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Blue Angels Local Flyover Wednesday To Be The Last Before Transition To Super Hornets
November 3, 2020
The U.S. Navy Flight Demonstration Squadron, the Blue Angels, will conduct a final flight on the F/A-18 A/B/C/D “Legacy” Hornets on Wednesday from 4-4:30 p.m. over parts of Escambia, Santa Rosa and Baldwin counties.
The final flight of the Legacy Hornets signifies the official transition of the Blue Angels to the F/A-18 E/F Super Hornet platform.
The final flight will take-off and land at NAS Pensacola and will last about 30 minutes. Flyover locations (map below) include, but are not limited to:
- Ferry Pass
- Pensacola Beach
- Perdido Key
- Community Maritime Park
- Palafox Street in downtown Pensacola
- Navarre Beach
- Orange Beach
- Gulf Shores
- Fort Morgan
The Blue Angels will be visible from many locations throughout the Pensacola area and along this route.
“We are incredibly honored to have the opportunity to salute those teams who have flown, maintained and supported this platform for over three decades of service,” said Cmdr. Brian Kesselring, U.S. Navy Blue Angels commanding officer and flight leader. “We deeply appreciate the expertise and operational knowledge Blue Angels past and present have brought to the team and we look forward to enhancing our operations as we fully transition to flying the Super Hornet.”
The 2020 show season marked the end of the service life of the aircraft the team has flown for 34 years. The 2021 show season will be the Blue Angels’ first year flying the Super Hornet platform as well as the 75th anniversary of the team.
“Undoubtedly, 2020 presented the team with unprecedented challenges. That said, the unique nature of this year also allowed our team to deepen our interaction with past teams, in particular, those teams that transitioned to new aircraft during their tenure,” said Kesselring. “This engagement has helped us lay the foundation for a safe and effective transition for our team’s pilots, support, and maintenance personnel as well as postured us to take on the high operating tempo of the team’s highly anticipated 2021 air show season and 75th anniversary.”
The Blue Angels are scheduled to begin their winter training syllabus over NAS Pensacola beginning Nov. 16. The team will return to its winter training facilities in El Centro, CA in January. Training will continue through April in preparation for the 2021 show season
Since 1946, the Blue Angels have performed for more than 500 million fans.
NorthEscambia.com photo by Perry Doggrell, click to enlarge. Click map below for a larger version.
Comments
3 Responses to “Blue Angels Local Flyover Wednesday To Be The Last Before Transition To Super Hornets”
Bravo to the Blue Angels. Someday I will see them in person!
Would be nice to havs them fly out toward Cantonment once in a while.
Legacy Aircraft still viable, except for hours on Fueselage and wings, flight hours past 15,000 are even too much for some of the best maintained Fighter/ Demonstrators on earth
The current Fleet of F/A-18s in (D) configuration are still top line Fighter all over the world and still Rival the best our enemies fly, but with thousands of Flights the Blue Angels Current equipment is sadly destined for the Bone Yards Of Davis Monthan AFB to be relagated to spare parts for other legacy systems.