NAS Fort Worth JRB is hosting Air Power Expo 2011 on 16 and 17 April. The highlight of the show this year is the Blue Angels, the U.S. Navy flight demonstration team.

I saw them fly at Sun ‘n Fun 2011 last weekend. As always they put on a great show. Here are a few pictures I took at Sun ‘n Fun:

Fat Albert, the Blue Angels' support plane

Fat Albert is the C-130 support plane for the Blue Angels, but it is also part of their air show routine. It demonstrates a maximum performance climb, high speed pass, and steep approach to a short field landing. For such a large airplane, the C-130 is very maneuverable and can land in an impressively short distance.

Blue Angels Diamond Formation

The Blue Angels fly 6 F-18’s, 4 of them in a 4-ship formation as shown above and 2 solo pilots that fly a combination of opposing and formation passes. You can tell from the photo above, the Blue Angels fly close together! They stay in tight formation through a variety of aerobatic maneuvers and sometimes even change formations in the middle of a maneuver.

Blue Angels solo pilots

This is one of the formation passes by the solo pilots. Of course, they cannot do things normally – that would be too boring – so one of them is right side up and one is upside down. They also like to sneak up on the crowd from behind, coming in low, fast, and loud.

The air show is Saturday and Sunday, but the Blue Angels arrive in Fort Worth around 10am on Thursday. They will be practicing on Thursday from 2:45pm to 4pm. On Friday, all the air show performers, including the Blue Angels, will be practicing from 11am-4pm. The air show on Saturday and Sunday runs from 11am-4pm.

If you are pilot, be aware there will be a TFR around KNFW on Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. No west departures from Meacham! Here is the NOTAM:

!FDC 1/5889 ZFW TX.. FLIGHT RESTRICTION NAVAL AIR STATION FORT WORTH
JOINT RESERVE BASE, FORT WORTH, TX.
   DUE TO THE U.S. NAVY BLUE ANGELS, U.S. MARINE CORPS AV-8,
SPECIAL OPS PARA COMMANDOS PARACHUTE TEAM, AND VARIOUS OTHER HIGH
PERFORMANCE AERIAL DEMONSTRATIONS DURING THE 2011 AIR POWER EXPO,
EFFECTIVE:
   1104141700 UTC UNTIL 1104142100 UTC,
   1104151500 UTC UNTIL 1104152200 UTC,
   1104161500 UTC UNTIL 1104162200 UTC,
   1104171500 UTC UNTIL 1104172200 UTC.
PURSUANT TO 14 CFR SECTION 91.145, MANAGEMENT OF AIRCRAFT
OPERATIONS IN THE VICINITY OF AERIAL DEMONSTRATIONS AND MAJOR
SPORTING EVENTS, AIRCRAFT OPERATIONS ARE PROHIBITED WITHIN A 5 NMR
OF 324656N/0972624W OR THE RANGER /FUZ/ VORTAC 238 DEGREE RADIAL
AT 14.7 NM, AT AND BELOW 15000 FT MSL UNLESS AUTHORIZED BY ATC.
RALPH ROYCE, PHONE 713-408-0633, IS THE POINT OF CONTACT.  THE
NAVAL AIR STATION FORT WORTH /NFW/ ATCT, PHONE 817-782-5742, IS
THE COORDINATION FACILITY.