What, no pictures of “Fat Albert” doin’ a “JATO” takeoff? To me that is always the best part of the show!!!

And, if I remember correctly, wasn’t your brother a Naval Aviator?

LOL! I wouldn’t know a Fat Albert and a JATO take off if I looked at one. There were about 43 pictures in the batch and a few were of a big old lumbering prop plane. Kind of like a hog snout on the front. Is that the one? The lad took three short videos, too. I think that plane was one of them.

My brother was, indeed, Navy, but not an aviator. In his formative years he dreamed of being a pilot, but ended up being a Navy doc instead. Now retired and a Naval historian. Kind of a funny twist for an ole hippie. ;)

sigh...Ask the lad! Fat Albert is the C-130 (Marine-crewed) that carries all the spare parts etc., plus the maintenance crews from show to show. It’s painted blue and gold too and usually opens the show. I’ll email you a photo this evening when I get home. I just caught the Angels myself over labor day weekend at Pax River down here in Maryland.

The lad must of went to Brunswick (sp?). Cindy Sheehan was supposed to protest there but backed out at the last minute.

Politics aside, if a person isn’t impressed with the Blue Angels (and the men who fly them) there is no hope for them!!!

Photo #1 is a B-17, the principal US heavy bomber in Europe during WWII.  It has that distinctive drone you hear in many movies and documentaries about the war.

I got to take a 30-minute ride in this B-17 during one of its annual stops at Pease.  Definitely a way-cool experience.  The drone is wondrous up close.

I suspect Cindy Sheehan made a wise choice to give Maine a pass. Mainers are pretty well disposed toward the military considering it is the bread and butter for so many of the residents. After having come so close to losing the shipyard this summer, they’re still a little brittle about it and I don’t think she would have been well received. Many may even secretly agree with her, but protesting is somethng else again. If it’s their idea, that’s one thing, but importing protest is a whole different ball of wax.

Phillip, the lad said that the Fat Albert was definitely there and took off at about a 45 degree angle with rockets blasting. Don’t know why he didn’t get a picture of it. He said it was pretty cool.

The B-17 was supposedly a replica of the Memphis Belle. Not sure that replica is the right word, but it was decorated like the Memphis Belle and carries the Belle’s story with it. Riding in one of those *would* be a way cool experience.

When I was in the Navy I spent several months in school at Pensacola where the Blue Angels are headquartered (I guess they still are-this was 1970, or so) and we’d be out at the beach and they would scream by about 50 feet over the water-inverted. Pretty cool!