Darren Roberts Posted May 7, 2020 Share Posted May 7, 2020 1 hour ago, Joe Hegedus said: NIH syndrome coming into play? I wouldn't be surprised. An idea I had that I passed on to them was to have the two solo pilots do a "follow the leader" or mock dogfight while the diamond was getting situated. If they had a Beetle Bomb, that would be even better. They did that when they first got started, so it would be a nice throwback. I think the "traditions" for both the T'birds and Blues are now probably set in stone. I doubt we'll see any wholesale changes ever made. They've become too self-important and serious. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
ESzczesniak Posted May 7, 2020 Share Posted May 7, 2020 59 minutes ago, Darren Roberts said: ...have the two solo pilots do a "follow the leader" or mock dogfight... While interesting for us airplane geeks, I don't know that a modern mock dogfight would prove to be practical. Modern "knife fights" are spread out of 1000's of feet (2-3 miles) and I don't think would make for a great viewing experience. It would be very rough/dangerous in city shows too at low altitudes with all these buildings. Real dogfighting alone is dangerous at low altitudes. I know a lot of people think something new would be fun. But a part of what these teams are selling is tradition. A lot of airshows are full of the "new guys" flying some sport planes and having performed the last few years. Almost nobody knows who they are. But everybody knows the Blues and the Thunderbirds. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Joe Hegedus Posted May 7, 2020 Share Posted May 7, 2020 3 hours ago, 82Whitey51 said: National Institutes of Health ?? 🤔 They do wield some serious power. What habu2 said... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
GW8345 Posted May 8, 2020 Share Posted May 8, 2020 1 hour ago, ESzczesniak said: While interesting for us airplane geeks, I don't know that a modern mock dogfight would prove to be practical. Modern "knife fights" are spread out of 1000's of feet (2-3 miles) and I don't think would make for a great viewing experience. It would be very rough/dangerous in city shows too at low altitudes with all these buildings. Real dogfighting alone is dangerous at low altitudes. Exactly! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
GreyGhost Posted May 8, 2020 Share Posted May 8, 2020 The NAS Miramar shows used to do a mock dogfight between a VF-124 Tomcat and a TOPGUN F-5 back in the 80s. Change to the Blues and T-Birds shows are coming in the form of shorter shows. As for the Blue Rhino, I like it but like Darren and others have said, I would have liked a bit of change to the livery. Hopefully a 75th Anniversary logo of some sort will be added for next season. -Gregg Quote Link to post Share on other sites
82Whitey51 Posted May 8, 2020 Share Posted May 8, 2020 19 hours ago, Darren Roberts said: I wouldn't be surprised. An idea I had that I passed on to them was to have the two solo pilots do a "follow the leader" or mock dogfight while the diamond was getting situated. If they had a Beetle Bomb, that would be even better. They did that when they first got started, so it would be a nice throwback. I think the "traditions" for both the T'birds and Blues are now probably set in stone. I doubt we'll see any wholesale changes ever made. They've become too self-important and serious. Yes they have! Even the groundpounders have had to get into the show...just launch the jets, man. 17 hours ago, ESzczesniak said: While interesting for us airplane geeks, I don't know that a modern mock dogfight would prove to be practical. Modern "knife fights" are spread out of 1000's of feet (2-3 miles) and I don't think would make for a great viewing experience. It would be very rough/dangerous in city shows too at low altitudes with all these buildings. Real dogfighting alone is dangerous at low altitudes. I know a lot of people think something new would be fun. But a part of what these teams are selling is tradition. A lot of airshows are full of the "new guys" flying some sport planes and having performed the last few years. Almost nobody knows who they are. But everybody knows the Blues and the Thunderbirds. I'm pretty sure what Darren is talking about is a "Pretend" dogfight...not a no sh!@ "knife fight". Ever see the "Wounded Warrior" L-39 flight team "dogfight" demo? Typically at the NAS Oceana show you see an airpower demo with jets from the various squadrons running through the paces...all at slow speeds and close distances that "we" all know to be fictitious but kids and civilians thinks it's friggin' awesome! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
GW8345 Posted May 8, 2020 Share Posted May 8, 2020 If the BA's are going do a mock dogfight there have better be some serious tanker support close by. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Darren Roberts Posted May 8, 2020 Share Posted May 8, 2020 1 hour ago, GW8345 said: If the BA's are going do a mock dogfight there have better be some serious tanker support close by. 😂 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
ST0RM Posted May 8, 2020 Share Posted May 8, 2020 On 5/7/2020 at 8:28 AM, 82Whitey51 said: I like the sound of that...and truth be told, swapping out numbers (which these days as I understand it, are vinyl stickers) would be a bit easier to do. I have some left over crests in 1/72 scale from "Fat Albert" sheet...may try a "WhIffer" with a cheap Revell "E" model! I know change comes hard to these teams but after 34 years in the same scheme/look something new would be welcome with a new platform. I've felt the same way about the T-birds. The white they adopted as the base color, is boring. Combined with a grey cloudy sky and white smoke, its just meh. I'd like for them to go back to an all over silver dope, and have the red/white/blue scallops and thunderbird on the belly. Even the #4 jet gets a tinted black tail over spray. Now thats Heritage. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Spruemeister Posted May 9, 2020 Share Posted May 9, 2020 Paint the C-17 support aircraft. Rick L. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
82Whitey51 Posted May 9, 2020 Share Posted May 9, 2020 18 hours ago, ST0RM said: I've felt the same way about the T-birds. The white they adopted as the base color, is boring. Combined with a grey cloudy sky and white smoke, its just meh. I'd like for them to go back to an all over silver dope, and have the red/white/blue scallops and thunderbird on the belly. Even the #4 jet gets a tinted black tail over spray. Now thats Heritage. Not a bad sounding idea! I think the silver dope and red, white, and blue would look awesome on an F-16. Came across this on the IPMS FB page and thought it looked pretty cool! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
fasteagle12 Posted May 16, 2020 Share Posted May 16, 2020 Interesting article on the conversion to a Blue....https://theaviationist.com/2020/05/15/from-ugly-duckling-to-blue-angel-heres-how-a-super-hornet-before-restoration-for-demo-team-looks-like/ Quote Link to post Share on other sites
hemspilot Posted May 18, 2020 Share Posted May 18, 2020 On 5/6/2020 at 9:28 PM, Micro said: My thoughts exactly. It really takes away from the beauty of the jet. Beauty and the Super Hornet words don't really belong in the same sentence. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
GreyGhost Posted May 20, 2020 Share Posted May 20, 2020 On 5/18/2020 at 12:35 PM, hemspilot said: Beauty and the Super Hornet words don't really belong in the same sentence. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder... I think the Super Hornet has some beautiful lines ... -Gregg Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Ken Cartwright Posted June 2, 2020 Share Posted June 2, 2020 Here's another article on the transition: https://www.forbes.com/sites/erictegler/2020/06/01/blue-angels-transition-to-the-super-hornet-will-make-airshows-look-a-little-like-1973/amp/ Quote Link to post Share on other sites
habu2 Posted June 2, 2020 Share Posted June 2, 2020 3 hours ago, Ken Cartwright said: Here's another article on the transition: Quote ..... a 40-pound spring linked to the control stick ..... D@mn that’s one heavy spring...... 🤔 I know what they meant but I read what they wrote... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
ST0RM Posted June 3, 2020 Share Posted June 3, 2020 Any mention of the new Fat Albert C-130J? They bought it from the Brits last year and nothing has been heard. Cant be that hard to slap some paint on it. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
ESzczesniak Posted June 3, 2020 Share Posted June 3, 2020 10 minutes ago, ST0RM said: Any mention of the new Fat Albert C-130J? They bought it from the Brits last year and nothing has been heard. Cant be that hard to slap some paint on it. They made a Facebook post or two with a reveal video. I think that was a month or two ago. I think Fat Albert wasn’t going to join the season immediately to allow for crew training, but then COVID happened. But she’s done. Just haven’t seen anything about her in the air. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Wolfgun33 Posted June 3, 2020 Share Posted June 3, 2020 They're training in the sim right now. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Micro Posted September 3, 2020 Share Posted September 3, 2020 So it looks like the first one was delivered back in May. https://www.instagram.com/p/CDPYUhRBPlB/?utm_source=ig_web_button_share_sheet Quote Link to post Share on other sites
is it windy yet? Posted September 3, 2020 Share Posted September 3, 2020 On 5/6/2020 at 9:56 AM, martin_sam_2000 said: I am excited to see what their show will be like with these as I heard they have to modify some of the show to fit the abilities of the super hornet. Sean They will likely need to shorten their program and strap 3 gas tanks on it just so it has enough fuel to perform. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
GreyGhost Posted September 3, 2020 Share Posted September 3, 2020 Fat Albert arrived a couple of weeks ago... -Gregg Quote Link to post Share on other sites
GreyGhost Posted October 22, 2020 Share Posted October 22, 2020 -Gregg Quote Link to post Share on other sites
82Whitey51 Posted October 23, 2020 Share Posted October 23, 2020 The E/F model being bigger, it looks like the yellow down the spine and wing tips stands out more. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
GSymmonds Posted October 23, 2020 Share Posted October 23, 2020 That video is awesome. Someone tell me these aren't the greatest aviators around! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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