JayDee caught five of the six Blue Angels during a flyby at Costco on 4th Ave. S., a Blue Angels-viewing spot that’s been discussed here before. And shortly after we originally published this post, David Hutchinson sent photos from the north side of Boeing Field – here’s #5 coming in:
As for us, yes, the Museum of Flight one more time – for the up-close-and-semi-personal look before and after the airshow:
Fat Albert, the Blue Angels’ support plane, is a U.S. Marine Corps C-130, and it flies just before the Angels; as it taxis before and after that flight (which ends with a thrilling nosedive landing at Boeing Field), a crew member always spyhops from the top hatch to wave a flag and just plain wave. From the fence by the FA-18s’ parking spot, you can wave to the BA pilots themselves, too:
More scenes from today, and what’s next for the Blue Angels, ahead:
Both days this year, the pilots pulled up to the east end of their staging area and walked past the jets and the crew to the west end where they start their walkdown; they greeted the crew enthusiastically as they passed. As we’ve noted, the crowd tends to take note of the women on the crew:
The attention seems to transcend culture; we were standing next to a family speaking Japanese, which we’ve studied, and the mom exclaimed, “Josei!” (female) as crew members came into view. Andrew Abernathy adds this photo:
One other scene which we haven’t really mentioned before – between takeoff and landing, again this year, there was a bonus for the Museum of Flight crowd – live music outside (with selections like “Come Fly with Me” and “Fly Me to the Moon”):
Next stop for the Blue Angels isn’t far – Fairchild AFB in Spokane, for Inland Northwest Skyfest next weekend. So with one more photo from David Hutchinson – we say to the Angels, so long till next year!
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