The Blue Angels Super Sonic Flight

It was August 2005. The day was warm, calm, and the sky was a piercing clear blue. We were attending an Air Show featuring the Blue Angels, an elite team of Navy pilots, demonstrating their skills. Arriving at Walker Field, Grand Junction's small airport, The Blue Angels were performing today. Walking through the temporary parking lots toward the hangar's the dust was stifling; the cars were lined up and packed like sardines in a dirt filled can. People were everywhere, men, women and children, of all ages. Excitement filled the air with the weight of expectancy.

We traveled the length of the parking lot, almost to the gate itself, when everybody started to slow down and gaze upward, squinting and shading his or her eyes looking for the source of the strange sound. Murmurs of "Where?" and "I don't see them." were heard throughout the group. Suddenly, no, faster than suddenly, a jet passes overhead silently, and then a second later, a roar of the jet engines so loud the ground shakes underneath our feet. Clapping, cheers, and exclamations travel through the assemblage.

We moved past the turnstiles quickly by airport security and unto the runway where booths have been set up along the edge of the tarmac on the south side. A barricade type fence about 4 feet tall fences the crowds in and keeps them off the center of the runway. On the other side of the barricade are five jets, F/A18 Super Hornets hunkering down on the asphalt, awaiting orders. Standing about fifteen feet tall, and sixty feet long, these fighter/attack jets looked like sleek steel gray panthers, crouching in wait.

As the show begins, a motorcade delivers the pilots, the loudspeaker blares with the narrator's explanations of ritual we are about to observe. It was a precise display of military pomp and timing. The pilots and mechanics performed exact saluting and parade techniques for each pilot and plane, all five of them. After the introduction, the pilots entered their jets and started their engines. When all was ready, the planes peeled out of formation in exact form and taxied down the runway, gaining speed and lifting off. At this same moment, loud rock music filled the air, like the soundtrack of Top Gun, but not cheesy. The music generated excitement and was wisking the crowd, each one of us, into the cockpit with those pilots. We were pumped up. Adrenaline was flowing. Everyone craned their necks to see them go up, up, and up. They disappeared, but we could hear them, out there... off to the left, the crowd turned their heads as one to see the jets coming toward the runway again, but this time flying wingtip to wingtip at speeds of Mach 1, around 1,200 mph. The sound was deafening, like the loudest thunder one could ever hear, but we not only heard the sound, but also felt it, through the bottoms of our feet into our souls. Inches apart they flew, and then suddenly shot straight up into the atmosphere until they were again out of sight. The crowd was all the while cheering, praising, clapping, and yelling. The roar followed in the wake of the jets.

The show went on, music pounding, inspiring every observer, reminding them of the skill of our Navy, our men, and our country. How could we ever lose battles to anyone? Maneuver after maneuver, the people watched awe-inspiring dances with five pieces of machinery that caused all eyes to tear with the sheer wonder of it. The narrator's voice boomed over the loudspeakers, there was to be a special surprise arriving for the crowd to see...the announcer asked for silence so the gathering would understand the meaning of the surprise...

Slowly out of the west glided the B2 Spirit Stealth Bomber. Not a sound came from the crowd of roughly 600, instead of clapping; the quiet intake of breath alerted the next person over of its quiet approach. It was thin, about 17 feet tall, the wingspan about 172 feet across, and its length of 69 feet. From the front, it looked like a jagged ruler, shaped in a "W" design. As it glided past us at about 600 mph, it looked like a gray stingray gliding through the ocean depths. It passed the silent crowd and on to the east, then out of sight. The gathered group sighed almost collectively, and then exploded into the screeches of yells, whistles and cheers. Goosebumps on arms abounded, and tears trickled from the eyes. One could feel the chests swell with pride for all the military services and our great country.God bless America.