Blue Angels Homecoming Air Show 2023

passedgas46 · Post by **passedgas46** » Mon Nov 06, 2023 2:00 am

wfooshee wrote: ↑Sun Nov 05, 2023 11:54 pm I'm going through my own images. My one disappointment with the show was the very low (for this area) humidity, which resulted in almost no vapor from the jets, even in the 700+ mph passes. Nothing except for wisps from the F-35, and the normal trails from the strakes on the F-16 and the F-18s, and even those were only on the severest pulls. Otherwise, it was indeed a great day, on both days.

Fat Albert received a water salute after its Saturday demonstration, I think for someone's final flight with the team (I couldn't quite hear the PA.) I don't know if it was final flight, or maybe retirement. It was exciting, though, as I've never seen this in person!

Good lord those speaker towers are an eyesore. The base didn't have them in the two years I went (2006 - when the Super Hornet had two tires burst on landing, and 2011 - when they had all those Centennial jets on display) and in fact, I vividly recall all speakers were in the crowd area.

Very nice photos and write-up! As for the water cannon salute, I can say I've seen my share of them at airshows over the last 30-40 years but never for the Blue Angels or Thunderbirds.

CultOfTheWyvern · Post by **CultOfTheWyvern** » Mon Nov 06, 2023 2:23 am

passedgas46 wrote: ↑Mon Nov 06, 2023 2:00 am Good lord those speaker towers are an eyesore. The base didn't have them in the two years I went (2006 - when the Super Hornet had two tires burst on landing, and 2011 - when they had all those Centennial jets on display) and in fact, I vividly recall all speakers were in the crowd area.

Oi, I'd forgotten about those. I was a few rows back from the front so not as much of an impediment, but yeah, not pretty. Not helping matters on the Friday was the fact that the PA for the Viper Demo and the Blues (at the beginning of their show anyway) was muffled.

wfooshee · Post by **wfooshee** » Mon Nov 06, 2023 2:49 pm

Those speaker towers appeared at the 2015 show, and were actually taller then! Comparing this shot from 2015, the ad banner is actually above the top of the current tower's height, and the speakers are above that instead of behind the banner.

Another change is that the bleachers haven't been back since the homecoming show returned to the base last year, and that sucks big time.

passedgas46 · Post by **passedgas46** » Mon Nov 06, 2023 3:31 pm

wfooshee wrote: ↑Mon Nov 06, 2023 2:49 pm Those speaker towers appeared at the 2015 show, and were actually taller then! Comparing this shot from 2015, the ad banner is actually above the top of the current tower's height, and the speakers are above that instead of behind the banner.

Another change is that the bleachers haven't been back since the homecoming show returned to the base last year, and that sucks big time.

Yikes. Thanks for clarifying when they first appeared. Like I said they weren't there the two years I went and weren't there in all the videos between those years (and maybe even 2012). I suppose it's just another thing to get used to.

As for the bleachers, that stinks. I had bleacher seats in 2011 and they were okay. I'm no photographer - I carry a pair of binoculars with me but I do appreciate an elevated seat, even if it's more than 50 feet behind the crowd line. Pensacola's bleachers are not like Oceana's bleachers, which in turn, are nowhere near what you'd have at Miramar.

Maybe not next year but the year after I'll make a trip down, especially since the museum is back open to the public.