Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
BLUE ANGELS
To maintain its profile after WWII, and to reinforce its recruitment drive, the US Navy
gathered some of its most elite pilots to form the
Blue Angels
( 850-452-2583;
www.blueangels.navy.mil
; 390 San Carlos Rd, Suite A), a flight-demonstration squadron travel-
ing to air shows around the country. The name caught on during the original team's trip
to New York in 1946, when one of the pilots saw the name of the city's Blue Angel
nightclub in the New Yorker.
These days performing for about 15 million people a year, 'the Blues' (never 'the An-
gels'), their C130 Hercules support aircraft named Fat Albert and their all-Marine support
crew visit about 35 show sites a year. Six jets execute precision maneuvers, including
death-defying rolls and loops, and two F/A-18s undertake solo flights; the show culmin-
ates in all six planes flying in trademark delta formation.
Each of the Blues does a two-year tour of duty, staggered to rotate every two years. In
addition to the six pilots (which always include one Marine) is a narrator, who'll then move
up through the ranks, and an events coordinator.
The Blues practice frequently (as would you if you were doing 500mph stunts in a
quarter of a million dollars worth of aircraft): you can see take-off (a jet-assisted, near-
vertical incline by way of rocket propellant) on Tuesday and Wednesday at 8:30am
between March and November (weather permitting); Wednesday sessions are followed
by pilot autographs. It's best to arrive between 7:30am and 8am. Bleachers are available
for the first 1000 spectators; BYO coffee and lawn chairs. The viewing area is behind the
National Museum of Naval Aviation parking lot.
Pensacola Beach
Distinctly separate from Pensacola itself, Pensacola Beach is a paradise of powdery white
sand, gentle, warm waters and a string of mellow beachfront hotels. The beach occupies
nearly 8 miles of the 40-mile-long Santa Rosa barrier island, surrounded by the Santa Rosa
Sound and the Gulf of Mexico to the north and south, and by the federally protected Gulf
Islands National Seashore on either side. Though determined residents have protected
much of the barrier island from development, there is change afoot, as several high-rise
condos have recently created a bit of a Gulf Coast skyline.
