Action. You're in the helicopter it's loud you
got your fins on, your wetsuit, mask, snorkel, ready to go, and then you jump.
Danger.
You can hear the ice hissing and cracking all around you.
Adventure. When you cross the equator
you have to ask king Neptune's permission to become a shellback.
You're listening to Sea Story.
Episode 48 "Blue Angels Part One."
Hii this is yeoman chief Matt Young with the Blue Angels.
I'm from Lansing, Kansas and this is my Sea Story.
What led me here to the Blue Angels kind of a neat story for me.
I grew up really really deep military history background.
My dad was enlisted Navy both of my grandfathers were
army veterans World War II veterans vietnam.
I wanted to be in the military for a very long time
it was instilled in me to do the best that i can do
no matter what I'm doing. When I saw the Blue Angels for the first time that was
the epitome of that.
I actually had the opportunity to experience what some of these
amazing pilots experience every single day.
I was able to ride in the back seat of our number four jet
for a full flight demonstration. We were at an air show in my home town
you know not 20 minutes from where we grew up for every air show.
The pilots have to do a few practice
runs you know make sure that they tighten everything up and they're
putting on the best show that they can. Our crew coordinator came up and asked
me that morning said "hey we've got the back seat open do you want
a ride?" There's no hesitation "absolutely!" I'm a surface sailor
I have not been around F-18s prior to
being with the Blue Angels. I didn't really know what I was getting
myself into i'd seen the demo before and i know a lot of the maneuvers
and stuff but i had no idea what to expect going into sitting
in the back seat and doing a full demonstration. We get to sit in on the
debrief, the pilots walk through how everything's
gonna go they look at film game footage from
previous demonstrations you know this is how we
can improve for the next demonstration.
So, we get kind of a peek behind that process the strap on the flight suit you know
they give you your helmet and they go through some quick procedures on how
to prepare yourself for the different types
of g-forces that you'll experience. Really the neat thing about getting
to ride with the Blue Angels is like a lot of other fighter pilots
who wear G suits that help combat those forces
the Blue Angel's pilots do not wear a G-suit they can anticipate the
maneuvers and combat those through different breathing techniques.
So, they kind of walk us through how to
do that what to expect during those positive negative G's and
then and then you walk out climb up that ladder and they strap you
in and then you're kind of along for the ride at that point.
We're rolling out down the runway in formation everything is
timed very precise even the takeoff they take off
in the diamond formation four pilots together.
You don't even realize how fast you're going or really what's happening and for
the first 20 minutes it's really surreal.
You're looking around and for me being in my hometown, I'm looking at
the cityscape that i have seen growing up from the ground
level and now you're seeing it three four hundred miles an hour hanging
upside down. There's just so much to take in, fighting
those g's and everything you almost forget that you have to do it
because it's sensory overload there's so much going on.
You look up from wingtip to canopy in those jets when they're in that maneuver
they say it's 18 inches apart but these guys are
in formation going incredible speeds and doing these
very precise maneuvers. When you're sitting in the cockpit and
you look up and see how close that actually is doing those maneuvers
it's just unreal. The last maneuver of the entire demo and
we're talking 50 to 55 minutes into
the demonstration you've been fighting these G's and
taking all this in the cockpit gets hot and your hands get clammy and
you're exhausted by that point. The last maneuver is called a pitch up break
pilots are experiencing close to seven G's seven
times the force of your weight pushing against you
coming in in the delta formation. It's kind of the Blue Angels signature
formation, all six planes coming in it's the last
maneuver getting ready to land. I was in the four spot the slot so you
can kind of see the one jet pitch up and break, the two
spot pitch up break, and the four pilots
talking to me and he's saying you know "all right
get ready for it here it comes," you see three go and then you go.
As you start to approach passing out essentially
you can feel it coming, you lose color vision
so everything kind of goes black and white then it goes tunnel vision
and it looks like you're looking through a soda straw
and then it narrows out and if you fight it off you take a deep breath when the
maneuver's over. Some people kind of if that's where
you're gonna go take a quick nap that's where it happens it's a battle it
takes an incredible amount of energy to fight
through those G's and and they're doing it while
flying an aircraft at incredibly close precise maneuvers.
It's awesome! Then they
land and your feet are back on solid ground and
it's unbelievable i can't believe that those pilots
have the stamina and ability to perform like that.
Every single weekend it's incredible the sheer power of those aircraft i
would say you can feel it more than you can hear.
I hate to be cheesy but it's you know sounds like freedom to me!
To hear more stories like mine subscribe to Sea Story today.
Sea Story brought to you by America's Navy.
Learn more at Navy.com.
[ dramatic music playing ]