Proud Moment

[NaH2O]

I am so proud of my brother, that I decided to post a thread. A few of you know my brother is a pilot for the Blue Angels (this is his final year with them). The Discovery Channel did a 4 part series on a year with the Blue Angels, and the first episode aired last Wednesday night. I watched the 4-part series on another channel, and was very impressed with the show....and especially proud of him. It was funny to see him (mainly in the 4th episode) on TV, and my daughter thought it was great! If you are interested in the Blue Angels - you can catch the 2nd episode tonight on the Discovery Channel (10pm EST), the 3rd and 4th episodes the following Wednesday evenings. Tonight's show is about the Demo.

Anyway - wanted to give a heads up for airplane enthusiasts, and say how proud of him I am.

 

[bradreef]

wow that is impressive. we will have to watch that. I remember watching the blue angels as a kid every year. They definately blew my mind.

 

[szidls]

Congrats to your brother Nikki!! I'll definately have to watch. I really enjoy when the Blue Angles come to Seafair every year. A week of ground shakin, eye poppin excitement.
I have a nephew who wants to be a police officer. He just enlisted in the Army and is going in today for his physical. Got to admire a kid who knows what he wants and is going to serve his country to help get there.
Thanks to your brother and all those who serve.
Scott

 

[Scooterman]

I'll have to watch that tonight myself, I saw them at the airshow last summer, they are Awesome!

 

[wrightme43]

Thanks for sharing Nikki. I know it means nothing from some random dude. Your brother is a real hero. Those guys return back to fighter pilot duty and have done it before. I was on nuc. subs in the navy. Tell your brother thanks for keeping america safe. Scott thanks to your nephew as well. It is appreciated. Steve

 

[mkpaulson]

Nikki discovery Military Channel this past Saturday ran a big segment on the Blue Angels, was he reassigned to California do to the hurricane doing damage to their base?

 

[NaH2O]

I saw it on the military channel, it was nice to watch all the segments within 2 days. He's awesome, even though he teased the he** out of me as a child (I still have a tinge of fear while water skiing that something will get me from below), but he also got me interested in reef tanks. The first time I saw him fly Fat Albert - I was in awe. Holy cow - he's in control of that??? The JATO was way too cool. Since this is his last year I hope to make 3 of his shows. Mark, when the hurricane hit, he did a lot with relief. He's a C-130 pilot, so in the 4th segment they talk with him a bit. The devastation on the base was incredible from the hurricane. I was there in November, and couldn't believe how bad Pensecola looked. Boats sticking out of homes.....which insurance company pays for that.....the boat or house insurance?

Sorry - got off on a tangent there. I also wanted to mention that I'd love for this thread to not deteriorate into a thread on politics or anything like that, so I hope no one is upset with it. I really just wanted to let everyone know that's interested in the Blue Angels and their performance about my brother and a great documentary series.

Thanks everyone for your interest! The whole Blue Angels team is outstanding.

 

[CarlaW]

Thanks for sharing Nikki. I know it means nothing from some random dude. Your brother is a real hero. Those guys return back to fighter pilot duty and have done it before. I was on nuc. subs in the navy. Tell your brother thanks for keeping america safe. Scott thanks to your nephew as well. It is appreciated. Steve

Ditto on that Nikki, we have to appreciate that!!! Thank your brother for me too.

 

[MtnDewMan]

That is very cool Nikki. I actually tuned into the military channel and caught part of those episodes. Was thinking about your brother when I saw the C130 crew. Not sure I know which one was your brother though. I thought the show was AWESOME ...

And you are a good sister to be proud, as he is doing good things for sure.

 

[NaH2O]

Thanks again, everybody! I really enjoyed how the series went indepth about the pilots learning to fly the demo and how hard they strive to seek perfection. I learned alot, and this will make the airshows that much more impressive next time I see one.

Chuck - I don't know how much of the last episode you saw, but he was the one standing in front of a house with a huge tree cut down talking about the hurricane devistation. He did lose his reeftank in the hurricane.

 

[MikeS]

Very Cool Nikki...thanks for showing us that...

Having been in the Navy myself, I have a special respect for the Blue Angels...your brother gets a big "thumbs-up" from me...

MikeS

 

[big t]

Hey Nikki, so that is really cool. I am going to watch it tonight! So did he get his reef tank started back up? What kind of tank did he keep? Maybe we could get some frags together and send him a package.

 

[NaH2O]

No - the tank is being stored in my basement at the moment. Since he is done with the blue angels this year, he didn't think there would be enough time to cycle it and get it going before taking it down again. Until he knows where he will be going, I'm going to hang onto it. His tank (120) was very nice - softies, a great naso tang, a wrasse (can't think of what species it was right now), and another small fish (maybe a chromis if my memory serves me correctly). A perfect tank for someone that travels a lot. They did the best they could to prepare it for the hurricane, but no one could predict that they would be off base for so long.

 

[snobanker]

As a 20 year Air Force man I'll have to side a little with the Thunderbirds , but that is really cool that youre brother is a Blue Angel, they are definatly the best of the best.

 

[bswim]

I've seen them practice at Seafair, which was pretty cool because they practice longer than they perform the show for, at least they did 14 years ago before the state started getting picky about their performances.

For anyone that hasn't seen them in person, go see them no matter how far away you are. I don't even watch them on TV anymore. It's pretty boring after seeing it firsthand.

Tell your brother Thanks from all of us!!!

 

[NaH2O]

Just an update....we watched my brother on On the Record with Greta Van Susteren earlier this month....The Blue Angels. If you want to see photos, go to where it says "Gretapix: The Blue Angels". You can see my brother talking with Greta ontop of the Fat Albert.

Last weekend we went to NAS Pensacola for the end of season show, and to watch my brother fly the Fat Albert for the final time. It was so exciting. I took a few pics from the show on Saturday.

(click to enlarge)
Here is the JATO....gotta love the rockets: View attachment 8767 (it takes off to the song Thunderstruck)
Here is Fat Albert doing the high speed pass: View attachment 8768
Here is another shot: View attachment 8769
Here are the F-18s: View attachment 8770
Here he is waving to the crowd: View attachment 8771

 

[Krish]

Sounds good Nikki. I'll definately watch and look for someone who looks like you with short hair flying a plane(LOL)

 

[MtnDewMan]

That is awesome Nikki ... very cool and very proud indeed ...

 

[big t]

Very cool Nikki. I have only seen the blue angles once, and wow they were impressive. I have seen the T-birds lots of times and while they are incredible, I think the angles have a little something extra.

 

[Ed Hahn]

very cool...

Nikki,
Those are cool pix. You have every reason to be proud.