The U.S. Navy Blue Angels
A Maintenance Perspective
Hello. My name is Ron Waldrop. I am a retired U.S. Navy Master Chief, more specifically, an AVCM (AW). My Blue Angels tour was from September 1980 to March 1984. I was selected by the team when I was an AE3 assigned to VF-126 at NAS Miramar, CA. When I transferred to the team I was an AE2 and filled the role as an aviation electrician in the electrical work center and later became the work center supervisor prior to becoming an AE1. This is the single most memorable tour of duty I had... bar none... and I have had some fantastic tours serving with some of the finest people that have graced this planet. It was my pleasure and an honor to have followed, been a peer, and led some of the nation's absolute finest men and women. These are relationships forged under all manner of circumstances, both positive and negative as well as during some pretty stressful times. For those considering a tour or a career in the United States Navy, I can think of not one single more noble purpose and the experiences you will have, both good and bad, will last a lifetime. Feel free to contact me if you are considering a tour or a career. I'll freely give you the straight scoop... I served both sides of the coin, both as an enlisted man and as a naval officer. I do have some recent insight into military service since my son served a four year tour in the Marine Corp (2001-2005) and performed two combat tours in Iraq. The first tour was the invasion of Iraq during March of 2003. His second tour was in and around Ramadi. More recently, my nephew has joined the navy and will become a submariner and is in the process of attending "A" school and follow on training in Groton, CT.
I am currently a member of The Blue Angels Alumni Association and I am originally from Anniston, Alabama. I have since called many wonderful places home. Places such as Millington, TN, San Diego, CA, Pensacola, FL, and Virginia Beach, VA.
I have also had the good fortune of spending time in and around a huge number of other cities around the world and the United States. I currently reside in the Greater Cleveland Metropolitan area. I first entered the U.S. Navy during December of 1976 and spent my boot camp days at the Navy's "Country Club" (RTC Orlando, FL), which has since closed it's doors due to BRAC.
It is a pleasure to have you visit my web page. It is dedicated to the uniqueness of The Blue Angels in particular and the air show environment in general. My emphasis is placed upon the Maintenance and Support functions of the team. The maintenance and support departments are made up of the technical and administrative professionals 'hired' to keep the organization running and aircraft flying smoothly. In other words, "works good, lasts a long time, varies little from ship to ship or station to station, don't screw with it". Of course, some of the team's dynamic has changed since I departed becoming more organized as a typical fleet squadron over the last few years and in my opinion dilutes some of the old time camaraderie that used to be more fined tuned. This isn't to say it lacks professionalism as it probably has even more professionalism today than during my day. The team now has a Quality Assurance work center now and did not when I was a member of the team... though we never took chances with the work performed as we would exhaustively have all worked closely scrutinized by peers and seniors alike in order to catch any defect before it became a flight problem.
Sometimes I have to ask myself if I can continue to post
relevant information since I left the team in 1984. But 'Once a Blue always a Blue'
reminds me there will always be some degree of relevance and history is a time
of reflection as well as a learning tool for future development. This means
I am still somewhat qualified to speak of those things with which I was, and
am, familiar. Each year the team evolves. It evolves because it learns new
lessons from hardships. New discoveries make possible the continued
effort to bring Naval Aviation right into the neighborhoods of many American
cities each year as well as occasional trips abroad. This is the first time
in the team's history that it has flown a type, model, series (TMS) for so
long. The Blue Angels have been flying the F/A 18 Hornet since 1986. A very
long time. While a great aircraft seeing the same plane in demonstration
flight for all these years is a bit hard on the nerves. The air show
environment is tough on airframes and it demonstration aircraft are "cycled"
through the positions over the years. In other words, a slot bird is only
going to fly the slot position for a certain period of time before it gets
cycled through a diamond position for a while and so on and so forth. A
close eye is kept upon air frame life and the sir frame is always given in
depth inspections during certain phases of the aircraft's lifecycle. Maybe
the team will be able to transition to another bird once the navy rolls out
the newer birds slated to come on board during the coming years.
I was with the team during the days of the A-4F Skyhawk II, known in some circles as the mighty midget or scooter. We also used a TA-4J, two
seat, aircraft with BuNo. 158722 as the #7 aircraft which would periodically
be used in practice demos for public relations purposes. This aircraft was
very well suited to the air show environment due to the beautiful delta wing
design which added a stunning dimension to both the diamond and delta
formations. Furthering the air show attributes of this A-4 configuration was
the J-52 P-408 engines providing just under 11K pounds of thrust. These
engines were taken from the EA-6B "Prowler" electronic jamming series
aircraft.
The aircraft became old and time caught up with them. The transition to the F/A-18 Hornet made possible once again the international travel ability of The Blue Angels. Soon after the transition to the Hornet, former Soviet east bloc countries and Russia itself was treated to performances by The Blue Angels.
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' BLUES' past and present have dedicated themselves time and again to the mission that is assigned to the team. New team members will carry on that tradition. The team is assigned to take NAVAL AVIATION directly to the public and demonstrate what the typical naval aviator is taught during his/her flight training. Flight training is demanding and The Blue Angels make it seem like a walk in the park. This speaks to the skill level required for close aerobatic demonstrations. These pilots do it closer together... a mere 36" from wingtip to canopy... how's that for precision aerobatics near MACH 1?The Blue Angels take these maneuvers and place them right in front of you flying virtually wing tip to wing tip or wing tip to canopy. A dazzling display to be sure, especially to the uninitiated. Of course, it takes many hours of painstaking practice and coordination in order to perform these maneuvers. It also takes a group of dedicated and highly trained professionals on the ground in order to whip those planes into shape and keep them in top flying form. Make no mistake about it, it requires everyone doing his/her job to make all of this work. Pure magic in motion... The Blue Angels. As stated, the team is pure magic in motion. It's all a matter of a unique set of specifics and the air show environment has an ample amount of them to go around. Many of the rules, customs, and traditions of the team have been written in blood, sweat, and tears. These rules and procedures were adopted because of recurring requirements and lessons learned over time. May navy command leadership never forget these hard learned facts of air show life and professionalism, and if they do I sincerely hope the Master Chief will do his/her job and pull up along side and remind 'em!. Aircraft discrepancies are treated with a much higher priority than normal navy aviation procedure or what a standard squadron may assign to them. After all, these aircraft must perform in a tightly controlled area in front of thousands of spectators. This is no place for accidents, assumptions, or oversights. Nothing is left to chance when it comes to troubleshooting and resolving discrepancies on these Blue Birds.
Maintenance personnel travel
with the performing aircraft to and from all air show sites and winter training in the famous Lockheed C-130 affectionately known as 'FAT ALBERT'.
The bottom line: The Maintenance Crew owns the show aircraft 23 hours a day... lock, stock, and barrel. The technicians simply turn over the keys to their toys for an hour a day so the pilots can practice, or put on a dazzling display of aerobatics for spectators. After that hour of thrilling adventure, the aircraft undergo painstaking inspection, maintenance, and/or repairs. I am pleased, and proud, to display a page primarily dedicated to the efforts of the 110+ maintenance personnel on the Maintenance Crew. I also dedicate this page to my former team mates the late LCDR. Stu Powrie, AD1 Joseph Russel Mascaro, and Dale Specht (McDonnel-Douglas Rep) and their surviving family members. To ALL Blue Angels, past, present, and future! I would ask current team members to drop a line using the links on this page to offer up things I can do to improve the currency of this page... your assistance and participation is encouraged. If you are currently, or have ever been, a member (assigned) of the TEAM in a military or civilian capacity then contact the Blue Angel Alumni Association. There is a modest membership fee with some good things that go with it. Check it out. Their site is at: http://www.blueangels.org
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SITE MAINTAINED AND UPDATED PERIODICALLY |
UPDATED DECEMBER 18, 2007 |
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To my shipmates everywhere... Fair winds and following
seas. |
