Blue Angels/T-Birds grounded, er, I mean, season cancelled.

[scoolbubba]

There's a kernel of truth to the story; the Blues were going to continue to practice and fly the homecoming show, but the T-Birds were not going to be able to continue to practice. Someone's sandbox had more toys in it, and someone else had a case of the wet diapers. They told daddy and the rest is history.

Now, 11 hours of proficiency a month.

 

[BusyBee604]

I'm going to throw a log on the inter-service rivalry fire... I saw this on another website. I have no way of telling if it is true or not. Personally I think not but I can see it happening this way.

Picked up on the airshow circuit, supported by sources in P'cola. The "Blue angles" were going to fly their scheduled airshow events this summer. The cost is minimal because all fuel, hotels, etc are picked up by the air show promoters. The Navy believes that the US public is more and more separated from the military and going to non-militarty communities is an important mission. They not only fly at their assigned cites, they visit schools hold seminars, and provide a much greater exposure to the country of who is the Navy. Anyway the Birds had cancelled their schedule, and a certain high ranking USAF General thought it would look bad if the "Blues" flew and 'Birds" did not", so DOD, not the Navy canceled the "Blues". Talk about school boy antics!!

Horrifying if true; however, DOD is a civilian, not military... every 'screwed up' thing they do reeks of the politics of oneupsmanship, not the good of the country, or the military.
BzB

 

[Brett327]

Who is the Secretary one-upping in this scenario?

 

[helolumpy]

Part of it is perception-based, but the notion that the airshow promoters are "picking up the tab" is ignorant of the various costs of operating a squadron of aircraft. Fuel and hotels are a drop in the bucket. BL: The quoted author has no idea what he's talking about.

The Blues require some support from the host like smoke oil, water, lunch and vehicles. There is an entire pub for supporting the Blues that the host must follow.
But compared to what they bring to the show anyone can easily make up those costs through various other means like gate receipts or selling food and drinks to the folks whopretty much only come to see the Blues.

The Blues will also attend one social event for the host during the show.

 

[Flash]

I'm going to throw a log on the inter-service rivalry fire... I saw this on another website. I have no way of telling if it is true or not. Personally I think not but I can see it happening this way.

Picked up on the airshow circuit, supported by sources in P'cola. The "Blue angles" were going to fly their scheduled airshow events this summer. The cost is minimal because all fuel, hotels, etc are picked up by the air show promoters. The Navy believes that the US public is more and more separated from the military and going to non-militarty communities is an important mission. They not only fly at their assigned cites, they visit schools hold seminars, and provide a much greater exposure to the country of who is the Navy. Anyway the Birds had cancelled their schedule, and a certain high ranking USAF General thought it would look bad if the "Blues" flew and 'Birds" did not", so DOD, not the Navy canceled the "Blues". Talk about school boy antics!!

I do not think that means what they think that means.......I would be surprised if air show promoters would be able to afford the fuel for the Blues just for the airshows much less all the fuel needed to get them to and from some of the shows. I think they are talking about rental cars for the team and their gas, just a little bit less of a cost.

If it is true and the Navy was going to do that it would have been poor form and a potential PR fiasco when we are shutting down CVWs, I would expect big DoD to step in then as they should. Finally, if they can't spell the team name right then you gotta wonder what else they got wrong......

 

[ea6bflyr]

Truth is often stranger than fiction, and based off the current info I have about the furlough for DoD Civilians - I would believe it. Why? Because USMC/USN didn't need to furlough their civilians, but USAF/USA did. It would "look bad" if two services had to furlough and two did not, so DoD stepped in and said all services would furlough their civilians. That's not RUMINT either, that's coming from some high ups in MARFORCOM/Fleet Forces.

And sometimes it pays to be a DOD contractor! FTW!

 

[Flash]

And sometimes it pays to be a DOD contractor! FTW!

Until your contract gets cut.

 

[ea6bflyr]

Until your contract gets cut.

Some of the "older" contractors I work with have been around 20+ years....unlikely this job will go away.

 

[Pugs]

Some of the "older" contractors I work with have been around 20+ years....unlikely this job will go away.

If you're a quality guy that delivers what you promise and add value to the mission there is always another contact/job out there.

 

[707guy]

From the Blues support manual (edited to the important points):

Hotel: "we will be looking for a reasonable place to stay at a cost not to exceed the military maximum lodging rate for your area." "We will require somewhere between 40-60 rooms for our team, which each member will pay for individually." "The air show sponsor is responsible for funding any cost above the DoD military per diem rate including all taxes and incidentals (e.g. parking fees) if there is no suitable lodging available within these means and if waivers cannot be obtained through the Defense Travel System."

"Smoke Oil - The airshow is required to pay for all smoke oil. Smoke oil drums must be placed on pallets (2 - 4 per pallet) and positioned near the Blue Angels C-130."

"Fuel: Type of fuel, quantity, form of payment, cost, and company that we will purchase fuel from. Government contract fuel prices are required. Any cost above will be paid for by the air show."

There are some other items that are paid for by the show as well but I didn't want to get too wordy...

 

[CAMike]

Since the B/A air show season is cancelled, maybe this dude would like to do some opposing solo type maneuvers on the air show circuit. If he had a log book, every other page would get the big "DANGEROUS" stamp. No problem for a gent with a unique skill set. Adrenaline is an awesome thing but the penalty for a single downed flight in his show would likely be permanent.

Hopefully the Blues will be back for the 2014 season. I'm comfortable with less boring air shows.

http://www.cnn.com/video/?hpt=hp_c4#/video/us/2013/04/18/moos-pkg-batcave-wingsuit-stunt.cnn

 

[BigRed389]

Since the B/A air show season is cancelled, maybe this dude would like to do some opposing solo type maneuvers on the air show circuit. If he had a log book, every other page would get the big "DANGEROUS" stamp. No problem for a gent with a unique skill set. Adrenaline is an awesome thing but the penalty for a single downed flight in his show would likely be permanent.

Hopefully the Blues will be back for the 2014 season. I'm comfortable with less boring air shows.

http://www.cnn.com/video/?hpt=hp_c4#/video/us/2013/04/18/moos-pkg-batcave-wingsuit-stunt.cnn

http://metro.co.uk/2012/02/23/wings...sts-botched-table-mountain-jump-video-328522/

Yeah, Jeb Corliss took a mountain to the legs.

 

[CAMike]

Yes. The inability to say "Power to Military" at elevations less than 20 feet AGL pretty much limit your upward mobility...literally.

 

[Swanee]

Yes. The inability to say "Power to Military" at elevations less than 20 feet AGL pretty much limit your upward mobility...literally.

The lack of power doesn't make flight inherently unsafe.

 

[Recovering LSO]

potential PR fiasco when we are shutting down CVWs

still waiting for this to actually happen....