Will Be His Fourth Consecutive Year On The Team

LCDR Brandon Hemler will become one of a few Blue Angels pilots to serve four years on the team when the 2020 season gets underway.

LCDR Hempler will fly Blue Angel #5 Lead Solo for the second season. Air Show News reports that he will be filling a slot that had initially been assigned to LCDR Andre Webb, the 2019 Opposing Solo from Lawton, Oklahoma.

Webb missed four public demonstrations at the end of the 2019 show seasons. Blue Angels Public Affairs said that he was absent for "personal reasons", but he was expected to return to the show for the 2020 season. However, the team has now announced that he will not be returning for his third and final season on the air show circuit. No reason was given for the change.

The Blue Angels have already started preparing for the 2020 season. They are currently practicing with several flights per week out of NAS Pensacola over the Gulf of Mexico. They will soon be moving to their winter headquarters Naval Air Facility El Centro, California.

The 2020 and 2021 show schedules are expected to be announced this week.

(Image from file)

FMI: Source report