News Reporter
A select few went on the ride of their lives last Friday. They had the rare opportunity to fly in Blue Angel jet “Fat Albert” before the air show began.
“Have a great time today,” crew member Staff Sgt. Kevin Sanchez said before loading passengers. “The more you guys have enthusiasm, the more we have enthusiasm. We can hear you screaming in the back, and we have a blast.”
Operated by top-notch Marines with extensive flying experience, Fat Albert is a C-130 jet with many capabilities. It is used by the military to transport heavy equipment, drop off supplies, and some can even refuel other aircrafts.
“For how big it is, it’s really maneuverable,” crew member Staff Sgt, Doug Green said.
As passengers discovered, Fat Albert has the power to pull several G-forces, make extremely sharp turns, and take off at a 45-degree angle. Airlines take off at only a 10-15 degree angle.
“This thing can turn on a dime,” Sanchez said. “There is no plane that can turn with us.”
Passengers experienced Fat Albert’s powerful escape strategies, most notably dropping so quickly that they experienced zero gravity.
“People think it’s just a show, but these are the maneuvers that we use in combat,” Sanchez said. “All of us on the crew, we’ve done this before in a real-world situation.”
Green recalled an incident in a C-130 during a tour in Iraq.
“We had a missile lock when we were in Baghdad,” Green said. “They did the same maneuvers but it was for a lot longer period of time. I came really close to throwing up on that ride. It was horrible. Somebody had a radar lock on the aircraft when we were flying through Iraq, so they performed evasive maneuvers, up down and cranking it really hard, pulling several G’s up and down,” Green said.
All of Fat Albert’s crew members were very enthusiastic and passionate about their job. They have been carefully selected and have extensive flying experience. They work six days per week, and fly two or three times a day.
“There aren’t many bad days here,” Sanchez said. “This is an amazing job and we’re happy to do it. I mean, where else do you get to fly basically the world’s best roller-coaster every day? It’s fun for us. The more excited the people get onboard, the more we feel that energy.”
Green enjoys working among professionals who are experts at everything they do.
“I’m working alongside everybody who is either my rank or higher so you’re not babysitting kids that just got out of high school, trying to teach them how the military works,” Green said. “Everybody that’s here has been in the military long enough to understand how it works. They all know how they’re supposed to act and they know their jobs by this point in time so everybody just does their job. You’re not going to get accepted to the team if you don’t act right.”
After back-to-back deployments, Green was pleased to join the Blue Angel team.
“I was getting ready to go on another deployment before I got orders to go,” Green said. “I was getting ready to go four times in a row in five years. This is a nice break. I get to spend some time in the states. Even if I’m not home, I get to see my family much more now than I was before.”
Being a member of the Blue Angels has been a long time dream for Sanchez.
“This is something that I’ve spent my career trying to get. Once I got assigned to the C-130, I knew I had a chance here,” Sanchez said. “This is how we represent the military. The majority of the military is exactly like us. It gets engrained in us at boot camp.”
lpratt@mavs.coloradomesa.edu
Click here for more photos of the Blue Angels and the Air Show.
Recent Comments