Blue Angels coming back to thrill in Hawaii — in 2022
![COURTESY LANCE CPL. JULIAN TEMBLADOR
The Wall of Fire is set off behind the U.S. Navy Blue Angel demonstration team during the 2015 Kaneohe Bay Air Show aboard Marine Corps Base Hawaii.](https://staradvertiser.wpenginepowered.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/web1_Blue-Angels-w-fire.jpg)
COURTESY LANCE CPL. JULIAN TEMBLADOR
The “Wall of Fire” is set off behind the U.S. Navy Blue Angel demonstration team during the 2015 Kaneohe Bay Air Show aboard Marine Corps Base Hawaii.
The Navy’s Blue Angels haven’t visited Hawaii since 2015, and the bad news is they won’t be putting on their neck-snapping aerobatic shows here in 2021 for their 75th anniversary, either.
But a schedule recently released by the Navy shows the precision flight demonstration team zooming over the Kaneohe Bay Marine Corps base Aug. 13-14 in 2022.
A planned 2017 air show was canceled due to an unspecified “schedule change,” so it will have been seven years between appearances by the blue and yellow F/A-18 Hornet fighters that thrill with close-quarters formation flying and high-speed low-level passes.
According to the Blue Angels, the closest the four-aircraft “diamond” flies is 18 inches apart.
The fastest speed is the 700 mph “sneak pass” (just under Mach 1) and the slowest speed is about 120 mph, both flown by the two solo pilots during the show.
During their 76th air show season in 2022, the Blue Angels are scheduled to perform 63 demonstrations at 32 locations, the Navy said.
“The mission of the Blue Angels is to showcase the teamwork and professionalism of the United States Navy and Marine Corps by inspiring a culture of excellence and service to country through flight demonstrations and community outreach,” the Navy said.
Since 1946, the Blue Angels have performed for more than 500 million fans.
The Blue Angels’ C-130, affectionately known as Fat Albert, begins each demonstration by exhibiting its maximum performance capabilities during a ten-minute performance, the demonstration team said.
The Blue Angels flew the F/A-18 Hornet for 34 years. A final flight in the “legacy” aircraft took place on Nov. 4. The 2021 show season will be the Blue Angels’ first year flying the F/A-18 Super Hornet, which is 25% larger.