Prepare to be dazzled at 2010 AirFest- MacDill AFB
March 19, 2010 by Rick Frissell · 4 Comments
I don’t care who you are, whether you are an air plane fanatic or just the average Joe or Joelene, the Navy’s Blue Angels are cool and inspire your patriotic fervor. There just seems to be something about the roar of jet aircraft flying in formation overhead that gives you goose bumps.
Get ready to be dazzled, the Blue Angels flew into Tampa yesterday for the annual Airfest, which is held at Mac Dill Air Force Base. The show which will also feature more than a dozen military aircraft on display as well as other military demonstrations and food.
Shows will be held on Saturday and Sunday March 20th and 21st 2010. The Dale Mabry Hwy. and Mac Dill Avenue gates to the base will be open to the public at 8 a.m. both days with a 9:00 a.m. start of the show. The Blue Angels show is scheduled for 3:00 p.m. each day. There is limited parking as over 200,000 people are expected. For information, call 813-828-7569 or go to www.macdill-airfest.com.
The Basics on Blue Angel History
At the end of World War II, the Chief of Naval Operations, Chester W. Nimitz, ordered the formation of a flight demonstration team to keep the public interested in Naval Aviation. The Blue Angels performed their first flight demonstration less than a year later in June 1946 at their home base, Naval Air Station (NAS) Jacksonville, Florida.
Two months later, on August 25, 1946, the Blue Angels transitioned to the Grumman F8F Bearcat. The 1947 team introduced the now-famous “Diamond Formation.”
By the end of the 1940s, the Blue Angels were flying their first jet aircraft, the Grumman F9F-2 Panther. In response to the demands placed on Naval Aviation in the Korean Conflict, the team reported to the aircraft carrier USS Princeton as the nucleus of Fighter Squadron 191 (VF-191), “Satan’s Kittens,” in 1950.
The team reorganized the following year and reported to NAS Corpus Christi, Texas, where they began flying the newer and faster version of the Panther, the F9F-5. The Blue Angels remained in Corpus Christi until the winter of 1954 when they relocated to their present home base at NAS Pensacola, Florida. The 16-member Blue Angel team spends January through March training pilots and new team members at the Naval Air Facility in El Centro, Calif.
It should be a beautiful weekend in the Tampa, FL area, so let’s get out and see the storied Blue Angels. Don’t forget to take a hat, sunscreen and a camera.
Rick Frissell- Florida’s Beautiful Homes™
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I want to thank you for bringing this to my attention. I’m new to the area and had no idea that this great event happened this weekend. I have seen the Air Force Thunderbirds before and loved it, this will be a first for me and our 9 year old son.
D
Hey Rick! Thanks for the Angels blog. Very cool! I went and saw them Saturday. Let me tell ya, it could NOT have been a more beautiful day. I’ll have to share some photos and video with you. Thanks, talk soon.
JDT
Thanks for making such a valuable blog, sincerely Kobos Mathers.
I enjoy reading the report, too. It′s easy to understand that a journey like this is the biggest event in ones life.