Expert: What it takes to be a Blue Angel

When the Blue Angels thunder overhead and rattle the windows, we don’t often consider the history behind their theatrics in the sky. What we mainly know is that they’re loud.

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“The team was originally founded in 1946 by the secretary of the Navy,” said Barry Latter, a Blue Angels expert with the Museum of Flight. “It was set up primarily as a recruiting tool and really an inspiration for young people to join the Navy or the Marine Corp and go from there.”

“After a short hiatus during the Korean conflict, they’ve been flying ever since.”

The Blue Angels team fly in F/A-18 Hornets, which have been in use since 1986, and achieve speeds up to Mach 1.8. The Blue Angels include pilots from the Navy and Marines and is the official flight demonstration team for the Navy. They are the second oldest flight acrobatic team in the world. The Department of Defense spends $37 million annually to operate the flight team.

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Becoming a Blue Angel pilot is no simple task, and the ones who make it are far more than mere entertainers.

“First of all, he’s got to be a carrier-qualified fast jet pilot with the Navy or the Marine Corp,” Ladder said. “In order to fly for the Blues, he’s must have at least 1,250 flight hours in. Most of the Blues have actually been deployed abroad. They apply to go into the Blues, and then by a process of peer selection, with a series of interviews, demonstrations, and the like, they get approved.”

Those pilots in their F/A-18 Hornets can be seen each year above Seattle and Lake Washington during the Seafair festivities. Locals also know of their presence when I-90 shuts down for a few hours each day leading up to the sky-high performance.

Listen to the entire interview below.