The Blue Angels

Those gleaming blue-and-gold planes do not fly themselves. Behind those highly trained and skilled pilots is an amazing team of individuals who are equally proficient in their work. In the early years, it was a small group of maintenance crewmen who kept the planes running. As the popularity of the Blue Angels grew, so did the need for more team members, such as a public affairs officer (PAO), flight surgeon, and events coordinator.

Within the squadron, there are seven departments: administration, aviation medicine, events coordination, maintenance, public affairs, supply, and everyone’s favorite, “Fat Albert Airlines.” Today, all team members follow the typical Navy rotation of three to four years on station for enlisted and two years for officers, after which they return to the fleet. They must apply and pass the rigorous requirements and be willing to cope with the long, strenuous hours, especially the days away from home and family.

Because serving as a Blue Angel is a singular honor, the adage “Once a Blue, always a Blue” applies. There are a Blue Angels Association and fan groups, as well as considerable floor space dedicated to the Blues at the National Naval Aviation Museum in Pensacola, Florida. Fourteen Blue Angels have continued in their Navy careers to achieve flag rank and one went on to become an astronaut.

Flying as a Blue Angel is not without risk; 27 pilots have been killed over the squadron’s 70-year history in shows or training. Additionally, Blue Angels pilot Lt. Comdr. John “Johnny” Magda was shot down and killed over Korea in 1951, and Comdr. Harley Hall was shot down over Vietnam in 1973 and is still listed as missing in action, the last listed American prisoner of war during that conflict.

In 1954, Capt. Charles O. “Chuck” Hiett was the first marine to join the team. Today, “Fat Albert” is flown by a crew of marines, including the first female Blue Angel pilot, Capt. Katie Higgins, who joined the team in 2014.

In this 1949 photograph, pilots of the 1949 Blue Angels team discuss maneuvers in front of their Grumman F9F-2 Panther. From left to right are Lt. Robert “Bob” Longworth, team leader Lt. Comdr. Raleigh “Dusty” Rhodes, George Hoskins, and Lt. E.F. “Fritz” Roth.

Air shows are as popular on base as they are with the public, always drawing large crowds. Here, civilians, sailors, and marines alike gather for an air show, in the early 1950s. The Blues’ newest aircraft and first jets, Grumman F9F-2 Panthers, are seen on the left. To the right of the photograph are their previous aircraft, Grumman F8F Bearcats.

Lt. Comdr. John Joseph “Jack” Magda became team leader, or “boss,” in 1950. In front of the Panther are, from left to right, Comdr. Arthur Ray “Hawk” Hawkins, Lt. F.J. Murphy, Lt. Fritz Roth, Lt. Jack Robke, Lieutenant Commander Magda, and Lt. George Hoskins.

Air shows are great times for photo opportunities. Here, the 1952 team poses in front of its Grumman F9F-2 Panther with Miss NARTU (Naval Air Reserve Training Unit). From left to right are a Lieutenant James, Lt. F.O. Murphy, Commander Hawkins, Miss NARTU, Lt. Roland Ashlund, Lt. Harding C. “Mac” MacKnight, and Lt. “Buddy” Rich.

This is another photograph of Hawkins’s team, with Hawkins on the left and Murphy second from left. In front are Lieutenants Aslund and Rich.

On November 8, 1952, the Blue Angels performed before a large crowd at NAS Denver, Colorado. Their Grumman F9F-2 Panthers can be seen lined up to the right in front of the crowd. The large white aircraft in the center is likely their support aircraft, which at the time was a Curtiss R5C Commando.

Speed in the air and speed on the ground! Lieutenant Commander Hawkins (behind the wheel) and Lt. W. Rich sit in a Porsche 356 American roadster in front of Panther No. 3 in this 1952 photograph. In August 1953, Lieutenant Commander Hawkins added to the already amazing legend of being a Blue Angel when he ejected from an F9F-6 at about 30,000 feet and flying at a speed of about 400 knots and lived to tell the story to Post magazine in 1954.

In this photograph dated March 3, 1955, US Navy lieutenant commander Harry M. Sonner, a maintenance officer, checks the nose section of the new Cougar. In addition to a new aircraft, the Blues now had a new home: they transitioned to Pensacola, at Sherman Field, which was newly built to accommodate the Navy’s newest jets.

Two of the Blue Angels talk over a flight with the 1954 Miss America, Evelyn Ay. The man on the right is “Boss” Zeke Cormier. In the background, an apparently envious maintenance worker looks on from the cockpit of the T-33 Shooting Star, a support aircraft from 1952 to 1954.

With their new Grumman F11F Tigers lined up in the background, members of the 1959 Blue Angels team discuss maneuvers. They are, from left to right, Lt. John Damian (squatting and wearing sunglasses, No. 6); Lt. Bob Rasmussen (squatting, No. 4); Capt. Stoney Mayock, USMC (squatting, No. 2); Comdr. Zeb Knott (standing, No. 1); Lt. Mark Perrault (sitting on ground, No. 7), Lt. Don McKee (squatting), a new pilot for the 1960 team; and Lt. Comdr. Jack Dewenter (standing, No. 5).

The public information officer (PIO) gets to have all the fun. These are the forerunners of the unit—the advance men who fly out to make preparations before the show as well as conduct the VIP flights. Here, Lt. Mark Perrault helps movie star Janet Leigh prepare for her flight as a Blue Angel in 1959 at NAS Key West, Florida.

The pinnacle of success is leading the Blue Angels in one’s private plane, as golfer Arnold Palmer does here in his Aero Commander 500, leading three Blue Angels in their F11F Tigers.

Lt. Edward “Duke” Ventimiglia, US Navy, drives the “Go modern, fly Navy” miniature Ford Model T to the narrators stand at the Everett Washington Air Show in August 1960. After his Navy career, Ventimiglia built a highly successful television career as E. Duke Vincent. Of flying with the Blues, he relates in his online biography, “I loved every living minute of every living day with the Blue Angels. On the ground, we met everyone from governors and mayors to store clerks and kids as we brought naval aviation to fifty cities in our ten-month show season. In 1960 and ’61, hundreds of thousands came out in cities scattered across the nation from Seattle to Key West, San Diego to Bangor. In the air, it speaks for itself. As any aviator who flies fighters will tell you, ‘We’d pay them to let us fly those machines!’”

In 1960, the Blue Angels met with the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) Golden Hawks under the Princes’ Gates at the Exhibition Place in Toronto. From left to right are Commander Knott, No. 1; Captain McCaughey, US Marine Corps, No. 2; Lt. Bill Rennie, No. 3; and Lt. Comdr. Ken Wallace, No. 4. The Golden Hawks flew flight demonstrations from 1959 to 1964 in the Canadair Sabre 5.

In 1957, actor Ernest Borgnine (third from left) was made an honorary Blue Angel in a ceremony in San Diego. Borgnine was in the US Navy from 1935 to 1945 and continued to support the Navy and veterans’ causes throughout his life. Others who have been made honorary Blue Angels are Bob Hope (see page 28); Dave Scheuer, the Grumman representative who worked with the Blues from 1951 to 1969; Dale Specht, the McDonnell Douglas representative from 1973 to 1983; Martin “Trader Jon” Weissman, who ran Trader Jon’s in Pensacola for almost 40 years; Adm. John H. “Jack” Fetterman Jr., a past president and CEO of the Naval Aviation Museum Foundation; Roger Wolfe Kahn, a 1920s bandleader and Grumman test pilot; Don Duncan, former American Airlines chief pilot; and Glen Huber and Don Lambe, California businessmen and huge supporters of the Blues during winter training. In 2014, former president George H.W. Bush, a World War II pilot himself, was made the latest honorary Blue Angel.

The 1960s brought new opportunities to thrill audiences all over the world, as the Blues made several international tours, beginning with Mexico in 1964. In 1965, they flew in the prestigious Paris Air Show. Here, the 1965 team poses in front of the Eiffel Tower. From left to right are Lieutenant Commander Ross; Captain Craig, USMC; Lieutenant McDonough; Commander Aumack; Lieutenant Hubbard; Lieutenant Mezzadri; Lieutenant Commander Oliver; and Lieutenant Commander Cowles.