“This is a very aggressive schedule…we’re on the road, taking Naval Aviation to the Heartland”. With those words, Lt. Mike Blankenship, the Public Affairs Officer for the Blue Angels, grabs my printed schedule and makes a quick correction, adding Niagara Falls, New York to the schedule (a printing oversight).

34 stops in three countries, and an early October trip to Hawaii for the team, the first at MCAS Kaneohe Bay.

They’re also heading east for a weekend visit to Bermuda on 12-13 June, and their Canadian foray will be 11-12 September to Shearwater, Nova Scotia.

“We’re adding three new pilots to the team this year, including a Marine flying in the #3, or left wing slot.”

Business is brisk around the Blue’s table at the ICAS show.

Every airshow that has the team scheduled wants more press material, wants to make arrangements now, and there’s a steady stream of fans who hosted the Blues’ in past years, just coming by to say “Hi” and pick up a bounty of freebies.

The teams schedule finds them flying alongside the Snowbirds at the Ft. Lauderdale Air and Sea show May 1st and 2nd (a great show, if you’ve never been there!), then two weeks later, 15-16 May at Andrews AFB in Washington, at Shearwater, Nova Scotia on 11-12 September, and for a fourth time at Salinas, California, October 2 & 3.

There’s also the possibility of doing the “team a day” bit when the Blue’s fly Niagara Falls on 28-29 August, and the Thunderbirds are at the other end of Lake Erie, Toledo, Ohio, the same weekend. That’s about a four hour trip.

Nothing else has changed with the team. The brilliant Blue and Gold paint remains the same. While the team looks forward to flying the F/A 18E “Super Hornet” one day, they’re flying to their winter training grounds at MCAS Yuma after the first of the year, to weld the team into a single aircraft.

And one more note: I have the printed schedule with the Snowbirds, Thunderbirds and Blue Angels on it, from March through November, and I’m pretty convinced that living in Florida is THE PLACE for airplane lovers.

There are a total of 12 performances by the teams in the Sunshine State. The Blue Angels with 7 different shows, the Thunderbirds with 3 and the Snowbirds with 2. Most are two-day appearances. Florida people: we envy you!

California follows with a total of 10 team appearances.

And by comparison: Texas has three team visits, and New York state gets four.

FMI: www.blueangels.navy.mil