Blue Angel's Gear Door Broken?

No,I didn't know Elder or Choteau,they were a bit before my time.I started
working there in '85..My father was there since '71 till his retirement in '94
so I'm sure he remembers those guys.How about Jim Foley?Another good guy..I did
know Paul Metz though,he had some things to say regarding the whole ATF deal..I
seem to remember something about,"They picked the heavier,lower powered
combo,can you believe it?"Apparently he was a big fan of PAV-2,the GE powered
'23..Kevin O'Mara is still around I'm sure,he was in F-18 Marketing at the time
of my departure in '97.He had some great stories to tell for sure..Wasn't
Harley Hall the last guy shot down(officially at least) in Vietnam?

Have a good one--E.B.

"EB Jet" wrote in message
...

of my departure in '97.He had some great stories to tell for sure..Wasn't
Harley Hall the last guy shot down(officially at least) in Vietnam?

Yup. That will unfortunately be Harley's legacy. It's a shame really. He
did some great things in his life.

Take care,
Dudley Henriques
International Fighter Pilots Fellowship
Commercial Pilot/CFI Retired
For personal e-mail, use
dhenriquesATzarthlinkDOTnzt
(replacezwithe)

Chad Irby wrote:

My favorite "Blue Angels moment" was when I got to walk around the
planes (back when they were flying A-4s), and saw the dents in the sides
of their fuselages.

"Geez, those are some beat-up old planes," I thought.

Then I noticed that the dents were the exact same size and shape as the
tips of their wings... and were fresh.

Of course...
--

-Gord.

I came across some super 8 home movies of the 1980 Dayton Airshow that
we attended. Watching the Blues portion I noticed that the show was
flown w/ only 5 aircraft. The #4 a/c in the diamond was not there.
Did anything happen to them prior to this airshow.

Coincidently, when we returned to Dayton for the 1985 show, the Blues
again flew w/ only 5 aircraft. They were minus a solo ship. I
remember that the weekend before the solo's colided in Niagra Falls.

PTB





"Mike Dennis" wrote in message ...
I noticed the exact same thing when I saw the film a couple of years ago. I
thought I was the only one who noticed!! I wonder if it was part of a hack
job needed to mount the IMAX camera? I've saw the real planes up close soon
after that and saw no damage at all.


"Clay N4AOX" wrote in message
...
I was watching the IMAX movie on Flight at the Pensacola Museum the other
day, featuring the Blue Angels and their F-18 Hornets. One of the
on-board
cameras kept showing a gear door up close that look mangled or shredded,
or
cut in some sort of jagged pattern on one of the Hornets. This seemed
strange, since the aircraft are supposedly kept in immaculate condition.
Not knowing anything about the F18 configuration, is this gear door
condition normal?

Best regards,

--Clay

PT Ball wrote:

I came across some super 8 home movies of the 1980 Dayton Airshow that
we attended. Watching the Blues portion I noticed that the show was
flown w/ only 5 aircraft. The #4 a/c in the diamond was not there.
Did anything happen to them prior to this airshow.

Coincidently, when we returned to Dayton for the 1985 show, the Blues
again flew w/ only 5 aircraft. They were minus a solo ship. I
remember that the weekend before the solo's colided in Niagra Falls.

PTB

"Mike Dennis" wrote in message ...
I noticed the exact same thing when I saw the film a couple of years ago. I
thought I was the only one who noticed!! I wonder if it was part of a hack
job needed to mount the IMAX camera? I've saw the real planes up close soon
after that and saw no damage at all.


"Clay N4AOX" wrote in message
...
I was watching the IMAX movie on Flight at the Pensacola Museum the other
day, featuring the Blue Angels and their F-18 Hornets. One of the
on-board
cameras kept showing a gear door up close that look mangled or shredded,
or
cut in some sort of jagged pattern on one of the Hornets. This seemed
strange, since the aircraft are supposedly kept in immaculate condition.
Not knowing anything about the F18 configuration, is this gear door
condition normal?

Best regards,

--Clay



I remember a Blues show a few years back. In the middle of the show one of the diamond planes landed and
the pilot ran across the tarmac, climbed into #7, and took off. he rejoined the formation without a break
in the action. I was interested that there was absolutely no mention of any of this activity from the
announcers.


Bob McKellar, long time Blues watcher

I have video of a takeoff at Boeing Field a few years ago. One of the diamonds
right gear wouldn't come up. He circled back over our heads and headed south
where they foamed some runway (or so I heard) for him at McChord AFB in Tacoma.
They flew the show with one less plane.
-- Charlie Springer