Blue Angel's Gear Door Broken?

[Clay N4AOX]

I was watching the IMAX movie on Flight at the Pensacola Museum the other
day, featuring the Blue Angels and their F-18 Hornets. One of the on-board
cameras kept showing a gear door up close that look mangled or shredded, or
cut in some sort of jagged pattern on one of the Hornets. This seemed
strange, since the aircraft are supposedly kept in immaculate condition.
Not knowing anything about the F18 configuration, is this gear door
condition normal?

Best regards,

--Clay

[Dudley Henriques]

"Clay N4AOX" > wrote in message
...
> I was watching the IMAX movie on Flight at the Pensacola Museum the other
> day, featuring the Blue Angels and their F-18 Hornets. One of the
on-board
> cameras kept showing a gear door up close that look mangled or shredded,
or
> cut in some sort of jagged pattern on one of the Hornets. This seemed
> strange, since the aircraft are supposedly kept in immaculate condition.
> Not knowing anything about the F18 configuration, is this gear door
> condition normal?
>
> Best regards,
>
> --Clay
I haven't seen the on board film, but I can tell you this much. The public
only sees an extremely smooth picture from the ground when looking at the
Diamond of ANY acro team. What ACTUALLY goes on inside the formation in real
life would probably scare the pants off most people. I can tell you it gets
mighty "twitchy" in there at times. It's quite common to have minor contact
and indeed it has happened many times. Usually you just repair whatever has
"dinged" and touch it up. Sometimes however, those "dings" can get fairly
serious. I remember one time standing on the ramp with Skip Umstead of the
Blues looking at what was left of an outer wing panel on one of the F4's. As
they say, "**** happens", The name of the game in the formation acro
business is keeping all the "****" going in one direction!!.
What you saw could easily have been an in-flight ding. I would be surprised
however to learn that the Blues didn't edit it out before release to the
public.
You usually see this stuff during a training session, not on an Imax screen
for viewing by the general public. Things are constantly changing however,
and it could very well be that the Blues PA officer and the powers that be
have decided that it's ok to share this stuff with the public these days. In
the old days, in-flight damage was usually kept in house except on rare
occasions.
Dudley Henriques
International Fighter Pilots Fellowship
Commercial Pilot/CFI Retired
For personal e-mail, use
dhenriquesATzarthlinkDOTnzt
(replacezwithe)

[Mike Dennis]

I noticed the exact same thing when I saw the film a couple of years ago. I
thought I was the only one who noticed!! I wonder if it was part of a hack
job needed to mount the IMAX camera? I've saw the real planes up close soon
after that and saw no damage at all.


"Clay N4AOX" > wrote in message
...
> I was watching the IMAX movie on Flight at the Pensacola Museum the other
> day, featuring the Blue Angels and their F-18 Hornets. One of the
on-board
> cameras kept showing a gear door up close that look mangled or shredded,
or
> cut in some sort of jagged pattern on one of the Hornets. This seemed
> strange, since the aircraft are supposedly kept in immaculate condition.
> Not knowing anything about the F18 configuration, is this gear door
> condition normal?
>
> Best regards,
>
> --Clay
>
>

[Ditch]

>The name of the game in the formation acro
>business is keeping all the "****" going in one direction!!.

I think in the movie "Threshold: The Blue Angels Experience" they called it a
500mph skid mark or something to that effect.




-John
*You are nothing until you have flown a Douglas, Lockheed, Grumman or North
American*

[Dudley Henriques]

"Ditch" > wrote in message
...
> >The name of the game in the formation acro
> >business is keeping all the "****" going in one direction!!.
>
> I think in the movie "Threshold: The Blue Angels Experience" they called
it a
> 500mph skid mark or something to that effect.

That would be Skip Umstead's team. They were the team involved with
"Threshold".
Skip was a great guy and I miss him. It was he who accepted for the Blue
Angels , charter membership in the Fighter Pilots Fellowship. Skip and Mike
Murphy collided at Lakehurst in the F4 Diamond arrival there in July 73.
Both were killed. I was on the way there to have lunch with them when it
happened.
Yup! Those 500mph skid marks can get nasty at times. It's a deadly dangerous
business. Through the years that encompassed my tenure with airshows ,
counting our jet acro team friends, my wife and I can count 32 pilots we
knew personally, many of whom I flew with professionally, who were
killed....many in mid airs. I lost five friends in two separate mid airs in
the same race at the Cape May National Air Races on June 5th in 71 during
the T6 race there.

Dudley Henriques
International Fighter Pilots Fellowship
Commercial Pilot/CFI Retired
For personal e-mail, use
dhenriquesATzarthlinkDOTnzt
(replacezwithe)

[Mortimer Schnerd, RN]

Ditch wrote:
> I think in the movie "Threshold: The Blue Angels Experience" they called it a
> 500mph skid mark or something to that effect.


I have some patients who've left those behind.



--
Mortimer Schnerd, RN


http://www.mortimerschnerd.com

[EB Jet]

Small world indeed..I used to work at Northrop with a member of that team as
well..Kevin O'Mara who flew Blue Angel #2 in the '70-'71 timeframe..He also was
CO of VMFA-232..Not sure if he's still at Northrop or not..One helluva nice
guy..

[Dudley Henriques]

"EB Jet" > wrote in message
...
> Small world indeed..I used to work at Northrop with a member of that team
as
> well..Kevin O'Mara who flew Blue Angel #2 in the '70-'71 timeframe..He
also was
> CO of VMFA-232..Not sure if he's still at Northrop or not..One helluva
nice
> guy..

That was Harley Hall's team. Skip was solo, then lead solo in 71 on that
team before he took the team over. There were a lot of great people
associated with that team. Dick Schram was their public affairs officer.
Knew Dick for many years as I did his father dick Sr; (the flying
professor ) one of the finest J3 jockeys and comedy act air show pilots who
ever lived. Dick Sr. is one of the pilots on our list of friends we have
lost through the years. Dick Jr. is also gone now. I don't know about
O'Mara.
You were at Northrop? Did you happen to know Bob Elder and Hank Choteau by
any chance? Great guys to work with. Northrop asked me to do the narration
for the YF17 Cobra demonstration when you guys brought the airplane down to
Pax for the Navy to look over. We had some great times together that weekend
:-)))
Dudley Henriques
International Fighter Pilots Fellowship
Commercial Pilot/CFI Retired
For personal e-mail, use
dhenriquesATzarthlinkDOTnzt
(replacezwithe)

[[email protected]]

"Mortimer Schnerd, RN" > wrote:

>Ditch wrote:
>> I think in the movie "Threshold: The Blue Angels Experience" they called it a
>> 500mph skid mark or something to that effect.
>
>
>I have some patients who've left those behind.

....and there's no telling which of the two is the most feared
I'll bet.
--

-Gord.

[Chad Irby]

My favorite "Blue Angels moment" was when I got to walk around the
planes (back when they were flying A-4s), and saw the dents in the sides
of their fuselages.

"Geez, those are some beat-up old planes," I thought.

Then I noticed that the dents were the exact same size and shape as the
tips of their wings... and were fresh.

--
cirby at cfl.rr.com

Remember: Objects in rearview mirror may be hallucinations.
Slam on brakes accordingly.

[EB Jet]

No,I didn't know Elder or Choteau,they were a bit before my time.I started
working there in '85..My father was there since '71 till his retirement in '94
so I'm sure he remembers those guys.How about Jim Foley?Another good guy..I did
know Paul Metz though,he had some things to say regarding the whole ATF deal..I
seem to remember something about,"They picked the heavier,lower powered
combo,can you believe it?"Apparently he was a big fan of PAV-2,the GE powered
'23..Kevin O'Mara is still around I'm sure,he was in F-18 Marketing at the time
of my departure in '97.He had some great stories to tell for sure..Wasn't
Harley Hall the last guy shot down(officially at least) in Vietnam?

Have a good one--E.B.

[Dudley Henriques]

"EB Jet" > wrote in message
...

> of my departure in '97.He had some great stories to tell for sure..Wasn't
> Harley Hall the last guy shot down(officially at least) in Vietnam?

Yup. That will unfortunately be Harley's legacy. It's a shame really. He
did some great things in his life.

Take care,
Dudley Henriques
International Fighter Pilots Fellowship
Commercial Pilot/CFI Retired
For personal e-mail, use
dhenriquesATzarthlinkDOTnzt
(replacezwithe)

[[email protected]]

Chad Irby > wrote:

>My favorite "Blue Angels moment" was when I got to walk around the
>planes (back when they were flying A-4s), and saw the dents in the sides
>of their fuselages.
>
>"Geez, those are some beat-up old planes," I thought.
>
>Then I noticed that the dents were the exact same size and shape as the
>tips of their wings... and were fresh.

Of course...
--

-Gord.

[PT Ball]

I came across some super 8 home movies of the 1980 Dayton Airshow that
we attended. Watching the Blues portion I noticed that the show was
flown w/ only 5 aircraft. The #4 a/c in the diamond was not there.
Did anything happen to them prior to this airshow.

Coincidently, when we returned to Dayton for the 1985 show, the Blues
again flew w/ only 5 aircraft. They were minus a solo ship. I
remember that the weekend before the solo's colided in Niagra Falls.

PTB





"Mike Dennis" > wrote in message >...
> I noticed the exact same thing when I saw the film a couple of years ago. I
> thought I was the only one who noticed!! I wonder if it was part of a hack
> job needed to mount the IMAX camera? I've saw the real planes up close soon
> after that and saw no damage at all.
>
>
> "Clay N4AOX" > wrote in message
> ...
> > I was watching the IMAX movie on Flight at the Pensacola Museum the other
> > day, featuring the Blue Angels and their F-18 Hornets. One of the
> on-board
> > cameras kept showing a gear door up close that look mangled or shredded,
> or
> > cut in some sort of jagged pattern on one of the Hornets. This seemed
> > strange, since the aircraft are supposedly kept in immaculate condition.
> > Not knowing anything about the F18 configuration, is this gear door
> > condition normal?
> >
> > Best regards,
> >
> > --Clay
> >
> >

[Bob McKellar]

PT Ball wrote:

> I came across some super 8 home movies of the 1980 Dayton Airshow that
> we attended. Watching the Blues portion I noticed that the show was
> flown w/ only 5 aircraft. The #4 a/c in the diamond was not there.
> Did anything happen to them prior to this airshow.
>
> Coincidently, when we returned to Dayton for the 1985 show, the Blues
> again flew w/ only 5 aircraft. They were minus a solo ship. I
> remember that the weekend before the solo's colided in Niagra Falls.
>
> PTB
>
> "Mike Dennis" > wrote in message >...
> > I noticed the exact same thing when I saw the film a couple of years ago. I
> > thought I was the only one who noticed!! I wonder if it was part of a hack
> > job needed to mount the IMAX camera? I've saw the real planes up close soon
> > after that and saw no damage at all.
> >
> >
> > "Clay N4AOX" > wrote in message
> > ...
> > > I was watching the IMAX movie on Flight at the Pensacola Museum the other
> > > day, featuring the Blue Angels and their F-18 Hornets. One of the
> > on-board
> > > cameras kept showing a gear door up close that look mangled or shredded,
> > or
> > > cut in some sort of jagged pattern on one of the Hornets. This seemed
> > > strange, since the aircraft are supposedly kept in immaculate condition.
> > > Not knowing anything about the F18 configuration, is this gear door
> > > condition normal?
> > >
> > > Best regards,
> > >
> > > --Clay
> > >
> > >

I remember a Blues show a few years back. In the middle of the show one of the diamond planes landed and
the pilot ran across the tarmac, climbed into #7, and took off. he rejoined the formation without a break
in the action. I was interested that there was absolutely no mention of any of this activity from the
announcers.


Bob McKellar, long time Blues watcher

[Regnirps]

I have video of a takeoff at Boeing Field a few years ago. One of the diamonds
right gear wouldn't come up. He circled back over our heads and headed south
where they foamed some runway (or so I heard) for him at McChord AFB in Tacoma.
They flew the show with one less plane.
-- Charlie Springer