.jpg)
The Blue Angels’ mission is
to enhance Navy and Marine Corps recruiting efforts and
to represent the naval service to the United States, its
elected leadership and foreign nations. The Blue Angels
serve as positive role models and goodwill
ambassadors for the U. S. Navy and Marine Corps.
A Blue Angels flight demonstration
exhibits choreographed refinements of skills possessed by
all naval aviators. It includes the graceful aerobatic maneuvers
of the four-plane Diamond Formation, in concert with the
fast-paced, high-performance
maneuvers of its two Solo Pilots. Finally, the team illustrates
the pinnacle of precision flying, performing maneuvers locked
as a unit in the renowned, six-jet Delta Formation.
The team is stationed at Forrest
Sherman Field, Naval Air Station Pensacola, Florida, during
the show season. However, the squadron spends January through
March training pilots and new team members at Naval Air
Facility El Centro, California.
The Blue Angels are scheduled to
fly 66 air shows at 35 air show sites in the United States
during the 2007 season, as the team celebrates 20 years
of flying the F/A-18 Hornet. Last season, more than 15 million
spectators watched the Blue Angels perform. Since its inception
in 1946, the Blue Angels have performed for more than 427
million fans.