{"id":900,"date":"2010-10-25T04:00:09","date_gmt":"2010-10-25T08:00:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/joeclarksblog.wordpress.com\/?p=900"},"modified":"2014-12-28T12:10:12","modified_gmt":"2014-12-28T16:10:12","slug":"impressions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/joeclarksblog.com\/?p=900","title":{"rendered":"Impressions"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>

The Diamond Formation<\/p><\/div>\n

I remember the first time I saw the Blue Angels. \u00a0I was working the line fueling airplanes at the St. Pete-Clearwater International Airport, so I was standing atop my fuel truck. \u00a0I watched the team arrive and fly their practice session and then it was time for them to land.<\/p>\n

Surely the pilots would take separation and land individually, I thought. \u00a0I watched in amazement as the flight lead brought the six-plane formation around on final in the delta formation. \u00a0The four planes of the diamond formation were in their normal positions, with solo pilots in the outer positions.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Solos Dirty Pass<\/p><\/div>\n

As they approached the runway, the lead aircraft was in the highest point of the delta formation and the three A-4s across the back, the lowest. \u00a0All six airplanes moved as one; there were six right hands manipulating flight controls, six left hands moving power control levers, and 12 boots working rudder pedals. \u00a0There was, however, only one mind flying those six ships.<\/p>\n

Standing as high on the fuel truck as I could so I could see everything, I watched the delta approach for the actual touchdown. \u00a0Each airplane held position as the formation came closer to the ground. \u00a0All six tires of the three rear aircraft touched the runway exactly at the same moment. \u00a0Then their nosewheels touched.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

High Speed Solo Pass<\/p><\/div>\n

Then the four mainmounts of the wingmen\u2019s jets screamed onto the runway. \u00a0A half-heartbeat later, their nosewheels slammed down. \u00a0Next, Lead\u2019s airplane came to the ground and the six airplanes were no longer flying, but rolling.<\/p>\n

As they seemed as one in flight, so they were on the ground while rolling. \u00a0It was the most impressive display of airmanship I had ever seen in my life. \u00a0I suddenly realized why aviators throughout the industry referred to these guys as \u201cthe best of the best.\u201d<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s Blue Angels are as skillful and as disciplined as the first team led by LCDR Roy \u201cButch\u201d Voris.\u00a0 Voris opened the very first show of The Blues at NAS Jacksonville in June 1946 flying F6F Hellcats.\u00a0 Since then, only the airplanes seem to change \u2013 from the less sophisticated to more advanced. \u00a0If you have the chance to see the Blue Angels fly this year, don\u2019t miss it.<\/p>\n

During the last weekend of October, The Blues will perform at Ft. Worth Alliance, TX and for the first weekend of November, you can catch them in Miami at the Homestead ARB.\u00a0 Their final performance of the year will be their homecoming at NAS Sherman Field in Pensacola, FL.<\/p>\n

\"Five<\/a>

Five Line Abreast<\/p><\/div>\n

Seeing what I witnessed that day back in 1976 compelled me to compete for a seat in the fleet. \u00a0It was the true job of The Blues – to spread the excitement and enthusiasm for naval aviation among the nation\u2019s youth. \u00a0To that end, they are extremely effective and successful.<\/p>\n

The Navy charged today\u2019s team of Blues with the same job as CDR Voris\u2019 1946 team.\u00a0 This latest team was on the job over this last weekend at NAS Jacksonville. \u00a0They will repeat their performance only a few more times this year as they finish this season.<\/p>\n

There is little doubt they convinced more than a few young men and women to compete for their own seat in the fleet.<\/p>\n

-30-<\/p>\n

\u00a9 2010 J. Clark<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I remember the first time I saw the Blue Angels. \u00a0I was working the line fueling airplanes at the St. Pete-Clearwater International Airport, so I was standing atop my fuel truck. \u00a0I watched the team arrive and fly their practice … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,6,8,9],"tags":[322,478,679,1318,1344,1927,2061,2143,2145,2478,2497,3166,4293,572],"class_list":["post-900","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-aviation","category-flying-2","category-life-in-general","category-personal","tag-airmanship","tag-aviators","tag-blue-angles","tag-excitement-and-enthusiasm","tag-f6f-hellcats","tag-impressions","tag-june-1946","tag-lcdr-roy-butch-voris","tag-lead","tag-nas-jacksonville","tag-naval-aviation","tag-seat-in-the-fleet","tag-wingmen","tag-the-best-of-the-best"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/joeclarksblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/900","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/joeclarksblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/joeclarksblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/joeclarksblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/joeclarksblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=900"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/joeclarksblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/900\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5301,"href":"https:\/\/joeclarksblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/900\/revisions\/5301"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/joeclarksblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=900"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/joeclarksblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=900"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/joeclarksblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=900"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}