Blue Angels back in town and will be practicing weekly at NAS
Blue Angels back in town and will be practicing weekly at NAS
The Pensacola Naval Air Station based Blue Angels flight demonstration team has announced it will conduct one hour practice flights every Tuesday and Wednesday over the Naval Air Museum at NAS Pensacola.
Access to the base, closed to the public since a terrorist attack in December of 2019, is open only to Department of Defense ID cardholders and their guests and veterans who possess a Veterans Health Identification Card.
The National Naval Aviation Museum will open the flight line behind the museum to view Blue Angels practices beginning at 9:30 a.m. The Blues fly at 10:30 a.m.
Many fans of the world’s most famous pilots bring beach chairs to the Wal-Mart or Target shopping centers at the corner of Sorrento Rd. and Blue Angel Pkwy. to enjoy practices from that vantage point. Another more scenic view of the show is from Navy Point Park at the corner of Gibbs and Baublits Avenues. From that location you can sit on Bayou Grande and look across the water towards NAS.
Access to the base will be open to the public during the Blues’ season ending Homecoming shows Nov. 3-4, and there are several options being discussed to get the base’s tourist attractions back open to the public.
Florida’s U.S. senators (Rick Scott and Marco Rubio) penned a letter to United States Navy Secretary Carlos Del Toro in support of opening up the base to the public on Nov. 1.
The letter expressed support for a new dedicated state road that would allow the public to access specific attractions at the base (Barrancas Cemetery, National Naval Aviation Museum, Pensacola Lighthouse ).
“The establishment of a joint corridor will improve base security and protect the critical training mission that NASP provides to our Navy, while also preserving the connections of the surrounding community with that base,’’ the letter stated.
The Florida Dept. of Transportation and NAS commander Capt. Tim Kinsella have also endorsed a plan to make public the existing road between the NAS front gate on Navy Blvd. and the back gate on Blue Angel Pkwy. Perimeter fences along that route would secure the rest of the base.
The possibility of visitor waivers and allowing charter buses to bring the public to the museum have also been suggested. But all solutions would have to be approved by the Navy.
Before the 2019 terrorist attack, the National Naval Aviation Museum was the largest single tourist attraction west of Orlando and east of New Orleans on the Gulf Coast. Around 724,000 people visited the museum in 2019 while 198,000 visited in 2021.
The base opened its gates to the public March 25-26 to allow visitors to explore the base and its attractions. But even then, all visitors over 18 were required to show a valid license or passport. A special visitor information line at 850-452-8450 has been established to provide answers to questions about visiting NAS Pensacola and the Naval Air Museum.
Blue Angels Practice Schedule
April – 4, 5, 11,12, 18, 19, 25, 26
May – 2, 3, 9, 10, 16, 17, 31
June – 6,7, 13, 14, 20, 21, 27, 28
July – 11, 12, 25, 26
August – 1, 16, 22, 23, 29
September – 6, 12, 19
Blue Angels Air Show Southeast Shows
April 15 to 16: Naval Air Station Key West
April 22-23: Marine Air Station Beaufort, SC
April 29-30: Fort Lauderdale, Florida
May 6-7: Corpus Christi, Texas
May 20 -21: Johnson Air Force Base, NC
May 24 -26: U.S. Naval Academy, Annapolis
June 10-11: Smyrna, Tennessee
July 8: Pensacola Beach, Florida
Sept. 16-7: Naval Air Station Oceana, Virginia
Oct. 21-22: Jacksonville Beach, Florida
Nov. 3-4: Naval Air Station Pensacola