(August 2023 photo by David Hutchinson)

Yes, that’s Blue Angel, singular, though our file photo shows them all. Just a heads-up, especially for the eastern West Seattle residents/workers who have eyes on Boeing Field, that one of the U.S. Navy demonstration team’s jets will be visiting next Monday (January 8). It’s the annual wintertime visit to look ahead to the Seafair Air Show (this year’s dates are August 3-5). The jet’s expected arrival on Monday is 3:45 pm, though a Seafair spokesperson notes that time is approximate.

The Blue Angels‘ final 2023 performance in Seattle is over as of three-plus hours ago. We have reader photos to share – above, Monica Zaborac‘s classic view of their downtown flyby, from West Seattle; below, Erin Szekely sent a view from Seacrest:

From Christie B., some of the people who gathered at the Jack Block Park overlook to watch:

West Seattle photographer Jerry Simmons went to the show’s intended viewing area on the east side, and describes this image as a “vapor cone” around the jet, resulting from higher humidity:

Next weekend the Blue Angels perform in Montana, at the Yellowstone International Air Show.

(Photo by Jamie Kinney, from Blue Angels’ Seattle arrival on Wednesday)

12:26 PM: Particularly if you’re in south West Seattle, you’ve likely noticed the increase in air traffic the past hour and a half or so. No, it’s not just the Blue Angels, but it’s because of them – route changes for Sea-Tac takeoffs. Today is the longest practice day for the Blue Angels, so this will be happening through 3 pm or so. (And for those who have asked, no, the practices do NOT require I-90 bridge closures any more, so this isn’t affecting traffic on the ground.) The full Seafair airshow, with other visiting aircraft, happens Friday-Sunday – schedule here.

ADDED THURSDAY EVENING: A closer look from Alki photographer David Hutchinson, in a popular viewing spot – the Costco parking lot:

Thanks to David Hutchinson for the photo above – he sent it just before 2 pm, noting, “Just watched the Blue Angels circle out over Puget Sound and fly past Alki Beach on their way back toward town.” About an hour before the U.S. Navy demonstration team’s fighter jets arrived, their support plane Fat Albert touched down – Jamie Kinney sent this from Boeing Field:

This is the first time that Blue Angels’ history-making #3 pilot Lt. Amanda Lee, will be flying over Seattle. The Blue Angels go up for practice tomorrow, then airshows Friday-Sunday – the schedule is on the Seafair website.

ADDED: One more view from Jamie Kinney at Boeing Field, as #1-#6 arrived:

Just got a reader text about what appeared to be a sighting of Blue Angels jet #7, seen from the West Seattle Bridge. Indeed, subsequent checking reveals that #7 was due in this afternoon at Boeing Field for the Seafair winter meetings. The Museum of Flight just tweeted arrival video. This year’s Seafair airshow will be August 4-6; for the first time, this year’s team of demonstration-jet pilots includes a woman, U.S. Navy Lt. Amanda Lee.

One more day for the Blue Angels’ return to Seafair. Tonight we have a few photos from today’s airshow courtesy of West Seattle photographers – above and below, by Monica Zaborac, from Harbor Avenue:

That’s the Blue Angels’ support plane “Fat Albert,” which David Hutchinson also photographed:

Again watching from Ruby Chow Park at the north end of Boeing Field, David also caught this formation:

And a closeup:

(added) Thanks to Vicky Piston for this view:

Jerry Simmons watched from Seward Park and sent this photo of one of the other, shall we say, loud planes in the airshow:

That’s an F-35A piloted by Maj. Kristin “Beo” Wolfe, Commander of the Lightning II Demonstration Team from the 388th Fighter Wing at Hill Air Force Base in Utah.

SUNDAY SCHEDULE: From the Seafair website:

10:35 – Aerobatic Performance
12:00 – Golden Knights Performance
12:35 – Aerobatic Performance
13:10 – F35 Lightning II Performance
13:40 – EA 18G Growler Performance
14:45 – Aerobatic Performance
14:45 – Boeing Seafair Flyover
15:05 – Blue Angels Performance

They’re all meant for optimal viewing by admission-paying Seafair attendees on Lake Washington, but some of the airshow performers – including the Blue Angels – take off from Boeing Field, and in addition to experiencing the roaring takeoff by the airport, you can also see some of the highest maneuvers from here (we watched from Westcrest Park, with binoculars, on Friday afternoon).

Thanks to David Hutchinson for photos of the U.S. Navy Blue Angels in flight this afternoon. He photographed them from Ruby Chow Park at the north end of Boeing Field (across the Duwamish River from West Seattle).

Without time to leave West Seattle, we checked out the view from Westcrest Park. From the northeast side of the park’s plateau, along SW Cloverdale, you can glimpse Boeing Field, so, with binoculars, we had a decent, if partial view, including the smoke bursts before takeoff and during their landing pass.

The schedule had them up 3:05-4 pm today, tomorrow, and Friday; today was fairly close to that, with takeoff around 3:10 pm and landing around 3:55. If you are interested in seeing them this weekend without going to Lake Washington (where the full airshow, including other aerial acts, you can also check out the Museum of Flight‘s Jet Blast Bash; though the bigger new Blue Angels jets an’t park next to the MoF any more, museum visitors get a runwayside view of the takeoffs/landings and pilot meet-and-greets after they land.

1:10 PM: Thanks to Kevin for the photo (and Gill for the tip by phone) – the Blue Angels are back in Seattle. A few reminders: They’re based at Boeing Field but near the terminal, NOT in the publicly viewable areas of years past, because of the bigger new jets and the equipment required for them … They’ll be practicing Thursday (added: times)

Thursday, August 4
11:00 AM – #1-4 Practice Flight
12:00 PM – #5-6 Practice Flight
2:20 PM – #1-6 Practice Flight
3:20 PM – Fat Albert Practice Flight

And they’ll be flying their performance routine Friday, Saturday, and Sunday (3:05 pm is the scheduled time those three days) … no freeway closures but you’ll likely notice different air-traffic patterns over West Seattle when they’re flying … the Museum of Flight has a special (admission required) Jet Blast Bash event (with pilot-autograph sessions promised) all weekend.

ADDED 2:53 PM: Thanks to Monica Zaborac for sending these photos:

(That middle photo is “Fat Albert,” the Blue Angels’ support plane.)

(2019 photo by David Hutchinson)

ORIGINAL MONDAY REPORT: You probably know by now that the U.S.Navy’s Blue Angels are performing at Seafair this Friday-Sunday, and practicing Thursday. Since they’re based at nearby Boeing Field during their Seafair visits, their arrival is also a matter of West Seattle interest, and we’ve received a few questions about the arrival schedule.

During their last visit in 2019, they came here directly after the previous weekend’s air-show appearance in Colorado. This past weekend, they were at an airshow in Dayton, Ohio, but instead of heading here, they went back to their home base in Pensacola, Florida, last night. So when do the Blue Angels get here? According to Ted Huetter of the Museum of Flight, which hosts a big weekend Jet Blast Bash centered on their visit: The #7 advance plane arrives sometime 12:30 pm Tuesday (and will be providing “influencer rides” – like the ones that result in the TV “what it’s like to fly with a Blue Angel” stories every year – starting Wednesday morning). The other six are due in around 1:30 pm Wednesday. Times are always subject to change. One note: Instead of parking at the Museum of Flight, this year the Blue Angels’ jets will be by the Boeing Field terminal. As the MoF notes on this page, you can watch the takeoffs from their parking lot Thursday and Friday, but Saturday and Sunday the MoF lot will be an admission-only zone as part of Jet Blast Bash.

P.S. In case you’ve wondered about this, no, I-90 will NOT be closing for Blue Angels flights/practices. Starting in 2019, they made changes to avoid having to do that.

TUESDAY NIGHT UPDATE: Seafair says the other 6 Blue Angels are due in closer to 12:30 pm Wednesday.

1:57 PM: Thanks for the tips. Took us a while to confirm, but yes, a Blue Angels jet (#7) is due in at Boeing Field any time now for the Seafair winter logistics meetings. The Museum of Flight is hosting as always. The full team is scheduled to perform during Seafair’s biggest weekend, August 5-7.

2:49 PM: From the Museum of Flight via Twitter:

Monica Zaborac caught that view from West Seattle today, the Blue Angels plus a bird. We believe it’s a Caspian Tern – those seabirds whose eerily prehistoric cry is often heard as they fly over the peninsula, to and from the Duwamish.

P.S. Also by Monica, a birdless view:

Two more notes from today’s Seafair media briefing:

BLUE ANGELS CHANGES: We’ve already noted a few changes for this year – the Friday-Sunday airshows are starting later (3 pm), and happening just a bit further south, so the I-90 bridge will NOT have to close when they’re up. One change we did not know about until the event at the Museum of Flight today: The Blue Angels are no longer parking south of the museum, behind that razor-wire-topped fence where hundreds have gathered over the years to watch the jets be prepped for the shows and to see the pilots’ “walkdown.” Instead, they’re parking in the Museum of Flight’s main lot. Better viewing – but it means you will have to pay MoF admission to see the prep/walkdown. (You can see the jets up close for free during the museum’s free “First Thursday” [August 1st], 5-9 pm, points out MoF spokesperson Ted Huetter.)

HOMESTREET & HYDROS: HomeStreet Bank (WSB sponsor), which is headquartered in Seattle and has a branch in The Junction (4022 SW Alaska), had a big presence at today’s briefing:

HomeStreet Bank is the presenting sponsor of the weekend hydroplane races on Lake Washington, now the HomeStreet Bank Cup, in which Jimmy Shane (above left) will race the Miss HomeStreet unlimited hydroplane (also on display at the briefing).

If you’re a HomeStreet customer or employee, you get free admission to watch the weekend’s happenings on the water and in the air.

P.S. To see everyone who spoke today, here’s our unedited video of the briefing:

7:25 PM: Usually the Blue Angels fly in for Seafair around midday, but the Museum of Flight – their “home” while here, at the south end of Boeing Field – says they’re due in around 8 tonight (they performed in Grand Junction, Colorado, this weekend). As we’ve reported over the years, the MoF is where you get the “behind the scenes” view as the Blue Angels take off and land before and after their practices and shows.

8:20 PM: They’ve arrived:

ADDED: Reader video as they taxied at Boeing Field:

Though you’ll likely see/hear them on VIP flights the next few days, as usual Thursday-Sunday are the big days – Thursday with morning and afternoon practices, Friday-Sunday shows. The schedule indicates they’re flying a little later in the day than previous years. Also a reminder, Seafair says the I-90 floating bridge will NOT be closing for this year’s practices and shows.

(August 2018 photo by David Hutchinson)

Announced today by Seafair, no I-90 closures when the Blue Angels are practicing and performing August 1st-4th: “Their flight area over Lake Washington has shifted south, so access to the I-90 Bridge and Seward Park will remain open.” Looks like their performances are later in the afternoon, too, scheduled to start at 3 pm. We reported last weekend on other Seafair dates of West Seattle note, including the Seafair Pirates’ Landing on Alki July 6th.

While we grapple with Viadoom on the ground tomorrow, there will be a summer-style sighting in the sky … the Blue Angels #7 jet flying a crew in for the annual Seafair midwinter visit. It’s an annual visit to plan the summer festival – no performances but in case you see/hear the jet on its way in to nearby Boeing Field (tentatively expected around 2 pm Monday), now you know. This year’s big Seafair weekend will be August 2nd-4th.

That’s the second of two Blue Angels flybys over Boeing Field (KBFI) before they landed a few minutes ago – usually there’s only one. They’re here for Seafair, with practices Thursday and Friday, and the official shows Saturday and Sunday, flying here this morning from their last stop, in Oshkosh, Wisconsin.

They’ve just taxied past the west-side public viewing area south of the KBFI terminal (the one that has been open on the north side of the terminal, also off East Marginal, in past years, is now blocked off) on their way to the Museum of Flight, their headquarters while here.

Thanks for the photos! While we watched the Blue Angels from Boeing Field today, while others shared views from West Seattle. The top photo is by Robert Spears; below, by David Hutchinson:

Before those flybys, came the takeoff from Boeing Field, where you can see the pre-flight maneuvers by the pilots and crew, if you grab a spot what becomes a very crowded fence south of the Museum of Flight:

It’s free to watch from there, as the crew and then the pilots arrive before and prepare for takeoff – it becomes a very loud spectacle as they fire up the engines and then taxi toward the runway:

But right after that, as soon as you walk north toward the museum’s parking lot, you’ll have to have a wristband to get any further, if you want to watch from the east-facing runwayside fence – a wristband that signifies you’ve paid museum admission (Blue Angels weekend brings special events). You can watch takeoff from parking/pullover areas around Boeing Field, but get there earlier.

Remember that two things are different this year – two things some of those on the fence with us this afternoon clearly hadn’t heard about – the Blue Angels are flying five jets, not six, because of the deadly crash earlier this year; and their popular support plane Fat Albert, which usually flies right before they do, did not accompany them to Seattle because of what was described as a “mechanical issue.”

Tomorrow’s show should be around the same time as today – roughly 1:30 to 2:20 – with the I-90 bridge closed 1:15-2:40 pm. Since the show is meant for the Seafair crowd on Lake Washington, you’ll only see the occasional flyby from West Seattle, as did the people shown in a photo texted to us from Hamilton Viewpoint today:

But that just might be enough, especially for the skyline pass toward the end of the show:

(U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Cory Asato)

P.S. Ship tours continue this weekend on the downtown and Magnolia waterfronts, though Sunday is the only day remaining to see the biggest visiting member of the Seafair fleet, the Somerset. Today Bill Larson shared a photo of West Seattle Troop 284 on board the Somerset, which led the Parade of Ships on Tuesday:

Troop 284 was accompanied by Scoutmaster Jim Pennie. While the Somerset’s closed to tours tomorrow, the ships at Piers 66 and 69 are open – schedule, location, and reminders are here.