ME 440 Aerospace Engineering Fundamentals Hot Topic of the Week
The Blue Angels
What about the Blue Angels? -- Wesley Far
The mission of the Blue Angels “is to enhance Navy and Marine Corps recruiting efforts and to represent the naval service to the United States”. That is, they are advertising and public relations.
Two of the Classic Blue Angel Maneuvers
Four-plane Diamond Formation
Six-jet Delta Formation
Some Facts Stationed at Forrest Sherman Field, Naval Air Station Pensacola, Florida Fly nearly 68 air shows with more than 17 million spectators, annually. Officer corps of 16 Formed in 1946 by Chester W. Nimitz
Boeing F/A-18 Hornet
Prime contractor: Boeing Principal contractor (airframe): Northrop Powerplant: Two General Electric F404-GE-400 low- bypass, turbofan engines; each in the 16K-pound thrust class Radar: Hughes APG-65 with long-range detection in both head-on and tail-on aspects Length: 56 feet Height: 15.3 feet Wingspan: 40.4 feet (with missiles) Wing area: 400 square feet
Speed: Mach 1.7+ (1,200 mph) First flight: November 1978 Crew: One (two in two-seat trainer version) Combat radius: 500-plus nautical miles Combat ceiling: 50K feet (approx.) Fuel: 11K lbs. internal, 16K lbs. w/external tanks Max takeoff weight: 56K lbs. Cost: Approximately $18 million