The Blue Angels: A 65 Year History

At the end of World War II, the Chief of Naval Operations, Fleet Adm. Chester W. Nimitz, ordered the formation of a flight demonstration team “to keep the public interested in naval aviation,” according to the official record. In fact, the Navy wanted to generate public and political support for a larger allocation of the shrinking defense budget. Having defeated the Axis, the Navy brass was now turning its sights on a different kind of adversary – the Air Force.

Four F/A-18 Hornet aircraft assigned to the U.S. Navy Flight Demonstration Squadron, the Blue Angels, perform over Naval Air Station Oceana, Va., Sept. 18, 2010, during the Naval Air Station Oceana Air Show 2010. U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Andrew Johnson

Lt. Cmdr. Roy M. “Butch” Voris was among naval aviators who knew that the Air Force would soon become an independent service branch and would enjoy support on Capitol Hill at budget time. When the Navy tasked Voris to assemble and train a flight demonstration team, it picked the right man. A seven-kill air ace who treasured his personal recipe for “Tennessee Hog Heaven Pork Barbecue,” Voris was even-tempered, cool-headed, and a demanding taskmaster. “He was a good guy: pleasant, cheerful, approachable,” said biographer Barrett Tillman in a telephone interview. “He enjoyed telling stories about others more than about himself.”

Voris launched his team with F6F-5 Hellcats from Grumman. With a 2,800-horsepower Pratt & Whitney R-2800-10W Double Wasp radial engine with water injection, the robust Hellcat was the fighter that had beaten the air arm of the Imperial Japanese Navy in the Pacific. The team made its first appearance May 10, 1946.

Within months of launching the as-yet unnamed team, which initially made about a dozen appearances, Voris learned that the lighter, potentially more maneuverable F8F-1 Bearcat – which had never seen combat – might become available. With the same engine, but weighing about two-thirds as much as a Hellcat, the Bearcat was ideal to demonstrate maneuverability. The F8F-1 became the team’s aircraft on Aug. 25, 1946.

To represent the Japanese Zero fighter at air shows, the team flew an SNJ Texan trainer and later an all-yellow F8F-1 Bearcat. One of the team members visited New York and dined at a nightclub called the Blue Angel: The team now had a name. An attempt by the Navy at an earlier juncture to label them the Blue Lancers had gotten nowhere.

The first Blue Angel Flight Demonstration Squadron, 1946-1947, assembled in front of one of their F6F Hellcats. From left: Lt. Al Taddeo, solo; Lt. j.g. Gale Stouse, spare; Lt. Cdr. R.M. “Butch” Voris, flight leader; Lt. Maurice “Wick” Wickendoll, right wing; Lt. Mel Cassidy, left wing. U.S. Navy photo

On Sept. 29, 1946, Lt. j.g. Ross “Robby” Robinson failed to recover from a dive in his F8F-1, crashed, and was killed. He was the first of 26 fatalities in the Blue Angels’ 65-year history.

In 1947, Lt. Cmdr. Robert Clarke replaced Voris as team leader and introduced the Blue Angels’ well-known diamond formation and the loop and barrel roll maneuvers while remaining in the same formation.

Gathering a reputation for its spectacular aerobatic maneuvers – and fighting the tendency of the press to call them a “stunt team” – the Blue Angels used a JRB Expeditor (Beech 18) and subsequently an R4D-6 Skytrain for logistical support. After several changes in personnel, the team transitioned to the straight-wing Grumman F9F-2 Panther on July 13, 1949.

In early days, one of the Blue Angels’ goals was to outshine the Air Force, which became an independent service branch on Sept. 18, 1947. Although the Air Force and its predecessor services operated a number of aerobatic teams, the well-known Thunderbirds did not come into existence until May 25, 1953.

Props to Jets

The Blue Angels flew the F8F-1 Bearcat until a final appearance at Madison, Wis., on Aug. 14, 1949. However, throughout 1949, the team was gradually preparing to transition to the Grumman F9F-2 Panther, the standard Navy jet fighter of the era. Lt. Cmdr. John J. “Johnny” Magda joined the team at that time, and became its commander a few months later. A five-kill air ace, Magda had flown at the Battle of Midway and survived a ditching and five days in a life raft. Magda led the team’s first Panther jet performance at Beaumont, Texas, Aug. 20, 1949.

Grumman F9F-5 Panther jets of the U.S. Navy flight demonstration team Blue Angels in 1953. U.S. Navy photo

It was a time when jet engines were evolving. Several versions of the Panther were placed on duty with different engines. A Pratt & Whitney J42-P-6/P-8 centrifugal-flow turbojet – a modified Rolls-Royce Nene, providing 5,950 pounds of thrust with water injection – powered the F9F-2. The single-seat, tricycle gear Panther had a wingspan of 37 feet, 5 inches, and weighed 16,450 pounds fully loaded. The Blue Angels’ Panthers dispensed with armament and some other features, reducing their weight to around 14,000 pounds, but Magda and others initially questioned whether jets could be as maneuverable as propeller-driven aircraft.

Lt. Cmdr. R.E. “Dusty” Rhodes, the team’s third commander in 1949, designed the official Blue Angels insignia. It is nearly identical to the current design. In the cloud in the upper-right quadrant, the aircraft were originally shown heading down and to the right. Over the years, the plane silhouettes have changed with the team’s aircraft.

After the Korean War began, the Navy decided to return the Blue Angels to fleet duty. Re-equipped with cannon-armed F9F-2B Panthers, and led by Magda, the team formed the nucleus of fighter squadron VF-191, “Satan’s Kittens,” assigned to USS Princeton (CV 37). In a move that has never been repeated by either the Navy or the Air Force, the Navy sent its flight demonstration team into battle.

On March 9, 1951, Magda led a strike against North Korean and Chinese troops. He was making a low-level attack with rockets and guns when gunfire struck his Panther. Magda’s wingmen saw his F9F-2B consumed with flames. The pilot managed to get the aircraft out to sea, but it went down in the water and Magda, just 33, was lost. The Navy posthumously awarded him the Navy Cross, the nation’s second-highest award for valor.

In October 1951, Chief of Naval Operations Adm. William M. Fechteler ordered that the Blue Angels be re-formed as a flight demonstration team. Voris, now a commander, had been on the verge of retiring, but was brought back to reorganize the team and did so on Oct. 25, 1951. The Blue Angels took up station at Corpus Christi, Texas, which had been their pre-Korea home, and began flying the F9F-5 Panther, starting with an exhibition in June 1952. The F9F-5 was the main production version of the ubiquitous Panther. It was powered by a 7,600-pound thrust Pratt & Whitney J48-P-4, -6, or -8 centrifugal-flow turbojet, based on the Rolls-Royce Nene, and had a combat weight of about 17,000 pounds.

On July 7, 1952, two Blue Angels Panthers collided at low level during a demonstration at Corpus Christi. Voris was able to land his badly damaged aircraft but Lt. Bud Wood ejected. He never separated from his seat and was killed on impact.

Also beginning in 1952, the team operated a TV-2 Shooting Star (T-33 trainer) and a solo F8F-2 Bearcat while continuing to perform in Panthers. Two years later, the team briefly used an R5C Commando (C-46) for logistics support but was stymied by the difficulty of loading the aircraft. They replaced it with an R4D-8 Skytrain (Super DC-3).

The “Blues,” as they were now being labeled in shorthand, made many appearances in the F9F-5, including one at Bolling Air Force Base, Washington, D.C., on Armed Forces Day in May 1954. For the first time they appeared with – and sailors, never unbiased, say they outperformed – the Air Force’s newly formed Thunderbirds, flying F-84G Thunderjets. In more recent years, Pentagon policy was changed to prohibit the two teams performing within 150 miles of each other (in order to permit each to be a recruiting tool for its own service branch) although both teams often perform with the U.S. Army Parachute Team, the Golden Knights, or the U.S. Navy Parachute Team, the Leap Frogs.

Swept Wings

For a brief period in late 1954, the Blues operated their first swept-wing aircraft, the F9F-6 Cougar, essentially a Panther with swept wings. Its cockpit was nearly identical to the Panther’s, making transition easy, and the “dash six” Cougar actually had better carrier handling characteristics than the Panther. But the F9F-6 had been rushed into service – during the Korean War, the Navy lacked a swept-wing fighter comparable to the Air Force

F9F-8 Cougar jets of the U.S. Navy flight demonstration team Blue Angels. The Cougar was the team’s second jet aircraft, and the first with swept wings. U.S. Navy photo

F-86 Sabre or Soviet MiG-15 – and early examples had a variety of minor technical issues, including poor latitudinal and longitudinal control. A modification to control surfaces solved the problem in the fleet, but the Blue Angels reverted to the F9F-5 Panther briefly and in December 1954, began flying the much-modified and more robust F9F-8 version of the swept-wing Cougar.

The first Marine Corps pilot, Capt. Chuck Hiett, joined the Blue Angels, and they relocated to their current home at Pensacola, Fla., in 1954. According to an official history of the Blue Angels, in August 1954, “team leader Lt. Cmdr. Ray Hawkins became the first naval aviator to survive an ejection at supersonic speeds when his F9F-6 became uncontrollable on a cross-country flight.” Looking back, it is easy to wonder how an F9F-6 could have reached supersonic speed.

F7U Cutlass jets of the U.S. Navy Flight Demonstration Squadron Blue Angels. The Blue Angels were persuaded to fly two Cutlasses as a side act during their 1953 season, but both pilots and maintainers found the “Gutless Cutlass” unsuitable for the team. U.S. Navy photo

In 1956, the team made its first performance outside the United States – in Canada.

In 1957, the team made the transition to the F11F-1 Tiger. Built around the 7,000-pound thrust Wright J65 axial-flow turbojet engine, a license-built Armstrong Siddeley Sapphire, the Tiger was one of the Navy’s first supersonic fighters, but was very much a modest, interim aircraft unlike the F-100 Super Sabre the Air Force’s Thunderbirds were flying. The Blue Angels flew the Tiger in two configurations, the short- and long-nosed models. When Defense Secretary Robert S. McNamara overhauled the system for designating U.S. military aircraft on Oct. 1, 1962, the F11F-1 became the F-11A.

As the United States became embroiled in Southeast Asia, the Navy resisted any urge to return the Blue Angels to combat status. Some Blues pilots were quoted as wishing they were in Vietnam, and some got their wish. For reasons unclear, the team stayed with the F-11A Tiger long after it ceased to be an operational fleet warplane.

Enter the Phantom

The F-4 Phantom II owned all of the superlatives in the world of the 1960s and it was inevitable, perhaps, that the Blue Angels would make the transition to this new aircraft – following the example of the Air Force Thunderbirds. With its two 17,845-pound afterburning General Electric J79-GE-17A axial-flow turbojet engines and maximum

F-4J Phantom II jets of the Blue Angels. The F-4J was an awesome sight when being put through its paces by the team. U.S. Navy photo

weight of 55,000 pounds, the Phantom II had been designed as a fleet defense interceptor and was not the easiest machine to fling around the sky, especially in close-quarters maneuvers near large crowds. The Blues learned how to perform their act in the Phantom II and embellished it: A favorite maneuver, not possible in previous aircraft, was the “dirty loop,” in which a Phantom II took off, left the gear and flaps down, and climbed directly into a loop.

In 1970, after operating a variety of logistics aircraft, including a C-54 Skymaster and C-121 Super Constellation, the Blues received their first KC-130F Hercules transport, nicknamed “Fat Albert,” operated by a Marine Corps crew. Today’s version of  “Bert” is a C-130T model.

Douglas A-4F Skyhawk fighters of the U.S. Navy Blue Angels flight demonstration in a normal wedge formation. U.S. Navy photo

At the end of their 1973 season, with Cmdr. Tony Less newly in charge, the Blue Angels retired their F-4J Phantoms and began training for 1974 with the A-4F Skyhawk, called the “Foxtrot Hotrod” by some for its light weight and agility. The change was a reflection of the fuel crisis of the era, the single-engine A-4F with its 7,000-pound thrust Pratt & Whitney J52-P-408 being much less of a gas guzzler than the Phantom. Initially, eight A-4Fs were modified for Blue Angels use, with removal of the “humpback” avionics pod, installation of a drag chute, a control stick “load feel” device, a smoke generator, and a self-contained, foldable cockpit access ladder.

On Nov. 8, 1986, marking their 40th anniversary, the Blue Angels converted to the McDonnell Douglas F/A-18 Hornet strike fighter. As with the Phantom previously, they were again able to perform a slow, high angle of attack “tail sitting” maneuver, and to fly the “dirty loop” in formation with gear down – a maneuver not performed by the Thunderbirds. Also in 1986, Lt. Cmdr. Donnie Cochran became the Blue Angels’ first African-American aviator; he returned in 1994 to lead the team.

 Angels in Hornets

Cmdr. David E. “Mongo” Koss, the Blue Angels’ commander for the 2011 and 2012 season and a looming 6-foot, 3-inch former squadron commander with 3,000 flight hours and 740 carrier landings, told reporters he has “the best job in the world.” The Blue Angels

Crew Chief Aviation Ordnanceman 3rd Class A.J. Varner, assigned to the U.S. Navy flight demonstration squadron, the Blue Angels, salutes the pilot prior to launching at Naval Air Facility El Centro. U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Julia A. Casper

have now had 34 commanders and 242 demonstration pilots. The Blues began their latest training season on Jan. 3, 2011, at Naval Air Facility El Centro, Calif., the team’s winter home base.

As they thrill air show crowds, lure recruits, and showcase naval aviation in the year of its 100th anniversary, the Blue Angels carry on a rich tradition. The squadron’s six demonstration pilots fly the Hornet in about 70 shows at 34 locations throughout the United States each year, where they still employ many of the same practices and techniques used in their aerial displays in 1946. Since their inception, the Blues have performed for approximately 427 million spectators worldwide.

This article first appeared in Air Power at Sea: A Century of U.S. Naval Aviation.

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