More Seafair news: Blue Angels set to arrive Sunday night

| Blue Angels | West Seattle news

(SUNDAY AFTERNOON UPDATE: New arrival information – go here)

(2009 photo by David DeSiga)

With the biggest events of Seafair set for next weekend – the airshow and hydro races – you might be wondering when the U.S. Navy Blue Angels are arriving. We just received word from Seafair that they’re due in around 7:30 pm tomorrow (Sunday) night. According to the Seafair media alert, “The Blue Angels will fly over the west side of the Seattle coastline, passing the Space Needle, before landing at Boeing Field.” As usual, their practices are set for Thursday and Friday, with the official performances next Saturday and Sunday (August 1-2). More to come.

ADDED: The practice/performance/I-90 closure schedule for Thursday-Sunday, and other info, ahead:

THURSDAY:

The U.S. Navy Blue Angels #s 1-4 will take off at 9:45 a.m. on Thurs., July 30 from Boeing Field near the Museum of Flight for circle and arrival maneuvers in preparation for the Boeing Seafair Air Show. They will be in the air over the city getting familiar with the area. At 10:35 a.m. #s 5-6 will take off for a look at the South Lake Washington event site. The I-90 Bridge will be closed between 9:45 a.m. and noon.

All Blue Angels jets will return to Boeing Field and be on the ground for a short time. Following that #s 1-6 will take to the air for a practice performance over Lake Washington. Again, the I-90 Bridge will be closed between 1:15 p.m. and 2:40 p.m. for this practice.

FRIDAY-SUNDAY: The I-90 bridge closes the same times all three days:

Fri., July 31- 11:50 a.m. – 2:40 p.m. (practice show) Sat., Aug. 1- 11:50 a.m. – 2:40 p.m. (full show) Sun., Aug. 2 – 11:50 a.m. – 2:40 p.m. (full show)

If you’re not going to Lake Washington but want to catch a glimpse of the jets, there are many possibilities, but it depends on the weather, which dictates into whether they do their “low” or “high” show. As longtime WSB readers know, we recommend going to the Museum of Flight to watch them take off and land (some maneuvers are usually visible during the show, and there’s a flyby toward the end – seen in the following 2014 WSB Instagram clip from a little further north along the west side of Boeing Field):

SECOND ADDITION: In case you wondered, they’ll be coming here from the air show where they’re performing this weekend in Fargo, North Dakota. On Thursday, meantime, another likely-to-be-loud airshow arrival – the U.S. Air Force F-22 Raptors are due in to Boeing Field at 12:45 pm. As always, since West Seattle is so close to Boeing Field, we’ll reiterate key airshow info in our daily previews all week (here’s the full schedule for those viewing at the lake), and we’ll include the bridge-closure reminders in our daily traffic-watch reports – when I-90 closes, feeder highways (including I-5 just north of here) tend to back up, so it might affect you even if you’re NOT planning to cross the lake.

Ray July 25, 2015 (2:42 pm)

Wow! That is much earlier than in past years; they usually show up on Tues/Wed.

Thanks for the heads up, I wanted to grab pictures this year!

WSB July 25, 2015 (2:53 pm)

They’re in Fargo, ND, this weekend, guess there’s no reason to hang around. In 24 years here – with the Blue Angels always on the radar because I was working in TV before WSB and it was a big deal for coverage planning – I can’t remember an evening arrival. – TR

patrick July 25, 2015 (3:00 pm)

I love the Blues but this year for the first time I’m probably going to get caught up in the traffic mess caused by the closing of I-90. Got to be in North Bend in the AM and will be coming back about the time the show is going on or about to end. Either way, I guess I go around OR see where I end up parking on I-90 and find out how long it takes to clear up the traffic jam. Potty break before Mercer Island probably on my agenda. Might get to see some of the show too.

ScubaFrog July 25, 2015 (3:39 pm)

I’m war-weary. It would be nice to take a year (or lifetime) off the military parading its wares, and flaunting the trillions we spend on these weapons.

kobdvs July 25, 2015 (4:43 pm)

Wow … only four comments in for the ever-so-predictable anti-military ranting.

We could invite the environmentally-friendly barge people and their kayaks back as a counter-measure. ’cause … speaking of flaunting …

WSB July 25, 2015 (4:55 pm)

It’s a summer Saturday afternoon. Four comments on anything is a lot.

Ray July 25, 2015 (5:00 pm)

Scuba, That is part of being a community. I for one hate all the constant protests blocking traffic around the port or in downtown, but I accept that I have to live with it even though they chose to have their actions during rush hour so that they can inconvenience as many people as possible to draw attention to whatever they are protesting du jour.

I welcome the Blue Angels. The PNW has a long history with the military. We have many thousands that serve in the area. Boeing has strong service ties to the military as well, and many people locally work in these divisions. This both celebrates our military heritage and also our local industries.

Joe Szilagyi July 25, 2015 (6:02 pm)

Patrick, go south to 405 then north?

phil dirt July 26, 2015 (6:52 am)

More noise pollution

anonyme July 26, 2015 (7:46 am)

ScubaFrog, with you on all points. I used to enjoy watching the Blue Angels, but the celebration of wanton waste and violent aggression doesn’t sit so well any more – not to mention the noise and environmental impact. Ironically, I’ll bet that conservatives who love the Angels are the first to yell and scream about government waste…

Maryann July 26, 2015 (7:49 am)

Hooray!
I live on the river just a smidge south of Boeing Field and look forward to their arrival every single year. It’s an annual get together with the lawn chairs and binoculars as they fly right over our heads! Thank you for the updated times, you are the best!

Joslyn July 26, 2015 (6:45 pm)

We just saw them fly over north admiral area and turn south toward the airport.

Dan Gilbert July 30, 2015 (9:33 pm)

Do you know exactly or aprroximatly what time the blue angels take off from Boeing feild Friday July 31st?

WSB July 30, 2015 (9:39 pm)

Yes, we’ll be publishing another story coming up but it’s **approximately** 1:30 pm. If you’re going to watch, do NOT be late … every place along the airfield gets crowded. This afternoon, we saw them up at about 1:25, so definitely the time can vary.

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