• Home
  • About John P.
  • Contact
  • Terms
  • Facebook
  • Google+
  • Instagram
  • Linkedin
  • Pinterest
  • StumbleUpon
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

One Man's Blog

Specialization is for Insects.

  • 10 Best
  • Art
  • Computing
  • Fun Stuff
  • Gadgets
  • Videos
  • Photography
  • Travel
  • Tutorials
  • Health & Fitness
  • Politics
  • Thoughts
  • Food
  • Reviews
  • 10 Best
  • Art
  • Computing
  • Fun Stuff
  • Gadgets
  • Videos
  • Photography
  • Travel
  • Tutorials
  • Health & Fitness
  • Politics
  • Thoughts
  • Food
  • Reviews
Home / Photography / I Spent The Day With The Blue Angels, and Here Are the Photos

I Spent The Day With The Blue Angels, and Here Are the Photos

US Navy Blue Angels C-130 Hercules, Fat Albert
John P.

November 4, 2010 By John P.

Cali Lewis, Dave Curlee and I had the good fortune to spend a day with the US Navy Blue Angels at the Alliance Air Show last weekend (thanks to our friend Rachel Medley). Among the highlights was the invitation to actually ride along with the Blue Angels – but not in their standard F/A-18… instead in their C-130 Hercules cargo plane (crewed by an all-Marine Corp staff)!

US Navy Blue Angels C-130 Hercules, Fat Albert

Now, when you first hear this you might be like – that’s awesome! Of course I’d do it! At least that is what I thought. But then I learned that they were going to fly that C-130 the same way they fly those fighter jets! Seriously. Like crazy takeoffs and landings and 60 degree banks, etc. They described it as “worse than a roller coaster”, even though the plane, affectionately named “Fat Albert” weighs 100,000 pounds!

I Wussed Out

I know you’re all going to give me a lot of crap for this, but I didn’t do it. Dave and Cali went on the plane, but knowing my own limitations I opted to forego the experience because I was certain it was going to make me sick. And frankly it just wasn’t worth it to me to be sick for the rest of the day.

So instead, I hung out with them, and crawled all over that C-130 and took a bunch of photos – and most importantly, mounted three Contour HD camcorders strategically in the plane before they took off! So that even if I wasn’t going to ride along, I’d get to see what I missed out on!

I don’t quite have the video ready for you guys yet, but it’s coming. So look for it in the near future here on the blog. But in the meantime, here are a bunch of photos of the US Navy Blue Angels F-18s, C-130, and the crews that run them. I hope you all enjoy!

The Photos

Here are a few I uploaded directly to the server.

US Navy Blue Angels C-130 Hercules, Fat Albert
Blue Angels F/A-18
Blue Angels F/A-18
Blue Angels F/A-18
Blue Angels F/A-18

Cali Lewis Rides in the Blue Angels C-130
Cali Lewis Rides in the Blue Angels C-130
The Blue Angels' C-130 Hercules
The Blue Angels’ C-130 Hercules

And here is what is featured in my Blue Angels Flickr gallery.

Related

Filed Under: Photography Tagged With: Airplane, Blue Angels, Cool, Navy, Photography

About John P.

John P. is a former CEO, former TV Show Host, and currently an unemployed bum. You can find him on Twitter, Facebook and Google+. Feel free to send shoutouts, insults, and praise. Or Money. Money is good.

Comments

  1. Robert Geczi says

    December 4, 2010 at 12:05 am

    I saw the episode when Cali jumped out of the plane, and conducted an interview mid-flight. Awesome stuff.

  2. Wayne Pruner says

    November 18, 2010 at 11:09 pm

    I love the Blue Angels. It’s amazing the maneuvers they can do in close proximity with each other. They come to the Hillsboro Air Show (Oregon) every other year. So they should be coming in 2011.

  3. Kirk Mastin says

    November 7, 2010 at 10:31 pm

    These HDR photos are AWESOME! You are so lucky to have hung out with the Blue Angels. I’m a Seattle wedding photographer and used to shoot for a newspaper, I would have killed to shoot that. At least you got to install a few Contour cameras. Looking forward to the video!

    -Kirk

  4. Lisa Marie Mary says

    November 5, 2010 at 8:51 am

    So so so thrilled to have you ‘back in my space’, John! Bwahahaha! See – I thought we were buds, you know, cool and all. Then you go around out-bad-assing me all over the place! And I’ve just been spent! A wuss in my corner – while John has all the fun. However, this, this pleases me to no end – to know that you, as I, would not have been able to handle it.

    “You can’t HAAANDLE it!”

    Pleased as punch, signing out!

    • Lisa Marie Mary says

      November 5, 2010 at 8:53 am

      Oh and totally KILLER

      • Lisa Marie Mary says

        November 5, 2010 at 8:53 am

        …pics, btw – as usual!

        (Sorry – on daughter’s machine. Laptop fan bit the dust – and the laptop. Life on someone else’s machine is just so not right.)

  5. fas says

    November 5, 2010 at 7:54 am

    Well those pics are as usual awesome man, do you use HDR?

I Recommend Siteground!

Web Hosting

Tweets about johnpoz

Follow Along for E-Mail Updates
Don't miss any of John P's craziness! Just shove your email address in the slot below and we'll take care of the rest! :-)
Arrow

Email: