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Tate High Assistant Principal Austin Courson Soars With The Blue Angels (With Gallery)

Tate High School Assistant Principal Austin Courson had the once in a lifetime opportunity Thursday to fly with the U.S. Navy Blue Angels.

Courson was chosen following a selection process as a “key influence rider” while he was an agricultural teacher for his involvement in the Tate FFA program. He was recently promoted to his new position as assistant principal at Tate.

He is looking forward to taking the experience back to share with Tate students this fall.

For a photo gallery, click here.

As for the questions every always asks of someone that flies with the Blue Angels:

Yes, he passed out. 7.5 G’s will do that.

And no, he did not get sick. (His secret breakfast before the flight: Bananas and peanut butter just in case because “the assistant superintendent of the school district says it tastes the same as it goes downs as it does as it comes up”.)

Flight day for Courson began with preparation.

“They took us on base, and they took us up into the public relations office with the Blue Angels and the crew chief for number seven,” he said. “They took us through the safety protocols, the procedures, the aircraft, the safety harness and things like that. Then we learned how we going to breathe properly, the blood flow, tensing the muscles and making sure the blood stays in the top part of your body.”

“When you are flying, you are pulling a lot of G’s, and you want to keep blood pumping through all of that where you don’t pass out.”

“I passed out for about a minute, but it wasn’t very long. The pilot said I did a really good job, better than some.”

“We went out over the Gulf of Mexico, and he was showing me how they perform those maneuvers,” he said. “It’s amazing to think that they are doing what they did with me in a show just 12 inches apart. The margin for error is zero.”

Over the Gulf, Courson was able to experience the top performance of the aircraft, approaching the sound barrier, doing a barrel rolls and other parts of the air show.

He said it was an amazing experience to see the men and women of the Blue Angels team with their dedication and commitment to teamwork. And that’s the key points he wants to make to students.

For a photo gallery, click here.

“It was a unique experience that I’m going to be able to take back to the students at Tate High School and out communities because the team, the U.S. Navy Blue Angels are the epitome of the example of teamwork and professionalism for our community and our country. It was just amazing to see the culture of excellence that’s a zero-fail mission. They are going to do everything top notch every single time, and it just brings patriotism to my heart. We don’t get to see the war fighting machine many times because it is in faraway places, but to see what our capabilities are as a nation, it’s just absolutely amazing.”

In case you are wondering, there’s no video of Courson’s flight. We are told the Navy’s GoPro malfunctioned and stopped recording.

Photos for NorthEscambai.com by Austin Courson, the U.S. Navy Blue Angels, and Visit Pensacola.