During Nov. 2-3, the Blue Angels ended their season with a bang when they performed their Blue Angels Homecoming Air Show 2018 NAS Pensacola, hosted by Pensacola’s Kia Autosport.
The Blue Angels are stationed at the Forrest Sherman Field, Naval Air Station Pensacola, Fla. during the months that they conduct the air shows with plenty of speed and the utmost precision, according to the Blue Angels Facebook page.
After their latest show, the Blue Angels released an incredible 360-degree cockpit view of their Fleur-De-Lis maneuver. Watch it below:
More than 50 flight demonstrations and 25 air shows are conducted by the Blue Angels every season.
U.S. Navy and Marine Corps pilots make up the Blue Angels, who was the top act to perform at the finale air show, showing off their honed skills aboard six F/A-18 Hornet aircraft, according to ticket promotions source, Attend Star.
Additional aircraft also performed, including aircraft from past wars, as well as an F-22 Raptor, according to the U.S. Navy Blue Angels website.
The best airshow pilots, such as “Adam ‘Shakenbak’ Baker, the Redline Aerobatic Team, the Stearman Flight Team, Doc Serrato with his T-28C Trojan, and Skip Stewart flying his Prometheus biplane,” performed with expertise.
The history of the Blue Angels is one that is very rich, and it all began in 1946 when Admiral Chester Nimitz, the Chief of Naval Operations, thought of an idea to raise people’s awareness about the Navy while lifting the branch’s self-esteem.
World War II had just ended when Nimitz implemented his plan and within just a few months, on June 15, 1946 at Naval Air Station (NAS) Jacksonville, Florida, the first air show took place under the name of the Navy Flight Exhibition Team.
It wasn’t until July 1946 that the team performed under the name of the Blue Angels in Omaha, Nebraska.
They were only one of two teams that conducted air shows such as these, the first being the Patrouille de France, who performed for the first time in 1931.
AIR SHOW: The iconic US. Navy Blue Angels finished their spectacular season with breaks, passes and barrel rolls at their annual Homecoming Air Show in Pensacola, Florida. https://t.co/OygOWBmxpy pic.twitter.com/lmGuDjryZj
— World News Tonight (@ABCWorldNews) November 4, 2018
During the 70 magnificent years that the Blue Angels have performed, they have suffered 26 in-flight fatalities.
The first happened on Sept. 26, 1946, when Slot Pilot Lt. Ross “Robby” Robinson lost control of his plane during a “Cuban Eight maneuver.”
The well-known Blue Angels Diamond Formation, which includes “the Diamond Loop and the Diamond Barrel Roll maneuvers, was presented in 1947 by Flight Leader Lt. Cmdr. Robert “Bob” Clarke.”
In 1948, the Blue Angels moved their home base to NAS Corpus Christi, Texas, and in 1949 they relocated again to NAS Whiting Field, Florida.
