Seafair says the Blue Angels will be back at least two more years

(August 2011 photo by David Hutchinson)
Love ’em or hate ’em, you can see/hear them from here – and they’re not going away. The U.S. Navy Blue Angels are coming back to Seafair for at least two more summers. Just announced:

The official news release from Seafair:

U.S. NAVY BLUE ANGELS WILL RETURN TO SEAFAIR THROUGH 2013

he U.S. Navy Blue Angels announced the Demonstration Squadron will return to the skies above Lake Washington as a featured performer at the Boeing Seafair Air Show in 2012 and 2013. The announcement was made today at the International Council of Air Shows (ICAS) convention in Las Vegas, Nev. The U.S. Navy Blue Angels make two-year performance commitments and previously announced their return to Seattle for 2012.   

The air show is part of the summer schedule of events that culminates with Seafair Weekend featuring the Boeing Air Show and Albert Lee Cup Hydroplane Races.

Seafair Weekend Dates
2012: Fri., Aug. 3 – Sun., Aug. 5.
2013: Fri., Aug. 2 – Sun., Aug. 4

The Blue Angels’ mission is to enhance U.S. Navy and Marine Corps recruiting efforts and to represent the naval service to the United States, its elected leadership and foreign nations. The Blue Angels serve as positive role models for young people, and goodwill ambassadors for the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps.

A complete show schedule is available at www.blueangels.navy.mil.

clark5080 December 5, 2011 (12:44 pm)

great news but i guess it could change depending on what happens in Budget talks

kate December 5, 2011 (3:11 pm)

Hate ’em.

clark5080 December 5, 2011 (3:49 pm)

Go on Vacation then Kate

RP December 5, 2011 (3:56 pm)

“The Pentagon spends $37 million for the Blue Angels, whose mission is to enhance recruiting for the Navy and Marines and to be their public goodwill ambassador. ” (http://www.news-record.com/content/2011/11/24/article/blue_angels_funding_may_be_target_of_cuts)….What a fracking waste of money. Stupid Stupid Stupid…oh, Hate’em…

pam December 5, 2011 (3:58 pm)

Love ’em.

kate December 5, 2011 (4:18 pm)

I think the Blue Angels are a big fat waste of money. Me going on vacation doesn’t exactly solve that problem, but thanks for your uninformed comment clark5080.

Negative Nelly December 5, 2011 (6:20 pm)

Agreed. Waste of money and fuel. Just noise and air pollution, and traffic jams. Not to mention do we even need jets anymore? Don’t we just use remote contolled drones now? (which is messed up on so many levels) Either way, where’s the goodwill exactly?

Leroniusmonkfish December 5, 2011 (6:28 pm)

They’re the only thing I miss about Seattle…oh, and the naked bike riders. KIDDING!!!

chas redmond December 5, 2011 (6:36 pm)

hate ’em or love ‘me they are (machine and human) a creative element of who we are as Americans – our engineering, science and skills are on show as well as those things which we don’t like (or love). Just saying….

Blunt Speak December 5, 2011 (6:37 pm)

Woo Hoo! My son loves the Blue Angels!

WesCAddle December 5, 2011 (6:46 pm)

Love the Blues!

lolaleah December 5, 2011 (6:47 pm)

love love love the blue angels….I hope they never stop flying during seafair!!!

chris December 5, 2011 (7:20 pm)

One of the best things about this town. Love em!

kate December 5, 2011 (7:54 pm)

This is a strange and unpleasant story, but this summer my friends were raising rabbits. They had about a dozen newborn bunnies that were a few weeks old when the jets flew over. My friend was cleaning their hutch during the fly by and the baby rabbits started to scream. They screamed so loud, and for so long, that when she woke up the next morning all the babies had died. They will move their rabbits inside during that week next summer. It was a lesson learned the hard way, but baby rabbits are very very sensitive to loud noises.

Negative Nelly December 5, 2011 (9:01 pm)

Thanks for sharing Kate. That is a sad story. Unfortunately noise pollution is a very real threat to wildlife. I’m a federal regulator and there are restrictions on construction activities when they may impact endangered species (salmon, orcas, etc) but I have always wondered where these cowboys get the right to break the sound barrier directly over Lake Washington.

OP December 5, 2011 (11:02 pm)

$37 million. $15 trillion in debt. Just a wild guess, but I’m thinking the Angels aren’t the problem.

And to kate and Negative Nelly: correlation doesn’t equal causation. And quit oozing ignorance: the Angels NEVER break the sound barrier over the Lake W or over The Sound.

Wow. Airplanes. December 6, 2011 (7:07 am)

It makes the fat middle-aged white guys happy, and they’re the ones who run this country (and just look how well they’ve done!)

Maybe once the boomers toddle off to their final reward – provided they don’t take the rest of us with them – we can finally stop this annual celebration of phallic inadequacy.

Until then, enjoy the shiny objects.

cclarue December 6, 2011 (7:27 am)

Love Love Love them!!!!!!!

RickM December 6, 2011 (7:33 am)

Agree with Kate. Blue Angels: GTFO

Kaboom December 6, 2011 (7:49 am)

Personally, I love the Blue Angels and am glad they are coming back. I’m sure we can all think of things that are “a waste of money” that others enjoy.

BTW, if the Blue Angels broke the sound barrier anywhere near Lake Washington, it would be unbearable. So no, they do NOT do that.

One thing to consider — the military ironically is the reason you live in a country where you don’t hear fighters and bombers flying over your house daily. Love them or hate them, be glad you only hear jets for a couple of hours a day for a few days in the summer.

johnny December 6, 2011 (8:10 am)

Nelly, for the record the Blue Angels do NOT intentionally break the sound barrier when they fly their demonstrations. If they did you would hear sonic booms and there would be a lot more broken windows in Seattle. I hope federal regulators get their facts straight before regulating us more.

Mola December 6, 2011 (9:04 am)

Love them! I remember them as a kid (ears under water-swimming in lake WA). I still enjoy them at 32 w/o the sound barrier ;)

work downtown December 6, 2011 (9:16 am)

Love em. Can’t remember a summer without them. They did the show over Elliott Bay a few years back – too cool!

kate December 6, 2011 (9:55 am)

Geez OP, settle down. I’m not “oozing ignorance”. My post (which I described as a “strange story”) is purely anecdotal.

Tony S December 6, 2011 (11:08 am)

1 hour a day, four days a year.

I can hack it.

RP December 6, 2011 (3:59 pm)

“$37 million. $15 trillion in debt. Just a wild guess, but I’m thinking the Angels aren’t the problem.”….Not all, but definitely part…Stop waste now!

FentonJoe December 6, 2011 (6:21 pm)

The Blue Angels were formed in 1946 to promote Naval Aviation and recruitment. The recruitment depends upon an all volunteer force (i.e. no draft for those of you that were never in service)so the Blues depend upon these tremendous efforts that they demonstrate to the public at some 35-40 locations throughout the United States each year to recruit their pilots and enlisted every year. I commend them for these efforts and as a Veteran for defending our freedoms at a minimal cost to all of us.

Sorry, comment time is over.