SEATTLE NEWS ARCHIVES & FEATURES
What’s not to like about the Blue Angels in Seattle?
Aug 4, 2017, 12:11 PM
Stunt pilot Sean D. Tucker, center, flies his Team Oracle Extra 300L in formation with U.S. Navy Blue Angels' Lt. Tyler Davies, left, and Cmdr. Frank Weisser, top, Thursday, Aug. 3, 2017, near downtown Seattle. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)
(AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)
“I feel the need, a need for speed.” – Top Gun
Yes, the Blue Angels are too loud. They very well may scare your cat. They certainly make your commute longer.
I’m not going to even dispute the complaints we get every year – like clockwork – when the elite Navy fighter pilots do their test flight in town.
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But we’re talking about one of the only events that truly defines the Pacific Northwest. Lean into it, enjoy the Blue Angels show. These are some of the best pilots in the world, returning to the community that builds the best planes in the world to show off a little.
What’s not to like?
For those of you drawn to the Pacific Northwest by the 21st Century Tech Boom, a reminder that we built this city on the 20th Century Sonic Boom. Before we had Bill Gates and Microsoft, Jeff Bezos and Amazon, or Howard Shultz and Starbucks, we had a guy named Bill Boeing who just wanted to fly. And he wanted to fly fast.
He set up shop here, and we became the epicenter for the greatest flying machines that world has ever seen. If it wasn’t for Boeing, most likely, there would be no Costco or Expedia or Adobe. Seattle would be a quaint little outpost town on your way to nowhere.
So puff out your chest with pride when that formation of Boeing F-18 Hornets fly overhead (I know it use to be McDonnell Douglas, and now it’s technically Boeing – so don’t email me).
The Blue Angels represent some of the greatest fighting machines ever conceived by mankind. In times of war, the United States has turned to this community and said, “What you got?” And we said, “How about a machine that can fly Mach 1.8 while carrying bombs, missiles and the 20mm M61 Vulcan cannon.”
When a bad guy anywhere in the world needs to hear from us, most likely, it will be in an ass kicker designed right here in the Pacific Northwest.
So yes they’re loud. Yes they will slow down traffic, and yes they will scare your cat. That’s what The Blue Angles are suppose to do.
Grab a cold drink and a lawn chair, throw on your sunglasses, and enjoy the show.
