined up perfectly and only a few feet from each other. From my vantage point, the view was breathtaking. Looking into the cockpit of all four jets perfectly aligned in their incredibly tight formation made my day. Their entire performance at Fleet Week was a spectacular display of jet aerobatics set against blue skies. --Keith Breazeal

They Be Squids, but They Be Good!

One of the last regular users of JATO (Jet Assisted Take Off) rockets is dropping the practice. The U.S. Navy Blue Angels acrobatic team will no longer feature their C-130 (called "Fat Albert", and used to haul around the maintenance personnel and their equipment) doing a quick and fiery takeoff using JATO rockets. This was always a crowd pleaser, partly because you hardly see it anymore. JATO was first developed in the 1920s, to get gliders into the air. Later, especially during World War II, and a few decades after, JATO was used for getting aircraft off the ground quickly,...

Obama Care Has No Clothes! Or, Why I am Opting Out. http://www.wiseandfrugalgovernment.blogspot.com/ One of the most important premises underlying the study of economics is the notion that people will always act in the their economic best interest. We assume the same of our leaders. That is our biggest mistake. Help me understand how the cost of health care, as Obama promised, will not add to the deficit. In September he told us "I will not sign a plan that adds one dime to our deficits-either now or in the future. Period." If he intends to cover the uninsured, a number...

RENO, NV - This is the 46th year of the air races, drawing fans from all over the world, and bringing millions of dollars to the local economy. The Air Races have been run since 1964 and are held at Reno Stead Airport just north of Reno. The US Navy "Blue Angels" return to Reno this year, their first visit since 2000. Race aircraft in the Unlimited Class reach speeds of over 500 mph - by far the fastest-moving machines in motorsports. The event also includes a world-class air show featuring the US Navy "Blue Angels" flying the F-18 Hornet....

For once, even 638 horsepower might not be enough. As I slot the ZR1's six-speed shifter into first and tilt my gaze toward the flag girl, for reassurance I give the throttle a quick stab with my heel. The supercharged V-8 responds with a shock wave that momentarily warps my vision and clouts my stomach like a 7.2 on the Richter scale. Maybe I have a chance. The finish line lies one mile in the distance, somewhere beyond the heat waves; after reaching it, I'll be at very high speed and won't have a lot of tarmac left to stop....

Blue Angels will perform for air show crowd The South Texas Shootout Air Show, featuring the U.S. Navys Blue Angels, will soar above Naval Air Station Corpus Christi on Saturday and Sunday. The gates open at 9 a.m. and the air show will be from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. each day. About 180,000 people attended the air show two years ago, said Bob Torres, NAS-Corpus Christi spokesman. The air shows site in the Coastal Bend rotates with NAS-Kingsville every other year. With the economy the way it is, its a great way to spend the weekend with the entire...

PENSACOLA, Fla. – Debbie Harris knew the military dog tag and small metal emblem of a Navy fighter squadron she recently found in the sand near her home on an Alabama beach belonged to a Blue Angels pilot who was killed when his jet crashed there a half-century ago. But she wanted to find out more about Cmdr. Robert Nicholls Glasgow and what happened , so she turned to her aunt and uncle, who live in Pensacola, home of the National Museum of Naval Aviation. Their search led them to the museum's director, Bob Rasmussen, a retired Navy captain and...

Fleet Week 2008 Press Releases FLEET WEEK HAS A STELLAR LINE UP The Blue Angels Return along with the Canadian Snowbirds SAN FRANCISCO, CA, Sept. 2, 2008 -- Fleet week is proud to announce that the Navy’s Blue Angels will be returning to the skies of San Francisco. Fleet week makes its 28th annual appearance, October 9-14, 2008 -- attracting an estimated one million spectators along the San Francisco waterfront. The show will be bigger and better this year with the Canadian Snowbirds joining the Blue Angels. The Snowbirds’ performance features nine jets showcasing remarkable tactical aviation. Their show...

*** WELCOME - FREE REPUBLIC NASCAR RACING FANS Blue Angels to do the fly-by after the anthem at Richmond International Raceway Saturday, May 3. *** Cup Series practice [Speed TV] Live: 11 a.m. ET Friday TV Delay: 1:30 p.m. ET Cup Series qualifying 5:30 p.m. ET Friday Race begins at 7 p.m. ET Saturday on FOX In memory of Lt Cmdr Kevin Davis Nationwide Series race at Richmond International Raceway on Friday, May 2, 2008 - ESPN2/7 p.m. MRN/7:30 p.m. THIS IS AN IMPOUND RACE - YOUR FANTASY PICKS SHOULD STILL BE LOCKED IN THURSDAY NIGHT. Yesterday was Dale...

    ~The FReeper Canteen Presents~ Road Trip: Naval Air Station Pensacola "The Cradle of Naval Aviation", NAS Pensacola is a United States Navy base located in Warrington, Florida, a community southwest of the Pensacola city limits. It is best known as the primary training base for all Navy and Marine aviators and Naval Flight Officers, the advanced training base for most Naval Flight Officers, and as the home base for the United States Navy Flight Demonstration Squadron, the precision-flying team known as the Blue Angels. The site now occupied by Naval Air Station Pensacola has a colorful historical...

PENSACOLA, Fla. (NNS) -- The Navy Flight Demonstration Squadron, The Blue Angels, has announced its show schedule for the 2008 season. Following winter training, the team begins the season at Naval Air Facility El Centro, Calif., March 8 and will conclude the season Nov. 16 at Naval Air Station Pensacola, Fla. The Blue Angels are scheduled to perform 68 shows at 35 locations throughout the United States and Canada. "We are extremely excited to begin our new season and represent the Navy and Marine Corps team with a safe and exciting show for 2008," said Cmdr. Kevin Mannix, the squadron's...

Raleigh "Dusty" Rhodes, an early leader of the Blue Angels flight demonstration team who flew combat missions in two wars and was a prisoner of war, has died. He was 89. Rhodes died Nov. 26 of lung cancer in San Jose, his daughter Debra Rhodes said on Tuesday. The elder Rhodes flew fighters off of the USS Enterprise during World War II. In the Battle of Santa Cruz Islands near Guadalcanal in October 1942, he was shot down and captured by the Japanese. He spent the next three years in a prisoner camp, where he was beaten and starved, his...

SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. Raleigh "Dusty" Rhodes, an early leader of the Blue Angels flight demonstration team who flew combat missions in two wars and spent three years in a Japanese prisoner of war camp, has died. He was 89. The cause of his death on Nov. 26 in San Jose was lung cancer, his daughter Debra Rhodes said on Tuesday. Rhodes flew fighters off of the USS Enterprise during World War II. In the Battle of Santa Cruz Islands near Guadalcanal in October 1942 he was shot down and captured by the Japanese. He spent the next three years in...

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NOTE: I made a quick trip to the city by the bay, the fortress of freaks, the counter-culture crazies, the whackjobs of the West, the pierced pukes on parade --- San Francisco. It is too bad that a beautiful city has been really screwed up by the degenerates. It was Fleet Week, and to many of the leftist losers, the enemy was in town. And they must have gone ballistic when they heard the sounds of freedom, the Blue Angels, flying low over the city. The sound was wonderful. After the show, we happened to be in front of the...

Newsom welcomes the fleet with fierce defense of San Francisco as pro-military Susan Sward, Chronicle Staff Writer Sunday, October 7, 2007 (10-06) 16:55 PDT SAN FRANCISCO - Mayor Gavin Newsom, attending Fleet Week festivities on the Marina Green on Saturday, lashed out at conservative critics who mocked San Francisco's consideration of a measure to ban the Navy's Blue Angels from flying over the city during this week's celebration. He cited that criticism and reports that the city turned down a Marine request to make a television recruitment commercial in the Financial District as examples of what he called exploitation by...

The Blue Angels just flew over downtown San Francisco - what a wonderful sight and sound.

(09-11) 20:25 PDT San Francisco -- Another attempt by San Francisco Supervisor Chris Daly to permanently ban the Blue Angels from flying over the city was blocked Tuesday night. Daly previously introduced a nonbinding resolution calling on the Port of San Francisco to end the annual air show, but a board legislative committee refused to send it on to the supervisors chambers for a vote. The District 6 supervisor has subsequently amended the legislation to ask that flyovers by the elite aerobatic Navy squadron be prohibited above populated areas though allowed over the sea and San Francisco Bay. "I'm just...

San Francisco's skies are safe for the Blue Angels. A Board of Supervisors committee Monday rejected a measure that would have called for a permanent end to the high-flying, aerobatic show that happens yearly during Fleet Week. The committee voted 2-1 to table the measure, authored by Supervisor Chris Daly, effectively killing it. But Daly, who cited public safety and noise concerns as his reasons for proposing the ban, promised to continue pushing it. "We've been lucky here in San Francisco," Daly said, noting that 26 crew members have died in incidents since 1946 when the Navy formed the flight...

The Freeper Canteen PresentsThe Blue Angels On April 24, 1946 Chief of Naval Operations Admiral Chester Nimitz issued a directive ordering the formation of a flight exhibition team (the first such official venture by any of the Armed Services) to boost Navy morale, demonstrate naval air power, and maintain public interest in naval aviation. However, an underlying mission was to help the Navy generate public and political support for a larger allocation of the shrinking defense budget. In April of that year, Rear Admiral Ralph Davison personally selected Lieutenant Commander Roy Marlin "Butch" Voris, a World War II fighter...

Daly backs move to ground Blue Angels show Joshua Sabatini, The Examiner 2007-06-07 10:00:00.0 Current rank: # 165 of 6,519 SAN FRANCISCO - The annual aerial show by the U.S. Navy’s Blue Angels — a San Francisco tradition dating back to 1981 that pumps millions into the local economy — is running into opposition from three local peace advocacy groups that are calling for a permanent halt to the popular Fleet Week flyover. CodePink, Global Exchange and Veterans for Peace, Chapter 69, are working with Supervisor Chris Daly on a Board of Supervisors resolution to address concerns over the Blue...

SAN FRANCISCO -- Anti-war activists are calling on city officials to bring an end to the annual Fleet Week flyover by the U.S. Navy's Blue Angels. CodePink, Global Exchange and Veterans for Peace are working with Supervisor Chris Daly on a resolution that calls for stopping the popular air show, a San Francisco tradition that began more than 25 years ago. Daly said he may introduce a resolution as early as next week that calls for permanently halting the flyovers because "they seem dangerous and unnecessary." The resolution would state the Board of Supervisors' position, but would not be legally...

You’ll be shocked, shocked to find out who’s behind this: Veterans for Peace, Global Exchange and Code Pink. But don’t you dare question their patriotism. Questioning their sanity is fair game, though. Evidence of west coast anti-military crazy goes back a few years. The annual aerial show by the U.S. Navy’s Blue Angels — a San Francisco tradition dating back to 1981 that pumps millions into the local economy — is running into opposition from three local peace advocacy groups that are calling for a permanent halt to the popular Fleet Week flyover. CodePink, Global Exchange and Veterans for Peace,...

SEYMOUR JOHNSON AIR FORCE BASE, N.C. — After 21 years as a U.S. Navy pilot, his career boasting nearly 900 aircraft carrier landings and air combat during the first Gulf War, tragedy comes as no surprise to Cmdr. Kevin Mannix. That includes last month's fatal crash of a fellow Blue Angels pilot during a show in South Carolina. But for Blue Angels pilots, whose demeanor is a key part of the job, the tragedy offers another opportunity to perform the mission they were first given six decades ago: promote the U.S. Navy and U.S. Marines Corps to the world. "Our...

Breaking on CNN a few minutes ago. 1 plane down in neighborhood, status of pilot or occupants unknown at this time.

FREE REPUBLIC LIVE THREAD NASCAR - NEXTEL CUP DAYTONA 500 Sunday, 02-19-06 Watch that bump drafting boys!! Coverage of the 2006 Daytona 500 airs live on NBC on Sunday, February 19 starting at 12:00 p.m. ET.

Miramar Air Show 2006 photos SAN DIEGO – Apparently for the first time ever, the Navy's Blue Angels will be skipping the Miramar Air Show in 2007. In their place, the Air Force's Thunderbirds precision flying team will provide the show's daily grand finale during its three-day run Oct. 12-14. The air show at Miramar Marine Corps Air Station is one of the highlights of San Diego's monthlong “Fleet Week” celebration each fall. The Blue Angels' screaming fighter jets have been a rock-solid fixture since the first Miramar Air Show 51 years ago, said Fleet Week chairman Tom Caughlan. “We...

SAN FRANCISCO — U.S. Navy F/A-18 Hornets tumbled and swooped over downtown San Francisco on Thursday afternoon, flying in tight formation and leaving tails of billowing white smoke. The Blue Angels are back for the 26th annual Fleet Week. Promoters of the event are talking up an extravaganza that will be "bigger than ever this year" — a weekend replete with a U.S. A-10 jet demonstration, the U.S. Coast Guard Helicopter, the Red Bull Air Race World Series and air demonstrations by Sean Tucker, one of the top aerobatic civilians. Blue Angels, though, are surely the top draw for many...

From someone in the Navy now retired, living near Pensacola ... after leaving VP47 in 1967, he was the Admin Chief for the Blue Angels... Chief Flora, retired USN... Enjoy the pictures... We see strength in our Military and sadly, we see the Twin Towers. Something I never want to forget. Niagara Falls... so beautiful. I wonder who wins this battle? Ha Anyone know the name of the old sailing vessel? What a beauty, not many left. Blue Angels over San Francisco Bay. Watch for Alcatraz prison. Too Close for me... Backoff Buddy. ALCATRAZ AND FRISCO BAY. BIG BIRD COMMING...

Taking flightBurleson native Kelly Clarkson is taking off again, this time with the Blue Angels. American Idol's first sweetheart will fly with the Navy's flight demonstration team today at the Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base in Fort Worth. She'll join Oklahoma football coach Bob Stoops and CBS Channel 11's Babe Laufenberg in a preview performance of this weekend's air show.

Before this weekend's free airshow at Naval Air Station Atlanta, AJC staffer Steve Beatty joined Lt. Kevin Davis for a fun-filled afternoon of barrel rolls and other tricks high above Athens in a $24 million F/A-18. Beatty only passed out three times.See the highlights.

Welcome to the 41st NAS Point Mugu Air Show and the return of the Blue Angels! As the Commanding Officer of Naval Base Ventura County it is a pleasure to announce that the "Blue Angels", the U.S. Navy's premiere Flight Demonstration Team, will be highlighting the 2005 Air Show.   The Blue Angels last performed at NAS Point Mugu in 1999.  The 2005 Point Mugu Air Show on October 22&23, featuring the world-famous Blue Angels, is anticipated to generate weekend crowds of more than 150,000 people.

The dogs howled, the pigeons flapped, the babies cried, and the tourists trained their cameras on the heavens as the Blue Angels paid another of their discreet social calls Thursday on San Francisco. The noise was louder than the sound of fire engines, Jamba Juice blenders and even last weekend's bluegrass festival. At Justin Herman Plaza, there were more than a few fingers stuck into more than a few ears during the jet planes' practice fly-overs, which seemed to last all day but in fact started around noon and ended around 4 p.m. "They're the products of the devil,'' said...

MIDI - WHERE HAVE ALL THE FLOWERS GONE Where has Cindy Sheehan gone...on her great big bus tour Where has Cindy Sheehan gone...the Blue Angels know Where has Cindy Sheehan gone...she got tough and stopped their show When will right wingers learn...when will right wingers learn Where has Cindy Sheehan gone...what is her next crusade Where has Cindy Sheehan gone...you have got to see Where has Cindy Sheehan gone...look, Mumia now is free When will right wingers learn...when will right wingers learn Where has Cindy Sheehan gone...is she surprising you Where has Cindy Sheehan gone...off to Burger King Where...

I just heard this morning that Cindy Sheehan will be protesting/speaking/whining during the Blue Angels show at Brunswick NAS. She will be the guest liar for a protest scheduled for Saturday, September 10. Maine Veterans for Peace is sponsoring the protest. Link to original article is: http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/1473339/posts?page=1 I would like to get an idea as to who would be able to come out in support of our troops. Please freepmail me, or email me at islandsail@aol.com. In the meantime, I'll find out if she's actually going to show up, what permits we might need, etc. Like many of my fellow...

MIDI - ANGEL IN THE MORNING Polls think that I have lost my mind...well, I guess that's how it goes I will stage a whining tour by bus and I hope the movement grows September 10th I'll be in Maine I will prove I am a royal pain I'll stop Blue Angels in the morning, baby What makes them think that they can fly them...we will see I'll stop Blue Angels in the morning, baby I hope they won't straife me I'll be more famous, you can bet, than Hanoi Jane ever was I'll be the one who will...

BRUNSWICK, Maine The woman leading protests against President Bush's conduct of the Iraq war will protest a Blue Angels air show in Brunswick, Maine, next month. Bruce Gagnon (GAHNG'-yuhn) of Maine Veterans for Peace says Cindy Sheehan will be the featured guest at a protest outside the Brunswick Naval Air Station on September tenth. Sheehan, whose son Casey died in Iraq, camped outside the president's Central Texas ranch a month ago to demand a meeting with him. The Vacaville, California, woman hasn't gotten an audience, but she attracted a lot of support. She's promised to carry her protest to Washington...

COUNTDOWN TO THE STATEWIDE PROTEST/VIGIL AT BRUNSWICK NAVAL AIR STATION When: Saturday, Sept. 10, 2005 Where: March begins at Brunswick Mall, and ends at NASB Main Gate Time: 9 A.M. (at the Mall) The Event We're Protesting: The Navy's "Blue Angels" Air Show Theme of Our Protest: "Stop the Worship of the Gods of War!" On Sat., Sept. 10th, Maine Veterans for Peace will be joined by other major peace and justice groups (see list of co-sponsors below) in a massive protest: . to protest the false god idolatry of the Blue Angels Air Show, whose "ooh-&-aah"performances have one purpose:...

MT. COMFORT, Ind. -- There are questions about whether the Blue Angels will be grounded for next week's Indianapolis Air Show at Mt. Comfort. A Hancock County woman told RTV6's Jeremy Brilliant she has no problem with the planes themselves, just the noise their jets make and the effect on her dogs. cont'd...

Lord, Keep our Troops forever in Your care Give them victory over the enemy... Grant them a safe and swift return... Bless those who mourn the lost. . FReepers from the Foxhole join in prayer for all those serving their country at this time. ...................................................................................... ........................................... U.S. Military History, Current Events and Veterans Issues Where Duty, Honor and Countryare acknowledged, affirmed and commemorated. Our Mission: The FReeper Foxhole is dedicated to Veterans of our Nation's military forces and to others who are affected in their relationships with Veterans. In the FReeper Foxhole, Veterans or their family members should feel...

As you know, concerned private citizen Cindy Sheehan was one of the founders of Gold Star Families for Peace in January. Here's a link to their upcoming speaking schedule. On September 10, Sheehan will be speaking at a protest of the Blue Angels. The Blue Angels? Yes. According to their flier they have a problem with "children" being "taught to idolize these 'gods of metal.'" That's because the "expensive war promotion air show" is a "recruiting gimmick at a time when the military is in desperate need of more of our kids to fight in Iraq." Plus, "real angels don't...

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- A man whose pioneering flying career with the U.S. Navy began in the age of biplanes and ended in the jet age has died. Retired Navy Capt. Roy "Butch" Voris, an original Blue Angel, died at his home in Monterey, California. He was 86. Voris's Navy career began in the early 1930s. He began flying biplanes and by the end of World War II, he had shot down at least eight Japanese fighter planes, earning himself the status of an "ace," as well as three Distinguished Flying Crosses, a Purple Heart and more than a dozen other...

MONTEREY, Calif. (AP) - Retired Navy Capt. Roy M. "Butch" Voris, a World War II ace and the first flight leader of the Blue Angels, died at his home in Monterey, Calif., the precision flying team said Thursday. He was 86. Voris, who died Wednesday, was hand-picked by Adm. Chester Nimitz in 1946 to organize the Blue Angels, now based at Pensacola Naval Air Station. The team made its first public performance June 15 that year at Craig Field in Jacksonville. "Butch Voris' contributions to naval aviation history were epic," said Cmdr. Steve Foley, the Blue Angels' present flight leader,...

This is for anyone out there who flies or wants to fly. Please take note of the yellow missile rail visible in the upper left, as well as the nose just off to the right of center. Yes, that is Alcatraz directly below. This is not where you want the instructor to take off the blindfold on the "recover from an unusual attitude" portion of training.Even the support aircraft for the Angels is high speed - when is the last time you saw a JATO?The last one here is harder to describe - the person taking the photo is in...