Valley seeing Blue again By NICOLAS TABOREK, Staff Writer
Saturday, January 3, 2009 10:27 PM PST
TODD KRAININ PHOTO
FROM LEFT: After parking their F/A-18 Hornets on the runway of Naval Air Facility El Centro on Saturday, Blue Angels Cmdr. Greg McWherter, Maj. Chris Collins, Lt. Frank Weisser, Lt. Cmdr. Paul Brantuas, and Maj. Nathan Miller receive a warm welcome from the ground crew and administrative staff.
TODD KRAININ PHOTO
Blue Angels Lt. Cmdr. Paul Brantuas (left) grabs his suitcase and jacket from the runway while Cmdr. Greg McWherter is being interviewed Saturday at Naval Air Facility El Centro.
NAVAL AIR FACILITY EL CENTRO — Touching down here Saturday, the Blue Angels pilots stepped out of their bright blue jets in style, decked out in their equally bright blue flight suits to greet a small crowd of air show enthusiasts and ex-Blue Angels on hand to welcome the pilots.
There were no breathtaking maneuvers as the team arrived from its base in Pensacola, Fla., on Saturday — all that will come later, after 11 weeks of hard training at the team’s El Centro winter home.
Beginning Monday, the elite group made up of seven Navy and Marine pilots will be flying six days per week, logging multiple flights per day in preparation for the start of its air show season, which kicks off with the annual El Centro show on March 14.
“Once we’re out here really things start hitting the ground hard and heavy,” said U.S. Marines Maj. Nathan Miller, one of six pilots who flies in the air shows, after landing Saturday afternoon.
The Blue Angels team consists of about 135 people in all, including administrative and maintenance personnel. Being a part of the Blue Angels is generally a two- or three-year assignment, so many team members are part of winter training for the first time.
It’s at NAF El Centro, Miller said, that the Blues evolve into a well-oiled machine.
One of the team’s first-year members is also its commanding officer.
U.S. Navy Cmdr. Greg McWherter will be the group’s flight leader as well as the officer in charge of day-to-day business on the ground.
He said the team’s arrival in El Centro marks the beginning of intensive training.
“We’re ready to learn the demonstration, we’re ready to learn how to do our jobs … it’s an exciting time,” he said.
Known for their shows that feature tight formations — sometimes the planes come within 18 inches of one another — the Blue Angels are part of the Navy and Marine Corps’ recruitment effort.
The group is scheduled to fly about 65 air shows at 34 sites around the country this year, said Petty Officer 2nd Class Chris Laurent, a public affairs representative for the group.
While the Blues’ air show maneuvers appear death-defying, Laurent said they’re actually the same as the maneuvers regular Navy pilots perform, albeit done in much closer proximity to other planes.
“These are not tricks,” he insisted. “These are the same maneuvers they would perform in combat.”
The Blue Angels’ winter training season begins after a year marred by scandal. In 2008, the team did its last three air shows with only five jets after two Blue Angels, including one pilot, were removed from the team for having an inappropriate relationship, The Associated Press reported last October. In The Associated Press article, a spokesman for the Blue Angels said the relationship was between a man and a woman but did not identify the team members involved.
Among the guests on hand for the Blues’ arrival on Saturday was Betty Tucker, an El Centro resident who has become an honorary Blue Angel despite never having been in the military.
Tucker said she met members of the Blue Angels in El Centro in 1989 and has stayed close to the Blues ever since. She hosts an annual dinner for the team at her house and said she brings food to the base every other week during winter training.
“I feel like they’re family to me — you adopt somebody and they become your family,” she said.
" Welcome back Blue Angels. Looking forward to seeing you perform in March. Thanks to Betty Tucker for making these gentleman feel like home here in the Valley. Hey guys, fly those planes low and fast. Woo-Hoo!!!!!!! "
gymjunkie wrote on Jan 4, 2009 9:39 AM:
" Welcome home. Do me a favor, break the sound barrier as you pass over rayo and abelito's house. HooooRah! "
abelito wrote on Jan 4, 2009 9:17 AM:
" "Da plane! Da plane!" lol "
rayodeseeleynoa wrote on Jan 4, 2009 7:29 AM:
" NO GO HOME TO FLORIDA OR WHERE EVER YOU COME FROM.YOU FLY TO LOW AND MAKE TO MUCH NOISE GO FLY A KITE MEJOR. "
Gamecock wrote on Jan 4, 2009 6:43 AM:
" Welcome back. Good luck. "
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mariasais wrote on Jan 4, 2009 2:06 PM:
Looking forward to seeing you perform in March.
Thanks to Betty Tucker for making these gentleman feel like home here in the Valley.
Hey guys, fly those planes low and fast.
Woo-Hoo!!!!!!! "