| McDonnell Douglas (now Boeing) F/A-18 Hornet. The U.S. Navy Flight Demonstration Squadron, Blue Angels, is stationed at Sherman Field, NAS Pensacola, Florida. The squadron is scheduled to fly 70 air shows at 35 locations in the United States during the 2000 season. The squadron spends the winter (January through March) training pilots and new crewmembers at Naval Air Facility (NAF), El Centro, California. The mission of the Blue Angels is to enhance Navy and Marine Corps recruiting, and to represent the naval service to the civilian community, its elected leadership and foreign nations. The Blue Angels serve as positive role models and goodwill ambassadors for the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps. A Blue Angel flight demonstration exhibits the choreographed refinements of Navy-trained flying skills. It presents the graceful, aerobatic maneuvers of the four-plane diamond, as well as the fast-paced high performance maneuvers of the two solo pilots. The renowned delta formation is complete with six jets performing maneuvers, as a whole, in formation. The 1999-show season brought out more than 15 million spectators. Since 1946 the Blue Angels have performed for over 337 million. |
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