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thedrifter
09-05-08, 07:35 AM
A TRIP WITH THE BLUE ANGELSSeptember 5, 2008

The Blue Angel Demonstration team will be flying at the Great State of Maine Airshow this weekend in Brunswick.


THE BLUE ANGELS DEMONSTRATION TEAM STARTED IN 1946...EVERY PART OF THE CREW COMES FROM THE NAVY OR THE MARINES, FROM THE MECHANICS TO THE PILOTS.

IT'S NOT AN EASY ASSIGNMENT TO GET...ONLY THE BEST OF THE BEST GET SELECTED.

"You apply to this team like you would to any organization it has an application process that goes along with it and for us it's two-fold you want to find someone who's a capable and above average pilot, you also want to get someone who is a decent guy because you spend three hundred days a year together if not more." Lt. Frank "Walleye" Weisser, Naval Aviator, Blue Angels.

BEFORE GETTING NEAR THE PLANES, WE HAD TO ATTEND A PRE-FLIGHT MEETING....

THE CREW CHIEF FOR THE NUMBER SEVEN BLUE ANGEL, DEO HARRYPERSAUD, COVERED EVERYTHING THAT WOULD HAPPEN TO US, AND TRIED TO ALLEVIATE ANY FEARS.

"Just to put you at ease Wayne, the Navy and Marine Corps, Naval Aviation in general is a lot safer than commercial aviation because of all the rules that are in place for us as far as you know there's always at least two sets of eyes looking over an aircraft." -- SSgt Deo Harrpersaud, USMC, Crew Chief Blue Angels #7

THAT INCLUDES OUR PILOT, LT FRANK WEISSER, CALL SIGN WALLEYE. HE'S FLOWN COMBAT MISSIONS OVER IRAQ AND AFGHANISTAN...HE'S BEEN A FLIGHT INSTRUCTOR WITH THE NAVY AND IS IN HIS FIRST YEAR WITH THE BLUE ANGELS.

"Anytime you fly off an aircraft carrier it's challenging whether it's daytime or nighttime, obviously nighttime is harder, it's just challenging to fly off a boat. For the Blue Angels we fly low and fast so there's very little room for error we do it in front of a lot of people so we always go flying on a nice day like today so we're not doing it at night or over bad guy country so in that respect it's a lot easier." -- Lt. Weisser

EVEN THOUGH THEY'RE KNOWN FOR SPEED, THE BLUE ANGELS START OFF SLOW.

"We fly higher off the ground and further away. The more we fly together we get closer and closer and we get lower to the ground and that's part of us never getting complacent you always can get closer, faster, lower but to do that you have to show a rhythm of flying in a professional way around each other and you have to trust each other if you're flying that close to each other and if anyone makes a mistake it could kind of be magnified through the whole formation." -- Lt. Weisser

AS FOR MY FLIGHT --

IT WAS EXHILIRATING.

IT WAS EXHAUSTING...

JUST AN AMAZING EXPERIENCE...

WE BROKE THE SPEED OF SOUND, PULLED MORE THAN FIVE AND A HALF TIMES THE FORCE OF EARTH'S GRAVITY, FLEW UPSIDE DOWN, AND WENT FROM 200 FEET ABOVE THE ATLANTIC OCEAN TO FIFTEEN THOUSAND FEET...

IT TAKES AN AMAZING TOLL ON THE BODY....AND THESE PILOTS WILL GO THROUGH IT 37 WEEKENDS THIS YEAR...

"You spend a lot of time in the weight room as you were able to see the G-Forces can take a heavy toll on your body so the more time you spend working your legs and lower extremities and your stomach the better off you are as far as the G-Forces and then you just do it a lot and practice really hard and put on a professional air show." -- Lt. Weisser

AND THEY DO IT 18 INCHES FROM THE AIRCRAFT NEXT TO THEM WHILE GOING 400 MILES AN HOUR, ONE HUNDRED FEET OFF THE GROUND, UPSIDE DOWN...

AND THEY WILL PERFORM ALL WEEKEND AT THE BRUNSWICK NAVAL AIR STATE AT THE GREAT STATE OF MAINE AIR SHOW. GATES OPEN AT 8AM ON BOTH SATURDAY AND SUNDAY THE 6TH AND 7TH OF SEPTEMBER. THE IN AIR SHOWS BEGIN BOTH DAYS AT TEN A.M.

Ellie