From the ‘in case you wondered too’ file: Blue Angels’ practice = other aircraft noise over West Seattle (photos added)

| Blue Angels | West Seattle news

12:14 PM: As mentioned in our daily event list, this is the biggest practice day for the Blue Angels before their Seafair shows the next few days. In West Seattle – particularly the south end – that means other aircraft noise too, as SEA takeoff patterns are temporarily changed while the Blue Angels are up. They’re scheduled to fly most of the time between now and around 3:15 pm; then for each of the next three days, one show starting around 3:45 pm. (Those times, courtesy of the Museum of Flight‘s Jet Blast Bash page, are subject to change.)

4:59 PM: Thanks to Mike Russell for the two photos added above!

M August 1, 2024 (1:29 pm)

Yep. We are watching them at Lake WA. Right now there is a little break in the practice.

KD Walsh August 1, 2024 (2:12 pm)

Angels over Seattle. Taken from the deck of the USS Sampson.

KD Walsh August 1, 2024 (2:34 pm)

Helps if I attach the photo

miws August 1, 2024 (2:53 pm)

Definitely hearing them in the Holly Park neighborhood. Caught a glimpse of one outside my window flying sideways yesterday morning. —Mike .

Bbron August 1, 2024 (3:14 pm)

I wish there was a way to track the # of total additional flight hours planes going in and out of SEA flew getting around the SeaFair TFRs to calculate the amount of additional fuel emissions for commerical transit due to SeaFair

K.Davis August 1, 2024 (3:28 pm)

You should dwell on that. A lot.
- Derek August 1, 2024 (5:45 pm)
  
  Only in America are people scoffing at others for challenging pollutant traditions in the extreme climate change era
- Oerthehillz August 1, 2024 (6:32 pm)
  
  He lost me at….”to calculate the amount of…”
  - Bbron August 2, 2024 (10:59 am)
    
    what’s wrong with recreational math?
Derp August 1, 2024 (5:35 pm)

Really, come on….All they are doing is coming in from a different direction while the practice is going on. Unbelievable what people will come up with these days to waste their minds on.
Colby August 1, 2024 (6:22 pm)

There is. Most of that info is readily available from the Port of Seattle.
CarDriver August 1, 2024 (7:09 pm)

Bbron. Your anger is at SeaFair existing or your just wanting airplanes(and busses and ferries and cars) permanently stopped because they pollute. Oh, betting added time is more like minutes and not hours planes spend going around the Blue Angels closed airspace.
- Bbron August 2, 2024 (10:57 am)
  
  where’s the anger? I was just curious after observing the change in flight path for some planes. it seems like some SeaFair fans are a bit sensitive when something that may be construed as a criticism is said about it.
22blades August 2, 2024 (7:27 am)

Bbron, the TFR doesn’t work that way. Planes or ferries don’t stop. There are no additional flights for SeaFair. SeaTac departures get a takeoff clearance of “speed & altitude permitting, turn left to 250 (West) after takeoff. With that, Burien get a mini airshow for an hour or so.
- Bbron August 2, 2024 (10:54 am)
  
  the TFR does impact flights coming out of SEA on the 34 runways; it’s even called out in the blog post. they get diverted West first. so for East bound flights, their flight goes around the TFR instead of a direct turn to the East on takeoff. so that extension is what I’m taking about; it probably add less than a minute of flight time, but multiplied by the number of flights, it could be a significant different for fuel emissions (or not) which is what I’m curious about.
Genesee5Points August 2, 2024 (9:54 am)

Can you please just go back to protesting pickleball, advocating for the gondola, and complaining about the number of parking places that Alki Elementary has, and leave the Blue Angels alone. GO NAVY!
- Bbron August 2, 2024 (11:03 am)
  
  lol why create a strawman? I’m none of those things you listed, and have comments on this blog to prove that. what’s with people saying I’m wasting my time, yet they allow my comment to cause such strong reactions? must be saying something right to get folks in a tizzy.

Desperately Seeking Saka August 1, 2024 (5:27 pm)

Cool WWII-era U.S. Navy PBY patrol seaplane fluttered by at Boeing Field today. It’s part of the Seafair weekend fly-bys.

Carole August 1, 2024 (6:20 pm)

Wow. Fun. Exciting. A huge waste.

Fred August 1, 2024 (6:46 pm)

Are they viewable from anywhere along Alki? Or do I have to go to Lake Wa?

Danimal August 2, 2024 (8:29 am)

You might be able to see them over by Marination. They rip up the sky over Nucor Steel turning back toward Lake Washington. Pretty awesome to see and hear!

hd August 1, 2024 (7:17 pm)

It was a phenomenal show from my office downtown. Tomorrow all I’ll get is hearing them take off and land at Boeing

newnative August 1, 2024 (7:37 pm)

I’m purposefully going to our office so I can catch a glimpse from my window. Otherwise I just hear them with no way of seeing them. I got to see Fat Albert really close up, it was awesome.

Nora August 2, 2024 (1:23 am)

thanks to the auditory and environmental nuisance that is low flying fighter jets , this is truly the worst time of year. Very much looking forward to the dissolution of the blue angels , or at the very least the discontinuation of the seafair air show.

Danimal August 2, 2024 (8:28 am)

Ain’t happenin’, sister. The Blue Angels are fantastic, and Seafair is now a 75-year tradition! Hooray!
- Jeff P August 2, 2024 (9:19 am)
  
  And some traditions are bad for the planet and need to go!
  - Danimal August 2, 2024 (10:58 pm)
    
    In this case, the minority opinion doesn’t win. Keep trying though, that’s the beauty of America, you’re always free to keep trying… and losing.

Grump Paw August 2, 2024 (11:14 am)

There’s nothing patriotic about the Blue Angels’ spew and ruckus. It isn’t complicated: We should ask whether these flights are necessary and essential to national defense. If the answer were yes, then that would be fine. But the truth is that the expense, the risks involved, the pollution those flights create and the distress they cause to law-abiding taxpayers and dogs here on the ground is unreasonable. It’s time for Our Fair City to insist that these taxpayer-funded stunt pilots to fly away and not come back.

Bbron August 2, 2024 (11:38 am)

the Blue Angels at their core are navy recruitment tools, so all the costs are worth it in the eyes of the US gov. and military. because of that, I don’t see SeaFair going away any time soon, but I think the organizers need to put in the effort to be fully transparent about the true costs of this event, as it’s important for the public (especially the directly impacted community) to be informed.
Manderleyq August 3, 2024 (1:46 pm)

Oh, no, not the dogs! I was waiting to see when someone would bring up their precious little “fur baby” and how all the noise hurts their ears. HA HA HA HA If the noise hurts your dog that much, why don’t you leave for the day and return after they’re gone?

Scarlett August 2, 2024 (12:30 pm)

It was estimated that 64,000 tons of CO2 would be released into the atmosphere by construction of the Lynwood light rail link. For comparison, an F-35 produces about 28 tons of CO2 for every 100 miles, or so. So, pick your battles on the climate front.

k August 2, 2024 (1:16 pm)

Comparing an impact made over 10 years to an impact made in 5 minutes is disingenuous at best. Please stop. WSB readers are smarter than that.
Grump Paw August 2, 2024 (2:25 pm)

False comparison. We should ask ourselves whether the greenhouse emissions are necessary in the first place, and who they benefit (if anyone). Emissions from light rail construction will only happen once but the system will be used over and over by large numbers of passengers to great public benefit–and will actually reduce net emissions into the atmosphere the more the system is used. Unlike these Blue Angels flyovers…
Neighbor August 2, 2024 (3:07 pm)

Come on Scarlett, that’s really poor reasoning. How many cars will the light rail keep off the road and how much CO2 would those cars emit? How many miles of F-35 time is spent at Seafair? The Blue Angels fly F-18s, how does the fuel consumption compare to the F-35?
- Scarlett August 2, 2024 (3:54 pm)
  
  Probably not that many, Neighbor. Why? Because most with be siphoned off from buses that currently serve the area. Unlike many others who don’t take transit but opine endlessly about it, I take ST to all corners of King County, including Lynnwood.
Bbron August 2, 2024 (6:09 pm)

i’m glad you chimed in, Scarlett, because i get to do some recreational math: the San Fransisco Chronicle has an article from 2022 that estimates the amount of CO2 the Blue Angels emit is about 206,400 pounds (103 tons) per demonstration. If we assume that each event the Blue Angels go to requires a presentation’s worth of fuel to practice, we can then go to their schedule, count the days they perform, and be able to calculate the annual emissions from just the Blue Angel jets while their shows. This comes to, for 2024, about 34 events where they’ll perform at least 63 shows, so a total of 97 demonstration-equivalents. This gives us an annual emissions of 9,991 tons. so over the course of 6 and a half years of shows, the 6 Blue Angels alone produce the same amount of CO2 during their demonstration as building the WSLE (remember, we’re not even adding up Fat Albert’s emissions or what it takes to fly them from airport to airport!). for the same amount of emissions, we could either have about 410 hours of jet flying entertainment (63 shows * 1 hour * 6.5 years) across 34 US cities, or get an infrastructure project that’ll operate every day for decades ultimately reducing transit pollution. thank you for the call to action! it appears my concerns when it comes to emssions are placed exactly where they ought to be :)
- Bbron August 2, 2024 (10:00 pm)
  
  oops, it’s actually 640,000 lbs of CO2 expended from WSLE, so unfortunately the Blue Angels will have to be grounded for a couple generations

Ryan August 2, 2024 (1:17 pm)

Thanks for the confirmation on seatac flight path changes. Was wondering why I was suddenly getting passenger airlines every 2 minutes overhead. Glad that’s temporary.

DRW August 2, 2024 (2:53 pm)

Id rather hear a Boeing F-18 rather than a Chengdu J-20.

Rhonda August 3, 2024 (12:44 pm)

Amen to that!

JDubs August 2, 2024 (4:06 pm)

I live in South Beacon Hill. It’s insanely loud from my neighborhood , seems like the skies are roaring every 5 minutes.

Scarlett August 2, 2024 (4:24 pm)

It’s remarkable how much magical thinking can be avoided by remembering something our parents told us: There are no free lunches in life. Everything has a price, and the more hype around an alleged benefit, usually the greater the cost, whether it’s a new medicine or light rail, with some exceptions. It’s also stunning how many adults forget this, or choose to ignore it because it’s inconvenient.

Flaunt-Leroy August 3, 2024 (6:42 pm)

Caught the show from the waterfront next to Marination today, what a treat. Seeing these shows always fills me with childlike wonder and I look forward to them every year!

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