This Blue Angels retrospective was produced by the Blue Angels Association to celebrate the team’s 70th Anniversary in 2016. The video intermixes performance footage tracing all the way back to the team’s original Grumman F6F Hellcat aircraft and personnel with music from the eras during which each aircraft was flown by the team along with still shots of teams and luminaries associated with the Blues over 70 years. The video was uploaded to YouTube by Blue Angels Association.
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The Blue Angels have flown the Grumman F6F-5 Hellcat (1946), the Grumman F8F-1 Bearcat (1946-1949), the Grumman F9F-2 Panther (1949-1950, 1951-1955), the Grumman F9F-8 Cougar (1955-1957), the Grumman F11F-1 Tiger (1957-1968) the McDonnell Douglas F-4J Phantom II (1969-1973), the Douglas A-4F Skyhawk (1974-1986), the McDonnell Douglas (Boeing) F/A-18A/B/C/D Hornet (1986-2010), and the Boeing F/A-18E/F Super Hornet (2020-present).
Additional aircraft operated by the team include the North American SNJ Texan trainer, The Lockheed T-33 Shooting Star trainer, and for a brief period, the “gutless” Vought F7U Cutlass fighter. Support aircraft for team have included the Douglas R4D Skytrain (1949-1955), the Curtiss R5C Commando (1953), The Douglas R5D Skymaster (1956-1968), the Lockheed C-121 Super Constellation (1969-1974, and the Lockheed C-130 Hercules (1970-present)- also commonly referred to as Fat Albert.
The Blue Angels have starred in films and television many times since their inception- one of the first being a television series airing during the early 1960s. The song “Flying Blue Angels” performed by George, Johnny and the Pilots was a hit in 1961. Many films, documentaries, and videos have featured the team and their performances. Appearances on two episodes of Tim Allen’s television series Home Improvement and a couple of Mythbusters episodes also added to the team’s credits. Movie stars, presidents, and celebrities alike have always been drawn to the charismatic Blues.
