25 Facts About Blue Angels

Blue Angels is a flight demonstration squadron of the United States Navy.

Blue Angels typically perform aerial displays in at least 60 shows annually at 30 locations throughout the United States and two shows at one location in Canada.

Blue Angels is from Fargo, North Dakota, and graduated from Concordia College, Minnesota, with a Bachelor of Arts undergraduate degree with majors in Physics, Mathematics, and Business in 2000.

Blue Angels is a graduate and former staff instructor at the Navy Fighter Weapons School.

Blue Angels were originally formed in April 1946 as the Navy Flight Exhibition Team.

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Blue Angels transitioned from propeller-driven aircraft to blue and gold jet aircraft in August 1949.

Blue Angels were established as a Navy flight exhibition team on 24 April 1946 by order of Chief of Naval Operations Admiral Chester Nimitz to generate greater public support of naval aviation.

The Blue Angels performed their first public flight demonstration from their first training base and team headquarters at Naval Air Station Jacksonville, Florida, on 15 and 16 June 1946, with three F6F-5 Hellcats (a fourth F6F-5 was held in reserve).

The Blue Angels were disbanded, and its pilots were reassigned to a carrier.

In May 1952, the Blue Angels began performing again with F9F-5 Panthers at an airshow in Memphis, Tennessee.

The Blue Angels began relocating to their current home at Naval Air Station Pensacola, Florida that winter, and it was here they progressed to the swept-wing Grumman F9F-8 Cougar.

In 1957, the Blue Angels transitioned from the F9F-8 Cougar to the supersonic Grumman F11F-1 Tiger.

In July 1964, the Blue Angels participated in the Aeronaves de Mexico Anniversary Air Show over Mexico City, Mexico, before an estimated crowd of 1.

In 1965, the Blue Angels conducted a Caribbean island tour, flying at five sites.

In 1972, the Blue Angels were awarded the Navy's Meritorious Unit Commendation for the two-year period from 1 March 1970 to 31 December 1971.

Blue Angels served for two more years with the squadron flying the left wing-man position in the No 3 A-4F fighter, and returned to command the Blue Angels in 1995 and 1996.

In 1992, the Blue Angels deployed for a month-long European tour, their first in 19 years, conducting shows in Sweden, Finland, Russia, Romania, Bulgaria, Italy, the United Kingdom, and Spain.

On 22 May 2011, the Blue Angels were performing at the Lynchburg Regional Airshow in Lynchburg, Virginia, when the Diamond formation flew the Barrel Roll Break maneuver at an altitude lower than the required minimum.

The next day, the Blue Angels announced that they were initiating a safety stand-down, canceling their upcoming Naval Academy Airshow and returning to their home base in Pensacola, Florida, for additional training and airshow practice.

On 27 May 2011, the Blue Angels announced that Commander Dave Koss, the squadron's Commanding Officer, would be stepping down.

Blue Angels was replaced by Captain Greg McWherter, the team's previous Commanding Officer.

Between 2 and 4 September 2011 on Labor Day weekend, the Blue Angels flew for the first time with a fifty-fifty blend of conventional JP-5 jet fuel and a camelina-based biofuel at Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Maryland.

In October 2013, Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel, stating that "community and public outreach is a crucial Departmental activity", announced that the Blue Angels would resume appearing at air shows starting in 2014, although the number of flyovers will continue to be severely reduced.

Katie Higgins, 27, became the first female pilot to join the Blue Angels, flying the support aircraft Fat Albert for the 2015 and 2016 show seasons.

Four former Blue Angels pilots have been killed in action or died after being captured, all having been downed by anti-aircraft fire.

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