The F-14 is too large, is less fuel efficient, and more expensive than the F/A-18, and would be difficult to fly in the close formations particular to Blue Angel maneuvers.

Current Department of Defense policy states the use of military aviation demonstration teams is for recruiting purposes. Each demonstration team showcases U. S. military aviation capabilities to the public separately to maximize efforts. The Blue Angels perform with the U. S. Army parachute team, the Golden Knights, as do the Thunderbirds.

With the number of practice hours required to safely fly a demonstration a spare pilot would not be utilized. Each pilot must complete 120 training flights during winter training in order to perform a public demonstration safely. The teamwork required for the high-speed, low-altitude flying in the tight Blue Angels formation takes hundreds of hours to develop, a substitute pilot would not get enough time in the formation.

The mission of the Blue Angels is to enhance Navy recruiting, and credibly represent Navy and Marine Corps aviation to the United States and its Armed Forces to America and other countries as international ambassadors of goodwill.

The Chief of Naval Operations, Admiral Chester W. Nimitz, ordered the establishment of the team on April 24,1946.

The name originated during a trip by the original team to New York in 1946. One of them came across the name of the city's famous Blue Angel nightclub in New Yorker Magazine.

Through the 2002 season the Blue Angels have had 216 demonstration pilots, and 28 Flight Leaders/Commanding Officers.

The squadron focuses stress by exercising; weight training, cardiovascular programs, and flexibility training; and by eating a healthy diet.

The Blue Angels are representatives of the excellence and professionalism found throughout the fleet. Each Blue Angels team member is an ambassador and representative of their fleet counterpart.

No. Each member of the squadron volunteers for duty with the Blue Angels. Due to keen competition at all levels, each individual feels especially honored to be associated with the team.

Yes. Throughout the years, the Blue Angels have had a limited opportunity to perform overseas. The most recent was in 1992 when the team completed a European tour performing in Sweden, Finland, Russia, Bulgaria, Italy, the United Kingdom, Romania, Spain and Germany.

Navy and Marine Corps pilots meeting the basic requirements submit an application directly to the team via the Officer Selection Officer, the number six pilot. Applicants visit the squadron at scheduled show sites early in the show season to observe the team firsthand. Finalists are selected mid-season and interviewed at the Blue Angels squadron in Pensacola, Florida. The new demonstration pilots are selected by unanimous vote.

Nine former pilots have made flag rank. The flag officers include: RADM E. L. Feightner (ret.), #5 - '52; RADM W. A. Gureck (ret.), #2,4 -'55 -56; RADM W. Lewis Chatham (ret.), #5 '52; RADM Ernest Christensen (ret.), #3/4 '69-'70; RADM Jim Maslowski (ret.), #3/4 '70-'71; VADM Tony Less (ret.) #1 '74-'75; RADM William E. Newman (ret.), #1 '78-'79; RADM Dennis Wisely (ret.), #1 '80-'81; RADM P. D. Moneymaker (ret.), #1 '89-'90; and RADM Pat Walsh, #3/4, '85-'87.

Demonstration pilots, Maintenance Officer, Events Coordinator, Supply Officer and Flight Surgeon serve a two-year tour. All other members, including the Narrator, serve a three-year tour. Each member returns to the fleet after completing a tour with the Blue Angels.

Since 1946, there have been eight types of aircraft: (1)Grumman F6F Hellcat, June-August 1946; (2) Grumman F8F Bearcat, August 1946-1949; (3) Grumman F9F-2 Panther (first jet), 1949-June 1950 (Team sent to Korea, 1950-51) Grumman F9F-5 Panther 1951-Winter 1954/55; (4) Grumman F9F-8 Cougar, Winter 1954-55-mid-season 1957; (5) Grumman F11F-1 Tiger (first supersonic jet), mid-season 1957-1969; (6) McDonnell Douglas F-4J Phantom II, 1969-December 1974; (7) McDonnell Douglas A-4F Skyhawk II, December.

All of the Blue Angels' jets are carrier-capable and can be made combat ready in about 72 hours. The squadron's C-130 ("Fat Albert") is a Marine Corps fleet aircraft manned by the squadron Marine Corps detachment and was not designed for routine carrier operations.

The space shuttle is not designed for use beyond low-Earth orbit. Wings are not necessary. There are several issues that prevent the use of the space shuttle for lunar exploration. To escape the Earth's gravity, any spacecraft must attain a speed of more than 17,500 mph. The shuttle is designed for re-entry from an Earth orbital speed of 17,500 mph, not the 25,000 mph speed of a moon mission.

Some current and former Blue Angels pilots have gone through TOPGUN, however, it is not a prerequisite.

Safety is paramount for every demonstration. Each pilot is responsible for good health and safety, however, the Blue Angels Flight Surgeon will medically down a pilot if one should become ill or injured. Should the BOSS, Flight Leader/Commanding Officer be grounded for medical purposes, the demonstration will be canceled.

If you run mvn integration-test, the Maven Cargo plugin will download and install Tomcat and run the integration tests against it. If you want to see your project running in a server, you have two options: Run mvn jetty:run-war - this will fire up a Jetty instance and it will be available at http://localhost:8080. Run mvn cargo:start -Dcargo.wait=true and your application will be deployed to Tomcat and available at http://localhost:8081/applicationname-version.

Aerogel has a blue cast for the same reason that the sky is blue. The very small particles that compose the aerogel scatter blue light, the same as our atmosphere scatters blue light. Similarly, when you look through the aerogel the light appears yellowish or reddish, like that of a sunrise or sunset.

We don't take chances. We only fly when the wind is less than the permissible limits and the weather conditions are good.

We bring years of experience to the sport of ballooning, as well as a sense of adventure. We love what we do, and are anxious to share the joy of ballooning with as many people as possible! You're sure to find a package that perfectly fits your special occasion on our Balloon Rides page; we offer more options than you'll find anywhere else!