Blue Angel A-4 Skyhawks Display in the Atrium |
If you're ever in Pensacola I highly recommend a visit to this museum. The aircraft collection is simply magnificent and the history of naval aviation is all laid out for you. But why wait to get to Pensacola when you can visit the museum right now?
Well, virtually anyway. So go here and enjoy!
Just revisited the National Museum of the Air Force who also has a virtual tour. amazing stuff
ReplyDeleteNice! I think you've given me my next post.
DeleteI always thought the A-4 was the best bird for the Blues, although maybe the F-11's would have been comparable. The F-4 just wasn't suited for a low and slow show, and the F/A-18 needs to be moving along faster as well. (I never saw them with the F-11's but I did see the other three.) A slightly off topic aside - I saw the F-100 that is currently in the Air Force Museum with the Thunderbird's as a dependent in 1965 at Myrtle Beach AFB. I can't think of a better way to grow up in the '60's than as a TAC Air Force brat!
ReplyDeleteThe first time I ever saw the Blues they were flying the F-11. Never saw them when they were flying the Phantom. Have seen them flying the A-4 and the Hornet. I actually prefer the Hornet. Primarily because my son-in-law is an F/A-18E pilot and my daughter (his wife) is a WSO in the F/A-18F.
DeleteFirst time I saw the Thunderbirds they were flying the Hun (F-100 for those who don't know). Never saw them in the F-4, only in the Hun, the T-38 and the F-16.
Odd that I never saw either team flying the F-4, especially as I worked maintenance on the F-4 for my first seven years in the AF. Very odd.
And you're right, growing up in the '60s as a TAC AF brat must have been pretty cool.
Enter the Ol' Fart... I've seen the 'Birds in every airframe they've flown except for the six performances they did in the Thud. I can second Pogue's comment about bein' an Air Force brat, coz I NEVER missed an air show when I was young. Hell, I rarely missed any when I was old, provided they happened near me.
DeleteApropos o' not much... one of the few regrets I have in life is NOT visiting the Naval Aviation Museum in P-cola. I did a three-month house-sitting gig for some friends of mine in Ft. Walton Beach back in the winter of '99 - 2000 and never made the short trip to P-cola. My reason? That's a looong way to go on a lil 225cc Yamaha enduro, which was my only transportation outside of the RV... at the time.
(sigh)
Hhhmm. "Enter the Ol' Fart", con su permiso, I may use that as the title of a post some day. (Unless, of course, you've already beaten me to it. Which would NOT surprise me!)
DeleteAnd I can see the reluctance to travel very far on a 225cc Yamaha Enduro. I can see that indeed.