Blue Angels

Also known as: The United States Navy Flight Demonstration Squadron

Date: Formed in 1945; first flight demonstration on June 15, 1946

Definition: A flight demonstration team organized to showcase naval aviation and serve as positive role models and goodwill ambassadors for the United States military.

Significance: The Blue Angels demonstrate the pinnacle of precision flying, representing the United States Navy to the civilian community, providing exciting entertainment for millions of spectators every year, and serving as a recruitment tool for the United States Navy and Marine Corps.

Formation and Development

At the end of World War II, Admiral Chester W. Nimitz, the chief of United States Naval Operations, ordered the formation of a flight demonstration team to illustrate precision flying and maintain public interest in naval aviation. After several months of organization and practice, the first squadron demonstrated its initial public aerial performance on June 15, 1946, at the Southeastern Air Show and Exhibition at the Naval Air Station (NAS) at Craig Field in Jacksonville, Florida. They won the trophy for the most outstanding performance. The flight leader was Lieutenant Commander Roy “Butch” Voris. The other team members were Lieutenant Mel Cassidy (left wing), Lieutenant Maurice “Wick” Wickendoll (right wing), Lieutenant Al Taddeo (solo), and Lieutenant Gale Stouse (backup). The aircraft they flew was the Grumman F-6F Hellcat.

On August 25, 1946, the Blue Angels changed their aircraft to the Grumman F-8F Bearcat. By 1947, Lieutenant Commander Robert Clarke had become the flight leader. He introduced the diamond formation, which became the trademark of the Blue Angels. Near the end of the 1940s, the squadron was flying its first jet aircraft, the Grumman F9F-2 Panther.

With the outbreak of the Korean War, the Blue Angels were assigned to the aircraft carrier USS Princeton in 1950, forming the core of Fighter Squadron 101, which became known as “Satan’s Kitten.” They adopted a squadron insignia that portrayed a fiendish cat riding the devil’s three-pronged fork and hurling lightning bolts at the enemy. In 1951, they were sent to the Naval Air Station (NAS) in Corpus Christi, Texas, where they began flying the Grumman F9F-5 Panther. In October 1951, a directive from the Chief of Naval Operations reactivated the Blue Angels to perform the same duties they had performed before the war.

In 1954, the Blue Angels were assigned to their present home at the NAS at Sherman Field in Pensacola, Florida, where the crew began flying the newer, faster, swept-wing Grumman F9F-8 Cougar. In 1957, the Blue Angels began flying the Grumman F-11 Tiger. By 1969, they were doing their aerial shows in a dual-engine jet, the McDonnell Douglas F-4J Phantom II.

New Focus

In December 1974, the Blue Angels were reorganized as the United States Navy Flight Demonstration Squadron, with Tony Less as the commanding officer. Further changes included adding several support officers and a new McDonnell Douglas A-4F Skyhawk II aircraft. The mission of the squadron became focused on Navy recruiting. In celebration of their fortieth anniversary in 1986, the Blue Angels flew the sleek McDonnell Douglas F/A-18 Hornet. This aircraft was the first dual-role fighter and attack jet serving on the front lines of US defense.

After a nineteen-year absence, the Blue Angels were deployed on a one-month European tour in 1992. Over a million people in Sweden, Finland, Russia, Romania, Bulgaria, Italy, Spain, and the United Kingdom witnessed their performances. In November 1998, squadron Commander Patrick Driscoll landed the first Blue Angel jet on an aircraft carrier, the USS Harry S. Truman.

One of the few Marine Corps aircraft that performs with the Blue Angels is the Hercules Transport C-130, nicknamed “Fat Albert.” It is flown by an all-Marine crew of three pilots and five enlisted personnel. During a show season, Fat Albert is flown over 140,000 miles. However, its primary use is operational, transporting the necessary personnel and equipment that support the Blue Angels from one performance site to another.

Demonstrations

The flight demonstrations of the Blue Angels exhibit choreographed refinements of Navy-trained flying skills. Flight shows include graceful, aerobatic maneuvers of the four-plane diamond formation, in conjunction with the fast maneuvers of its two solo pilots and the renowned six-jet delta formation. During the show season (mid-March to January), the Blue Angels are stationed at Forrest Sherman Field, NAS in Pensacola, Florida. During the other winter months, they are stationed for training at the NAS at El Centro, California.

At the beginning of a Blue Angels show, Fat Albert often demonstrates its jet-assisted takeoff capability. Eight solid-fuel rockets are attached to the sides of the aircraft. When they are ignited, Fat Albert climbs at a 45-degree angle to an altitude of 1,000 feet in a few seconds. Shortly after that, six Blue Angel Hornets engage their afterburners and climb into the sky to perform their maneuvers. Each Hornet is 56 feet long, 15 feet high, with a wingspan of 40 feet, and capable of reaching speeds well in excess of supersonic velocities, although the pilots are not authorized to reach the speed of sound during shows. In 2021, the Blue Angels transitioned to the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet. The Super Hornet is capable of reaching speeds of Mach 1.8 and have a wingspan of 44.9 feet and are 60.3 feet long.

Between the inception of the Blue Angels in 1946 and 2024, there have been twenty-six pilots and one crew member killed in air shows or training. Two Blue Angels were killed on October 28, 1999, in southern Georgia while trying to land during a training flight. The last fatality before that incident was on July 13, 1985, when one pilot died in a fireball crash after two planes collided during an air show. Lieutenant Commander Kevin Davis was killed in 2007 when his Hornet crashed at an air show in Beaufort, South Carolina. In 2016, Blue Angel pilot Jeffery Kuss was killed during a practice demonstration in Tennessee. 

Fans were disappointed in 2013 when military officials announced that, due to federal budget sequestration cuts, the Blue Angels’ 2013 flying season would be canceled. Budget cuts also grounded the Air Force’s Thunderbirds that year. Air shows for both flight teams resumed with the 2014 season. That same season, a former commander of the Blue Angels, Captain Gregory McWherter received a reprimand for allowing pornography in cockpits and other lewd practices. About three months later that year, Marine Corps Captain Katie Higgins joined the Blue Angels as the team’s first female pilot.

The Blue Angel's popularity endures into the mid-2020s. They perform between sixty and seventy shows yearly, with over 11 million spectators watching their performances. Since 1946, over 500 million spectators have witnessed a Blue Angels performance. Further, the Blue Angels have expanded their community outreach to provide services like visiting hospitals and senior centers. The enduring popularity of the Blue Angels continues in the twenty-first century.

Years of UseManufacturerModel1946Grumman F-6F Hellcat1946-1949Grumman F-8F Bearcat1949-1951Grumman F9F-2 Panther1951-1954Grumman F9F-5 Panther1954-1957Grumman F9F-8 Cougar1957-1969Grumman F11F-1 Tiger1969-1974McDonnell DouglasF-4J Phantom II1974-1986McDonnell DouglasA-4F Skyhawk II1986-presentMcDonnell DouglasF/A-18 HornetSource: Data taken from (www.chinfo.navy.mil/navpalib/aircraft/b-angels/blues.html), June 6, 2001.

Bibliography

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“Blue Angels Fat Albert Is a Super Fan Favorite. Here's What to Know.” Pensacola News Journal, 6 July 2023, www.pnj.com/story/news/military/blueangels/2023/07/07/blue-angels-fat-albert-is-a-super-fan-favorite-heres-what-to-know/70389061007. Accessed 15 July 2024.

DeSimone, Danielle. “Do the Blue Angels Fight in Combat? 8 Facts to Know About the Blue Angels Pilots.” USO, 22 Apr. 2022, www.uso.org/stories/3068-do-the-blue-angels-fight-in-combat-8-facts-to-know-about-the-blue-angels-pilots. Accessed 15 July 2024.

Prudente, Tim. “Breaking a Gender Barrier at 370 mph: Severna Park Pilot Becomes First Woman to Fly with Elite Blue Angels.” Baltimore Sun, 6 May 2015, www.baltimoresun.com/2015/05/06/breaking-a-gender-barrier-at-370-mph-severna-park-pilot-becomes-first-woman-to-fly-with-elite-blue-angels. Accessed 15 July 2024.

“United States Navy Blue Angels.” United States Navy Blue Angels, www.blueangels.navy.mil. Accessed 15 July 2024.

Van Steenwyk, Elizabeth. From Barnstormers to Blue Angels. New York: Franklin, 1999.

Veronico, Nicholas A., and Marga R. Fritze. Blue Angels: Fifty Years of Precision Flight. Osceola: Motorbooks Intl., 1996.

Wilkinson, Kaija, and Reuters. “Military Spending Cuts Ground Blue Angels, Thunderbirds.” NBC News, 1 Mar. 2013, www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/military-spending-cuts-ground-blue-angels-thunderbirds-flna1c86447831. Accessed 15 July 2024.