If you pass out, you crash doing this. The Angels and Thunderbirds are pros, years of professional practice and they choreograph the routine repeatedly. Mistakes still happen.... They are legends

I'm so blessed to live in Pensacola, home of the Blue Angels, and love that I get to watch them practice throughout the year; it's like a private airshow weekly while sitting on the beach!!

When you pass out 1 of 2 things happens. The plane's computer can recognize this and level out the plane to prevent a crash, or you become a smoking crater in the ground.

When the Blue Angles and the Thunderbirds fly these formations, the lead pilot will be constantly talking over the radio, in a kind of sing song, chant like cadence. This provides the timing and guidance for all these tight maneuvers. And Practice, Practice, Practice When a pilot G-LOCs (G induced Loss Of Consciousness) at those low altitudes it pretty much means they drive into the ground

My favorite part of the video is Every time her eyes light up like a small kid at Disneyland 😁

The Blue Angels just recently did a flyover over various parts of the United States. Since we couldn't gather in crowds they were doing this just for us citizens. I work outside so I was watching for them on the day they were here. I live north of Detroit and they were doing a flyover near Sterling Heights where I just happened to be on that day. I didn't get a good view but they did fly past low on the horizon. It was quick but it still made me smile. The Blue Angels (Thunderbirds, too) are amazing to see in reality. Well worth a trip just to see them perform. Peace

NOTHING comes close to seeing them in person. I live underneath a flight path to a local military airport. Whenever jets are returning, they go right over the house. Just a single jet flying over gives you goosebumps. It's the roar of the engine, the fact they are so low to the ground that you can see the details of the paint job, and sheer pride of knowing that's your country's military gives you an overwhelming feeling. Absolutely incredible.

Both the Navy Blue Angels and their Air Force counterparts, the Thunderbirds, are simply phenomenal. This is the type of thing that video really can't do justice to. I've had a chance to see both groups perform in person on numerous occasions, and it is simply breathtaking. That strange angle shot is actually a 360 degree camera mounted on the side of the cockpit.

I love that you reacted to this! My grandpa got asked to be apart of the blue angels in the 70s which is a huge honor! My grandpa was a navigator for 10 years (or more I’m not sure). I really wish I knew more about what he did, but he gave me a special coin from the Blue Angels which I still have.

A jet is a type of plane. "Jet" is the propulsion, meaning powered by at least one jet engine. You also have propeller planes, turboprop planes, gliders (no engines), and even rocket-powered planes like the Bell X-1 and X-15.

Anyone else seen these guys at the air show in Miramar, San Diego CA? I used to go there all the time but haven't been in probably 10+ years They are even more amazing in person (and f'ing LOUD!!!)

Imagine what it must feel like for an enemy fighter pilot to watch this and know these are the people he will face in combat, should war happen...

The Marines fly with this group as well. Usually there's at least one Marine piloting one of the jets. There's also a Marine C-130 painted in Blue Angels colors that transports all the necessary support equipment and personnel. That aircraft is called 'Fat Albert'. Fat Albert usually does a show as well. In fact, one of the coolest things about watching the Blue Angels was watching Fat Albert do a rocket assisted takeoff using JATO packs. Sadly, they no longer do that anymore as the JATO packs are no longer manufactured and the stockpile is running low. Do a reaction to Fat Albert JATO takeoff.

I remember working on condos in Gulf Shores, Alabama 30 stories up and the Blue Angels would fly right by just meters away. So close that you could see their facial expressions.

So, when I lived in South Carolina along time ago. My parents took me and my best friend to see the air show. We were there when one of the Blue Angel pilots crashed. Sadly, the pilot didn’t get to eject . The source of it was that it was so hot out that day, that he passed out and he couldn’t do anything about it. It was really hard to deal with. Secondly, my dad was in the US Navy and he was an aviation metal smith. He told me at times that he had to do a lot of inspections on jets in the hanger bay. He said he had a chance to work with the Blue Angels, but he chose not to.

I’ve seen them in person and they’re amazing. They’re experienced pilots (a minimum of 1,500 hours flight time), and they train to do the coordinated maneuvers during the off season. All the maneuvers they do are standard Air Combat Maneuvers (ACM) that all fighter pilots learn how to do. They just do them in a group and (at times when flying in formation) less than three feet apart.

I remember staring up at the sky at a Blue Angels show at the age of 6 years old and being so mesmerized by how precise and how strikingly beautiful the formations are. Now I am even more so now that I understand the dangers that may arise and how robotically precise you must be since one error can be catastrophic!

There’s other videos that tell you and show how close they fly next to one another and they train all of winter to put on these shows . And they usually fly next to each other about 18 inches apart

At 3:02 you said "that's two planes," did you notice that one was up-side down? This is a great video, but to see them "live" is so much better! Too have them doing these manuvers up above your head is amazing!

If I remember correctly they'll sit in a conference room with their eyes closed and essentially 'fly' thru their entire routine as preparation for the real flight.

Who else after watching this is gonna watch the Van Halen "Dreams "!!!

I've seen the blue angels throughout my whole life. I've always lived next to a base or air port they do their shows at. So cool. I do appreciate how lucky I've been. Even now I'm only 5 miles from the airport they do air shows from.

I get to see the Blue Angels practice every year because they use the air space over my house in Maryland to practice considering I live near the airport. It's pretty cool. Also, they are so nice. I once met some of them when they visited the pediatric hospital I worked at.

I was on the Air Crash Rescue Team at the Winter Training grounds in EL Centro Calif. I worked very closely with these guy our Fire Dept. was next door to their Hanger. Amazing group of guys and gals.

The teams have two women (many fighter pilots are women nowadays) on team, I’m not sure who’s (their names) on the Thunderbirds or the Blue Angels now. They constantly practice and choreograph all the different stunts over and over and over. They’re also the best of the best with years of experience! Thanks 🙏🏼 for reacting, love your KZfaq channel!!!

I live near a lake that they train over sometimes its so cool watching them while im out fishing.

I live in Seattle. We have a 27 mile long lake about 1.5 miles east of downtown called lake Washington. Every August the first 2 weeks, Seattle has an event called Seafair. Culminating on the last weekend with Unlimited Hydroplane races. The course is a long straight on 2 sides connected by 2 equal size corners. One side of the course is just off the waters edge on a public park while the other is created by a log BOOM about 3/4 of a mile long. For a small fee you can park a boat on the log boom. Midway through the race day they stop everything for an air show. The Blue Angels fly their routine over the course and crowd at low level on usually perfectly blue skies in the 80's. Up to 500k people attend. One hell of a show in that setting on the water. Best place to see them anywhere as far as I'm concerned.

I live in Pensacola, Florida. They practice on Tuesday and Thursday! Love me some Blues!!

Special thanks to CMDR. Tom Frosch, I’ll never forget the ride of my life. Thank you for arranging the opportunity of a lifetime. After serving in the Army Airborne, jumping out of a perfectly good airplane doesn’t come close to the adrenaline rush of going up in a ride along in the Blue Angeles.

I had the privilege of working the flight line when I was in the USAF. They would come in a couple days ahead of the annual air show. They alternated every other year with the USAF Thunderbirds and both teams staged on our ramp for obvious security reasons. Those experiences inspired me to become a commercial pilot and flight instructor in the civilian world. I have flown formation and can attest that it involves a lot of practice and careful preparation and execution. The military teams take it to the next level. I also had the pleasure to work around the Navy F14 when they performed a solo demonstration. That aircraft was decommissioned in 2007. I was in an F16 unit and loved it. The USAF Thunderbirds F16 are actually louder on the ground than the Blue Angels F18. Definitely do a video on the Thunderbirds. The F16 will pull 9gs versus the the F18 7g limit. (Obviously Im biased towards the USAF)....🤣

The blue angels are just that good I’ve seen them plenty of times growing up live at the El Toro Air shell at the El Toro Marine base

The fact the keep their composure and character together is amazing.

First time I was in a plane by myself I was expecting to just be nervous the whole time. Instead it was one of the most peaceful moments of my life. I have experienced nothing else like it in my life. Been flying mostly on my own for about 13 years now.

Question: "How do they get so close together? ... How is everything so exact? ... How do they do it?" They are literally just that good, and that well trained. I had the honor of working as an engineer in support of US Fighter Pilots and Fighter Aviators several times in my career. They really are just that damn good at it. Even in a simulator, where it is basically a video game, most of us would struggle to keep an F-16 in the air. The Fighter Pilot tester would grab the HoTaS and make the simulator bird dance without even showing effort.

Seeing a Blue Angels air show is one of those bucket list things every American has to witness. It is amazing. It's essentially military flight and dog fight formations taken up to the highest level. These guys are the best of the best. They fly just inches apart at super high speeds as you saw. Practice practice practice. Oh and all military jet pilots wear pressure suits [or G-suits] that help with the physical and natural ability of blood rushing to and from your head on G-force maneuvers by constricting the rush of blood, otherwise they would surely pass out.

Every time I watch the blue angels and the thunderbirds I get the chills. Absolutely breathtaking. I am so proud to be American

Well, they are 'planes', but they are technically "Jet Planes". ;)

They will most likely never pass out, but if they do they’re dead

If you wanna see it from inside the cockpit seeing how close they get to each other. Check out the Movie "Threshold" my friends father flew with them and did all the photography. There is also an interview with David and his partners son called "Behind the Scenes of Threshold The Blue Angels Experience" David has recently passed.

One of the amazing things about the Angels is that they arrive at the site of the air show days before their scheduled performance so they can practice their routine in the new air space. They fly a practice routine every day at the same time as their performance is scheduled for at the air show. I live just a few miles from the airport where we have our air show and it is totally amazing to see them zooming around in the sky - sometimes low enough that you can see the pilot in the cockpit! What a treat!!!

How? Being some of the best pilots in the world helps.

If you check out the Thunderbirds take note of #5, the solo pilot, she's a major by the way. She spends so much time flying upside down that the 5 on her plane is painted on upside down.

I've been a fan of the Blue Angels since I was a little guy. My dad is a Marine and we lived in Cherry Point, NC on the base and we would see them all the time. We moved to Texas when he got a job with General Dynamics and then it was the Thunderbirds. It is pretty cool watching them in person.

It takes practice, lots of practice. They also use radios and constantly tallk to each other when they are going to perform their stunts.

Friend of mine flies F-18E's for the Navy. Flying formation comes with practice and lots of it. As for them blacking out that's called GLOC (G-LOCK) stands for G induced loss of consciousness. When it happens their hands fall off the stick so the aircraft typically will stop pulling Gs and they regain consciousness within a second or two. At that low altitude it can and has been fatal. Some newer Jets will automatically level off if they sense the pilot is incapacitated.

As a Navy brat, I got the honor to see the Blues PLENTY of times as a kid. As an adult, I LOVED taking my wife to see her 1st Blues show. We've been twice. On a more somber note, we live in the town outside Nashville where 1 of the Blue Angel pilots, Marine Corps captain Jeff Kuss, crashed & died during their practice for their 2016 show. He had a failure of some sort in his aircraft, & PURPOSELY crashed it into a field rather than an apartment complex. This act is emblematic of the selfless sacrifice that defines Marine officers & true heroes. Our town (Smyrna, TN) privately funded & erected a memorial in his honor, complete with an actual F-18 painted in the Blue Angels pattern, with his number, 6, on it. Courtney, I know you prefer people reccomend videos on your website, but a 26 minute video done by 1 of the Nashville news channels can be found under the title "Final Flight, One Year After the Blue Angels Tragedy": kzfaq.info/get/bejne/nK2CgLl_1dXFg58.html PLEASE CHECK THIS OUT for the whole sad, yet brave & heroic story of this BRAVE Marine, Capt. Jeff Kuss.

One of my favorite times in the US Navy was shortly before I got out. I was stationed in Norfolk. My submarine was in drydock. We were getting out of drydock on Friday afternoon. When a ship gets out of drydock, everybody is stuck on board the entire time. When the sub finally gets to its mooring area, you want to get shore power hooked up as quickly as possible, so that the diesel generator can be shut down and people can leave the boat. To that end, you send two electricians to the new mooring point (Pier 22 t Norfolk) to hang danger tags on the shore power circuit breakers. Those two electricians then sit around doing nothing until the sub gets there (as opposed to sitting around doing nothing on the sub). As it happens, the Norfolk Naval Station (and Naval Air Station) were having an open house that weekend. The highlight was to be an air show with the Blue Angels on Saturday. On Friday, they practiced. The runways, where the show was to be on Saturday, were in use, so they couldn't practice there. So they used a strip of concrete that was nearby that was about the same size as the runway with the same orientation as their performance area. They chose Pier 22. My buddy and I were sitting there the entire time, watching our own private airshow. (Yes, I did go to see the real show the next day).

Fun facts. Both Navy and Marine Corps pilots are selected for the Blue Angels and both services provide the support personnel. Blue Angel #1 Commanding Officer; Blue Angel #2 is Right Wing; Blue Angel #3 Left Wing; Blue Angel #4 is Slot (also serves as Training Officer because he can see all of the others); Blue Angel #5 is Lead Solo; Blue Angel #6 is Opposing Solo; Blue Angel #7 is the Narrator and also serves as the Public Relations Officer. He is the pilot that takes up local media and other VIPs for demo flights. Everyone that gets to go up and ride along for that VIP demo gets to keep their helmet, which is signed by all of the pilots and maintenance crew. That helmet is Blue. Only the pilots themselves where the yellow ones.

We used to live near the Naval Academy and every May during graduation (Commissioning Week) the Blue Angels would fly over the river and put on a show. The would fly so close while upside down that you could see their faces. Really loud and really cool.

These pilots make this look so easy.... it is absolutely epic flying skills in motion.... the precision it takes to fly in those tight formations have to be extremely perfect

Good evening Courtney! I got to see these guys fly back in the early 90s at an air show near DC. Super awesome, extreme professionals

I've never seen the Blue Angels, but just recently saw the Thunderbirds do a fly over. They did a fly over in a couple of cities in Texas to honor the Healthcare worker, first responders, and other essential workers during this covid 19 pandemic . It was an amazing site to see!

the 5 and 6 jets,called the opposing solos,have their own set of visual references and the lead solo gives the calls during their part of the show

a couple of things to note though is that the blue angels fly their shows without the aid of g suits,and to help keep the jets steady for those close profiles,they install a spring on the control stick that adds about 40 pounds of resistance

Living in Annapolis we see the Blues every year. I personally love practice day as the blast around for several hours then perform a practice show. The next day is the show day. The reason for all the practice is the show is done over the Severn River and not a runway so the shut part of the river down the place Navy YP boats to make a centerline. I known several Blues pilots over the years and they admit the Annapolis show is the hardest yet they get to fly over their Alumni. My friends old home across from the Naval Academy was a waypoint for the Blues for decades so we always had a great view and I mean we literally felt the heated blast and the pilots waved at us, me being a pilot I totally got it.

This team is why I love living where I do right now because when they come for an air show, the base is close enough that they actually practice over the apartment complex. Same with the raptor team. It's amazing and needless to say, I live for air shows. Seen the blue angels personally ten times now

Hi Courtney, my name is Karl I'm from America. The video of the Blue Angels pilots doing their show, is amazing in person. I have watched both, the Blue Angels and the ThunderBirds, they fly 18 inches apart. Both of the team's mentioned have a female pilot that fly her own jet. They are truly amazing.

When I left boot camp for "A" school in Pensacola, Florida, I got the barracks next to the Blue Angels flight line so I got to watch them practice all the time. It was awesome!

I have gotten to see them live! They are amazing! My grandfather was in the Navy during World War 2. My family roots for Navy during college football season. Go Navy! Fly Navy! Sing second! Go Navy Beat Army!

Well Courtney, you got me again chomping at the bit to finish my stuff to see one of your reactions when I can finally sit with a drink and enjoy. I've seen the Angels fly at least a dozen times, they're ALWAYS worth the price of admission. My problem with this video is that the sound of their engines is muted. They're LOUD and I LOVE IT. I live a lil more than 3 hours from their home in Pensacola, Florida...seen them training a bunch. And that's the answer to your question about flying so close, lots of training. But this is one of my favorite topics, if you have ANY questions about anything military aircraft, please come to me and ask. If I don't know the answer off the top of my head, I'll know where to find he answers. Please keep digging with the aircraft, both Navy and Air Force. Lots of love my friend, keep the fun stuff coming ❤😁

The neat thing about this Blue Angels video is that it shows you the same maneuvers from different perspectives: spectator, belly cam, weird cockpit cam; & lastly, pilot cameo cam! The Blue Angels are the cream of the cream pilots. The true aces. It's an immense honor to be selected to the squadron! And, they train, train, train! Also, they're in constant communication so they can time the rehearsed maneuvers perfectly. These are all maneuvers you might see in aerial combat.

I got to park #4 Blue Angel at the 1986 Moffett Airshow here in California when I was 15. As a member of the Aerospace Explorer Scouts we toured NASA, Air Force and aviation facilities in California and helped out during airshows. I was doing crowd control on the taxi way in front of the V.I.P. stands where the Blue Angels would park after the show. I got to talking to one of their crew chiefs who taught me ground control signals. I'm sure he was right behind me the whole time but he let me guide #4 into it's parking spot. Even when parking, their movements are crisp and precise, so when the A-4 Skyhawk stopped on it's mark the nose of the aircraft was right in front of my face. I was looking right into the engines intake. The sound was deafening. It was scary, exhilarating, and a moment I will never forget. After graduating, I joined the US Army as an aircraft electrician and got to fly in an OV-1D Mowawk reconnaissance plane on a test flight, while stationed in S. Korea. I wore a G-suit, sat on an ejection seat and filmed with a video camera as the pilot did loops, barrel rolls and high G turns. Chewing gum helps the inner ear adjust to rapidly changing altitude. Grunting and squeezing your but keeps blood flow to your brain and sucking on 100% Oxygen helped me from getting sick. I later worked on the civilian side at an avionics shop at the San Jose Airport. I love all forms of transportation, but will always have a soft spot for military aircraft and fighter planes. Watch the Van Halen 'DREAMS' official video for an amazing video of the Blue Angels set to an awesome song. It shows the old A-4 in action. It was a smaller and lighter ground attack fighter but with shorter wings which allowed the Angels to fly even closer than the current, larger and more powerful, F-18. kzfaq.info/get/bejne/npiHgNp6uLKXhKs.html

I am retired Navy and have seen the Angels a number of times; however, my best memory is when I enlisted and as an incentive to join I attended my first Angel show and afterwards had lunch with them.

Back in the late 90's during Officer Candidate School and follow-on tours, you could watch the Blue Angels practice over Pensacola before their season started. There's a documentary you should watch that shows the process they go through in training for a show. The pre-flight script session is fascinating. Almost like a meditation session, they're all sitting at a table with their eyes closed, visualizing their maneuvers with the flight lead calmly counting out the maneuvers, which is precisely what he says during the flight. It's definitely precision flying and not stunt flying...exact altitudes, flight angles, course directions and timing. An absolute joy to watch.

a blue angels pilot said once in a documentary that when theyre doing their show they sing a song, that way they know how to time their stunts

The lead flying instructor at an airbase in Texas was a customer of my dads, he got my son and me 45 minutes in a t-38 talon simulator, it was great and its in my private pilot logbook.

I was born and raised in Pensacola, Florida, USA. The home of the Blue Angels. When I was growing up, we would go to Pensacola Beach and lay out in the sun. Often the Angels would fly along the coast line. When they would fly low along the beach, we could feel them coming before we even heard, much less saw them. The sand on the beach would begin to vibrate and jump. The ground would begin to rumble. The air would begin to shimmer. The burst of sound would precede them. They would often break the sound barrier overhead, leaving all of us on the beach in total shock as the violent boooooom would strike the sand and make the earth quake. It was magical... That was 55 years ago. And the awe is still with me. fyi there are breathing techniques they are trained to use that keep them from passing out. You may see the pilot grimace occasionally. It's like a tiger's stink face. The pilot grimaces and inhales and sort of pants at the same time to keep oxygenated.

Pure practice, over and over again. They also are selected as being the finest pilots in their military divisions. Plus, being in constant communication with each other and with the lead pilot of the group helps to synchronize the group following the leader's commands.

Courtney - Great that you watch these things. If you really want to know "how do they do it", there's a great PBS series called Blue Angels, A Year in the Life. It's a behind the scenes documentary and will answer many of your questions. Thanks for what you do.

I grew up in Pensacola, which is where their home base is located. They are the pride of the city and I've loved watching them ever since I was a kid. Great timing on the video as today marks their annual homecoming airshow on Pensacola Beach.

You need to see them in person sometime. They practice in Pensacola, FL several days per week (check their calendar online) and the practices are open to the public. Amazing shows!

They practice repeatedly for several months every winter over the desert in California. They use special breathing techniques to keep from passing out. You can find videos of both the practicing and the breathing techniques.

Absolutely LOVE the Blue Angels ... my dad was in the navy my whole childhood, soo the blue Angels I saw ALL THE TIME practicing !! But still AMAZING EVERYTIME THEY FLY !!

Fun fact, when the Blue Angels perform, they do not use positive pressure suits (G Suits). Positive pressure suits are designed to compress around the lower extrmeties to keep blood from rushing to lower extremeties (and away from vital organs at the top of the body) whenever the pilot is engaging in maneuvers that create high levels of positive G-force on the body. They control their blood flow through their muscular control and breathing. It's amazing when you consider the levels they are exposed to during their performances - one mistake and they could G-Lock (pass out) and it's game over. They are amazing! For context, the Air Force Thunderbird pilots do wear Positive pressure suits. Not to take anything away from Thunderbird pilots (they are also very amazing) as well. I love all of those high performance pilots because of their dedication to perfection in their trade. Their training regiment requires crazy perfection.

This brings back memories. I was in the Maines as an aircraft maintainer. I was trained at NAS Pensacola Which is the home of the Blue Angels. They would train almost every day so on smoke breaks we were all treated to a show. It was awesome.

I've seen them and the Air Force Thunderbirds several times at my local air show. They really are incredible!

It is just PRACTICE, PRACTICE, AND MORE PRACTICE and they have one guy who is the leader and he communicates with all the others and calls out their maneuvers over their radios. If you get a chance, attend one of the Blue Angels airshows and they usually turn on their communications over the loudspeaker and you can hear them call out the radio commands!

There was an aerobatic team the RAF had in the 50s called the Black Arrows. Their name came from their Hawker Hunters being painted black. This team holds a world record that will probably never be broken: 22 planes in a synchronized loop.

Im from Pcola, home of the Blues, been to many airshows and it never gets old. My favorite stunt is the "Slow Ride" they do where they play the Slow Ride song on the loud speakers at the beach and they angle their nose up and cruise by at a very slow speed. They also will have one do a crazy low fly by out of no where to intentionally scare the crap out of you while they distract you into looking the opposite direction at the rest of the jets. The air shows are always fun.....traffic just sucks on airshow days lol

Sorry I’m late! I’ve heard, in other videos, that you’re moving to the States in the future. You definitely HAVE to go to an air show and watch these guys in action. I’ve been a huge Blue Angles fan for 40 years. I love these guys.

Military jet pilots train doing exercises within their gut and thorax to do whatever they can to keep the blood pushed to their brains... because you are right, high-G maneuvers tend to make normal human beings pass out (i.e. it pushes the blood out of their brain). Blue Angels pilots are selected for their skills at piloting their aircraft, but they are also selected because they are some of the most physically fit pilots in the U.S. Navy and are very good at the exercises that keep the blood in the brain. If you watch the pilots faces, sometimes their faces are moving because they are talking... if you see their faces move when it doesn't look like they are talking, they are doing squeezing their gut/thorax to keep their blood up high in their bodies. And do pilots that fly aircraft that can do high-G maneuvers sometimes pass out? Yes... yes, they do. You don't want that to happen at low altitudes, that would be a bad thing. But at higher altitudes? Usually the "passing out" effect (when it happens) is a matter of mere seconds and the pilot will come out of it. Good military jet aircraft are designed to have a tendency, when "unhandled", to move back to an equilibrium state (even when losing altitude), that is aerodynamic (even if its losing altitude) so the pilot will usually "wake up" in time to recover himself and his aircraft. The one exception to this is if the aircraft goes into a flat spin. That is another bad thing.

The level of trust these pilots have to have in each other is crazy.

They are just CM apart from each other in formation. As with ALL demonstration teams, they start by selecting the best pilots, practice Meters apart, as the team then gradually get closer and closer. This is a special duty assignment for them. they do about 2-5 years on the team, then go back into "The Force".

Lived in Shalimar, Florida for a while (They are stationed close by in Pensacola, FL). Have seen the Blue Angels many many times. They never cease to impress. Best pilots in the world.

Courtney, if you look at 2:11 in the video, the plane to the right is Plane #1 which is the head guy of the Blue Angels or the Commanding Officer (CO). the one on top the #2 or the Right wing, #3 is the Left Wing, #4 is called the Slot. Then you have planes 5 & 6 which are the lead (#5) and opposing (#6) soloists. Number 7 which is in the beginning is a 2-seat F/A 18 Hornet to take VIP's or local media on short trips. At 3:06 is a formation that they call the Delta Formation where theyline up front to back then left to back 1,3,2,5,4,6.

I just stumbled across your channel. I am a massive Blue Angels fan. One of the reasons, aside from practice, that they can fly so close together is that unlike the Thunderbirds, they do not use G-suits. These are specialized suits that react to the amount of G forces that are exerted on the pilot. Many already commented on that. These suits have air bladders the inflate around the lower extremities to help keep the blood circulation in the upper part of your body, to help prevent the GLOC that another comment or wrote about. The constant movement of thise inflating and deflating would make flying those tight formations tough- so The Blue Angels don’t use them. There is a multipart series called The Blue Angels, A Year in The Life that takes you from the new member onboard through their shows. It will answer all of your questions. Good Luck!

For those unaware, the Blue Angels are connected to the U.S. Navy and the Thunderbirds are affiliated with the U.S. Air Force. These pilots are some of the most physically gifted and courageous individuals on the planet (not to mention confident which is polite for cocky.....lol) and their dedication and focus on perfection is remarkable and vital. The trust and execution of these movements are beyond dangerous and life-threatening each and every time they take to the air. I was fortunate to be assigned to Nellis AFB when I served, and it happens to be the home base for the Thunderbirds. I never tired or lost the amazement of watching them practice daily . Many thanks to all current and veterans of the U.S. military forces.

I've taken my kids to 2 air shows and we love the Blue Angels! As soon as we hear they're about to start we rush to the barricade so we can watch them as closely as possible. The AC-130 and A-10 Warthog are our other favorites. You should check out videos about them.

Our summer house is on the beach at Pensacola, FL. Often the Blue Angels make a run down the coastline just before sunset. Always a gorgeous sight.

I've seen the blue angels twice they are flawless very professional, I'm always astonished at their performance.

Aaron Tippin, an old school country singer, used to fly with the Blue Angels. Pilots have died flying in this precision air show.

I remember two years ago, that spring the Blue Angels had performed at the Heart of Texas Airshow. At the time, they hadn't been there in thirty years. We were so excited to see them doing their practice runs over our neighborhood before the show. It was amazing. Also, I'm a huge My Little Pony fan, and there's a group of pegasi ponies called the Wonderbolts in the show that are basically based off of these amazing flyers.

they usually have assistance against passing out, which would be 2 things, one is called a `g-suit' which fighter pilots put on that have what are called inflatable bladders within in them which is connected to the aircraft itself and the bladders inflate when g's are pulled to help push the blood back up from the legs to the upper area of the body, and there is also what is called the energy-straining maneuver (pardon the expression, however it is compared to straining on the toilet if one is constipated, which also helps maintain blood in the head to help prevent passing out).

I used to live in Pensacola where they are based and you can just go to the base on a Wednesday or Thursday and watch them practice - essentially the same show they do at air shows. And you can meet the pilots as well. How they do it is being the top pilots in the Navy. Each year, after training with the new guys, they fly about 3 ft (1 meter) apart. By the end of the year, they fly 18 inches (0.5 meters) apart. when that close, the #1 plane is directing the maneuvers and the others are looking at his plane and following. They don’t even wear G-suits as any unexpected changes in the suit’s inflation could cause the joystick to be moved slightly, and at those distances they could collide.

15:45 How do they get so close together? There's no software aiding them in positioning the plane. They plan every move ahead of time and then practice the same flight for months. When they're new to the unit or when they're practicing a new flight, they start out spaced further apart and slowly get closer together the more they practice. They're also constantly talking to each other on the radio. The guy in the lead plane is the leader, directing when to start turns and other maneuvers.

I was stationed at Naval Air Station (NAS), now Naval Air Facility (NAF) El Centro with VA-174 Det, from 1979 to 1981. This base is the winter training base for the Blue Angles. Of course back then they were flying the A-4 jets. The Blue Angles have two parts to the show, the main part is the group of four, normally jets 1-4, which always starts and most times finish each pass as a group. The two solo pilots, normally jets 5 & 6 are the two which come through in front of the crowd while the group of four is maneuvering setting up their next pass. They go to each show with seven jets, with number 7 being a two seater jet, to take someone from the media in the area on a flight. Number 7 can also be used in case one of the other jets has a mechanical issue. Each year either one or two new pilots replace one or two of the older pilots, and they have to be trained for the next years shows. The Blue Angles fly almost a show every weekend during their season. For their training they come out to El Centro and start practicing over a restricted area of desert, to train the all the pilots to fly in formation, but especially the new pilots. If you notice when they are flying the diamond, the pilot never takes his eyes off his focal point on the lead's jet, he never looks forward, just at the focal point. The right and left pilots have their head's turned left and right staring at their focal points on the lead's jet. As you can see by the number four pilot he is so focused on his focal point, he does not even move his head when he turns on and off the smoke generator. Only the lead pilot, when flying in formation is looking out the front. Once the new pilots get comfortable, they switch from flying over the desert to flying over the airfield. This focal point is so important in 1982 the Air Force's demonstration team, The Thunderbirds, all four of the group formation was killed as all four followed the lead right into the ground. Our squadron and the Blue Angles had to work our flight schedules, so they could have the base, to preform their practices. For their shows, they will always fly right to left or vice a versa in front of the spectators, and at a distance from them if there is a crash the spectators hopefully will not be harmed. Since 1988 it is always a regulation for airshows the planes and jets can head toward or fly over the spectators. This rule was put in place after the Ramstein Airshow Crash of 88, because the Italian Air Force display team flew where the group was flying toward the crowd when the solo pilots were to cross them. One of the solo pilots missed his mark and crashed into the group of jets and the group of crashed jets' momentum and line of travel took them right into the spectators, killing 70 and injuring 364.. The Blue Angles will park a large vehicle off the side of the runway they are using, as their target point for meats of the solo pilots. Our day would start with us launching our jets early in the morning for the first instructor to take his four to six student pilots out to fly, their two hour mission over the bombing range. The Blue Angles would then launch to fly their airshow over the airfield. We would sit outside the hangar and watch the airshow. The Blue Angles would finish their practice and land, our jets would return sometime after the Blue Angles were landed. After the first instructor and his students got out of their jets to go do their debrief, we had an hour to make the jets ready for the next class. The second instructor with his students, would take the jets our for two hours, come back, we had an hour to get the jets ready again, for the first instructor to take his class back out. We launched the first instructor and his students again, and then the Blue Angles would take off for their second practice show of the day. As soon as we launched the first class our shift ended and the second shift took over, so we could go home or sit and watch the Blue Angles practice again. It got to the point we were able to judge if the solo pilots were off and by how much, of their meet point of just over the buss. Several times on my days off, I would take the wife to a place where we had a good view of the Blue Angles practicing. Oh to be young again.

I think it was last year when they had a show out here in Texas. Flew right over my house, seeing it in person was insaneeeee! And the sound!

Its absolutely funny to see your reaction to what we see all the time! Thank you

When The Blue Angels flew over our houses early one Friday practicing for Saturday’s show over the Atlantic Ocean. The community all came out of their homes and offices to watch and listen to the thundering roars, the atmosphere was electric, I couldn’t work. My neighbor, a jet pilot, said the jets for the shows and spectacular air maneuvers were not specially modified. They take an ordinary, random jets and paint them Blue Angels.

It is a big honor for a pilot to be chosen to be on one of these flight demonstration teams.