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July 14, 2005 I first experienced the U.S. Navy Blue Angels 21 years ago when I lived in Pensacola, Florida, their home base. I worked at The Exchange on Corry Base, and I’d walk to work with my neck craned in utter amazement as the Angels practiced their acrobats. The Blue Angels are a squadron of Navy FA-18 Hornets that are not used as combat aircraft, but as promotional tools for the Navy and Marines. Six planes are used in their airshows, which are performed all over the country and are worth seeing, even if you have no interest in the military. Or airplanes. The pilots spend years perfecting their signature acrobatic maneuvers, such as their incredibly tight diamond formation that leaves you wondering what would happen if one of the pilots sneezed. All six planes are used for their echelon parade, where they fly perfectly stacked and offset of each other. Their most breath-holding maneuver is the opposing solo, where two planes appear to be playing chicken and fly at each other, waiting until the last possible second to pull either sideways or vertically to pass each other. They also relish in flying upside down. My favorite maneuver has always been the “ripple roll,” where the pilots perform individual 270-degree rolls while flying in the echelon formation. The “twizzler,” where they fly upwards in an inverted “V,” then fan out with each pilot doing six-point spins, looks like fireworks¾another favorite. (This maneuver is shown in Van Halen’s 1984 video “Dreams.”) Two weeks ago I visited Pensacola with my husband and attended the Blue Angels airshow on the beach. As usual, they were every bit as awesome as I remembered. I’m not sure what gave me more of an adrenalin rush: their flawless performance or the sonic rumble when they “buzzed us” over the beach. The performance by WWII fighter planes before the Angels were up is also worth mentioning, and the lunatic in a single-wing Daredevil who nearly took out the fishing pier a few times was especially entertaining after my third Long Island iced tea. (I think he got his wheels wet when he dipped down towards the water, too!) Other planes included a Japanese Tropeto, P-51 Mustang, Douglas Dauntless, British Mesquito, and a Daredevil bi-plane. As for the city I once called home, the people in Pensacola are as friendly and gracious as I remember in spite of Hurricane Ivan’s wrath on them ten months ago. Many homes and hotels are still under construction, and the palm trees are just growing new cover, but the beach, itself, is just as beautiful as I remembered. With its powdery white sand and turquoise water, it resembles a Caribbean island, and it was in far better shape than I ever imagined. I attribute this to the unbroken spirits in its residents. It was great to see The Dock, an open-air bar on the beach, was still standing after two decades and the hurricane. For two days, the employees stayed smiling and friendly as they served drinks to thousands of people who started gathering on the beach just after sunrise for the noontime airshows. (This was to ensure we’d get a parking spot, which to my glee, is still free!) To my amazement, I was even recognized in that bar by a retired Navy Master Chief, who used to pick up his uniforms from me at The Exchange. Flounders restaurant is still there, too, and since I was way too poor to eat there two decades ago, we enjoyed not one, but two dinners there. I recommend it, even if you have kids. Not only are their prices reasonable, they have a pirate ship playground in the sand right in the middle of the open-air section of the restaurant. You probably won’t even have to feed the kids once they see that. My husband and I also enjoyed the relaxed atmosphere in Florida’s panhandle that you just don’t get on the Jersey shores: people holding beer cozies while playing with their kids in the ocean, and barbeques under tents in the sand. There were many American flags whipping in the breeze as well, which were even noted by the airshow’s announcer. To the young guys who sat in a row under a blue tarp, grilling chicken, who yelled “Git R Done!” to my husband when we walked by them hand-in-hand¾ thank you so much! You made a 39 year-old girl’s day! I didn’t feel so foolish wearing a bikini after that. One thing I couldn’t help noticing: in the 5,500-car beach parking lot, I didn’t see one Bush-bashing or Kerry/Edwards bumper sticker, which was downright delightful. That’s the America I know and love! ------------ About the author: Karyn Hughes has a fiction book published by Authorhouse entitled, Scattered Dreams, which is about a newly single mother who battles ADHD. Hughes is also looking for an agent since she has six other finished novels and one more in the works. All Hughes’ novels are related and could be part of a series. Email: Karynlilly1@comcast.net Tell a friend about this site! ------------ All articles are EXCLUSIVE to Useless-Knowledge.com and are not allowed to be posted on other websites. ARTICLE THIEVES WILL BE PROSECUTED! |
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