Coming home

Today is the first day I've been able to drive and you can't imagine how excited I was. This afternoon I drove almost to Park East to get photos of the surf. Suddenly, in the distance, I spied the Blue Angels!


Many times the Blue Angels fly over the beach on their way back to Pensacola Naval Air Station after a weekend performance. This time they were returning from Jacksonville, Florida.


It's always exciting to see them return, but today it was especially beautiful with the high surf and golden haze.

As they flew west the F/A 18's began to disappear into the sun.

Suddenly, as they neared Portofino, the jets signaled their arrival home with long, glowing contrails. What a remarkable sight.

Blue Angels Air Show

At last, the date for the Blue Angels' performance on Pensacola Beach this summer has been finalized. It will be July 11th!

For some reason tentative dates kept shifting between July 11 and July 18, but you may now mark your calendars!

For folks visiting during that second weekend of July, this means the Blue Angels will be also be practicing over the beach Thursday morning, July 9th. A dress rehearsal with other participants will be held on July 10. In the past that list has included favorites such as the AeroShell Aerobatic Team, Gary Ward in his MX2, Julian MacQueen in his vintage Grumman Widgeon G-44, Vortex Aerobatic, and the Geico Skytypers (I'd really like to see them again!).

Sunday at the beach

More company arrived in time to catch the Blue Angel show. On Sunday we stayed on the east end of Pensacola Beach. Above, Fat Albert banked around the towers at Portofino.


The kids were thrilled to watch the Blue Angels soar overhead.


I love Pensacola Beach!


I love skimboarding!

Blue Angels - Dress Rehearsal

These marines didn't mind at all when two bikini-clad girls tried a few chin-ups in a very unique way.


Everyone appreciated getting hosed down when the temperature climbed higher.


Festive flags, banners and umbrellas covered the beach.


Announcers asked swimmers to begin clearing the water so the show could begin. Looks like one little fellow down there is having to be pulled out of the water by mommy.


The Escambia County Sheriff's Office helicopter scans the beach before giving the go-ahead.



Julian MacQueen starts the show with his vintage plane, a Grumman Widgeon G-44.


The U.S. Coast Guard presented a Search & Rescue demonstration with their HH-65 Dolphin helicopter.


Vortex Aerobatic gave an incredible performance. I loved it!


Swooping in over the pier in a Pitt Eagle hybrid.


Awesome maneuvers!


It was practically impossible to get a shot of Gary Ward in his MX2. The term 'greased lightning' came to mind as he went from one roll to another. I was getting dizzy just trying to follow him with my camera.


You may click HERE to see a video of Gary and his plane on YouTube.


Here comes the AeroShell Aerobatic team!


The AT-6 'Texan', a trainer for the U.S. Army Air Corp, first appeared in 1938.

It's frightening to watch them loop back and disappear into smoke trails.

Here comes Fat Albert! This C-130 Hercules can carry 25,000 lbs of cargo and up to 45,000 lbs of fuel. Tell me again how he stays up there...

Fat Albert is the only Marine Corps aircraft permanently assigned to the Navy. He flies approximately 140,000 miles during a show season.

Coming across center point, the crowd is thrilled by Fat Albert.

Look at the Blue Angels tight formation.

Darn, I couldn't get that special moment I was shooting for! Only off by, say, 1/1000th of a second.

The beach was packed!

Two up, two under.

So tight they look connected!

The Blue Angels fly past the Hilton. Another great day, full of thrilling performances.

Blue Angels practice

I had a great time at the Blue Angels practice this afternoon. Thanks to my friend, Lila Cox, who encouraged me to come down and watch from Casino Beach for the first time, I got some very nice shots. You may click on any of the photos to enlarge them and see more detail.


Fat Albert comes in over the Coast Guard boat.


Fat Albert is extremely impressive as he flies low over the crowd. Difficult to believe something this big cruises at 360 mph (320 knots).


Looking up at Fat Albert's 'belly', I can see where they got the name. He's massive.


Look how close the Boeing F/A-18 Hornets fly to each other during maneuvers. Check out the Blue Angels website to learn more about these jets and the officers of the team.


Four Blue Angels look like they've been lined up with a straight edge.


You can almost see the pilots in their cockpits as they pass over in diamond formation.


Whoa, look at the burners!


Two Blue Angels come over the crowd from the north.


Tip to tail.


Girls love diamonds and we especially appreciate it when they're offered by the Blue Angels.


Think this nice man would scoot over and let me share his shade? By the way, he is a very smart man. The first thing he did after sitting down was to cover his feet with sunscreen.


Awesome! I barely have time to capture them with my camera!


Blowin' smoke!


A Blue Angel streaks over the Hilton to rejoin the team. Those staying at the Hilton had some of the best seats on the island to watch the Blue Angels perform.


The beautiful fleur-de-lis formation.


A dramatic way to close the practice today.