Blue Angels

Blue Angels, official name U.S. Navy Flight Demonstration Squadron, U.S. Navy fighter aircraft squadron that stages aerobatic performances at air shows and other events throughout the United States and around the world. The squadron, whose performances benefit public relations and recruitment, includes five U.S. Naval aviators and one U.S. Marine pilot, plus some 120 support personnel. The squadron is based at the Naval Air Station (NAS) in Pensacola, Fla.

In the 1920s and ’30s the U.S. Navy had a number of unofficial aerobatic teams, but the first officially recognized team was established by Adm. Chester W. Nimitz in order to show off naval aviation and to inspire enlistment. The U.S. Navy Flight Demonstration Team, or Blue Angels, as the team later became known, completed its first performance on June 15, 1946, at Craig Field in Jacksonville, Fla.

The team’s first airplanes were four Grumman F6F Hellcats. In mid-August 1946 it began flying the Grumman F8F Bearcat, and in 1949 it moved up to the Grumman F9F-2 Panther, its first jet-engine airplane.

With the outbreak of the Korean War in 1950, the Blue Angels and their jets ceased demonstrations of aerobatic formation flying and formed the nucleus of Fighter Squadron 191 (“Satan’s Kittens”), which served aboard the aircraft carrier USS Princeton. In 1951 the team re-formed with Grumman F9F-5 Panthers. For a short period in 1952, it had two solo pilots in Chance Vought F7U-1 Cutlasses. In the winter of 1954–55 the whole team switched to Grumman F9F-8 Cougars and moved from Jacksonville to Pensacola.

Each time the U.S. Navy acquired more modern fighters, the team upgraded. It flew the Grumman F11F-1 Tiger from 1957 to 1968 and the McDonnell Douglas F-4J Phantom II from 1969 through 1974. In 1975, in keeping with fuel cutbacks, the team shifted to the more economical McDonnell Douglas A-4F Skyhawk II and was formally reorganized as the U.S. Navy Flight Demonstration Squadron. It switched to the McDonnell Douglas F/A-18 Hornet in 1986.

Squadron pilots must be qualified for combat and landings on aircraft carriers, with a minimum of 1,250 hours of flight experience. The flight leader must have at least 3,000 hours of flight time and have commanded a tactical jet squadron.