The legendary "Blue Angels", the U.S. Navy's aerobatic squadron, announced its new recruits on Monday.
Among them is the first female pilot, Lt Amanda Lee, to fly the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet in the squadron. The famed squadron selected two F/A-18E/F demonstration pilots, an event coordinator, a C-130J Super Hercules pilot, an aviation maintenance officer and a flight surgeon to replace departing team members, according to the unit. A total of 17 officers serve with the Blue Angels, the second oldest aerobatic team in the world. The fact that a squadron publishes the names of its members because the American public is interested, because they have cult status and because they are proud of it is remarkable. Unthinkable in Germany.
Blue Angels
Hundreds of women representing the Navy and Marine Corps have served with the Blue Angels over the past 55 years. There are currently 25 women on the team. The new team members will begin a rigorous five-month training programme at the Naval Air Station in Pensacola, Florida, and the Naval Air Facility in El Centro, California, in September. According to the Blue Angels, officers usually stay with the squadron for two to three years. Since its founding in 1946, the squadron has had more than 260 demonstration pilots and 37 flight leaders or commanding officers.
The Blue Angels will close out the 2022 season in November with a homecoming show in Pensacola, Florida. Each year, an estimated 11 million viewers watch the season's performances across the country and in Canada.
Blue Angels at the "delta breakout" over the Golden Gate Bridge, during the Fleet Week Air Show, San Francisco. Photo: US Navy
Source: Svetlana Shkolnikova, stars and stripes
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