watching some refuelers and without my radio. All of a sudden, out of nowhere, Blue Angels 1 3 4 & 5 make a low level fly by and buzz the tower
and then directly over me! Then they circled back into the pattern to land and refuel. A little later the others did the same.
Really nice suprise. We listened as they were talking of their flight plans back to Florida then they left.
Except number 2 who developed some sort of problem and stayed the night then left in the morning. >P>If you've ever been up close to the Angels or Thunderbirds you would wonder that things didn't fall off every time they go up!
They are patched up and touched up all over the fueselage!lol A whole lot of bumpin going on and they don't always get the newest planes if you know what I mean. Just the newest and brightest paint.
I was in Nellis, in the parking lot at Las Vegas Speedway, 50,000 cars, when they made a 100 foot pass, just screaming.
Must have been 5,000 car alarms went off for close to a minute. Really funny.
But they get the latest and greatest engines...
I was priveledged to see one of the Thunderbirds first performances with the F-16. It was at Norton AFB, in San Bernadino, CA, in 1983, I think.
I was in the USAF at the time, working in the base communications center, so I was able to see the complete frag of their flight from George AFB. They were going to do a low level flight around San Bernadino, and the time at the checkpoints was included in the frag.
I got out to as close to the flightline as I was allowed in time to see them pop up over the crest of the San Bernadino Mountains, and then dive down to the deck. Several minutes later they re-appeared above the palm trees over the county lockup and buzzed the runway at 500mph, right on time.
The Blues use old F/A-18A aircraft that have been retired from frontline service. The A models are lighter and more maneuverable than the new C and E models.
It also deflects criticism since they aren't using new aircraft that should be the sharp end of the stick.