Pensacola Beach once again celebrated Red, White, and Blues week with
an exciting lineup of airshow performers starring the US Navy Blue Angels.
With crowds in excess of 150,000 people on each day, the show was again a
success. Fridays weather was typical for a hot summers day in July.
Sunshine, clouds, and the occasional rain shower. The show started off
with Julian MacQueen in his Grumman Widgeon G-44 Seaplane. After a few low
passes and pier hopping, it was the US Coast Guards turn to excite the
crowd by rescuing a stranded swimmer in their HH-65 Dolphin Helicopter.
The view of Ken Appezzato's Vortex aerobatics Pitt's hybrid routine from
the 500 foot line on the pier was amazing. Ken's high energy show kept the
crowd on their feet. Gary Ward once again dazzled the crowd with his
intense aerobatics in the MX-2. There is nothing like seeing Gary hold the
MX just a few feet off of the water over the beautiful Gulf of Mexico.
Team Aeroshell was a huge hit with the crowd thanks to their tight
formations and "the best smoke in the business". With a thunderstorm
threating in the distance, the Blue Angels took to the skies. The weather
held off for the thousands of fans, and the Blues did not dissapointe.
Blue Angel # 5 LCDR Craig "Merlin" Olsen had a maintenance problem and had
to return to Pensacola NAS which is only a few miles away from show
center. Showing the Blues' professionalism, he returned in a spare Hornet
(without numbers) in only 10 minutes to complete the performance. It's
great to see all of the Blue's officers in their relaxed polo shirts and
khaki shorts for this hometown event. Saturday's weather unfortunately did
not hold up. A severe thunderstorm rained out the show sending ten people
to the hospital to be treated due to one of many lightning strikes. The
show carried over on Sunday and all performers were able to fly before
more stormy weather moved in. I would like to thank Gary Ward and Bob West
( the director of Public Safety ) for an amazing experience.
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