Amazon’s documentary The Blue Angels showcases stunning footage of the aerial stunts accomplished by the U.S. Army’s most talented pilots but leaves out many interesting facts. The Blue Angels are a team of six skilled pilots who go through years of training and endure incredible physical stress to become a part of the U.S. Navy’s aerial demonstration team. Amazon’s new documentary is being screened in IMAX theaters to give audiences the best experience of the sky-high filming.

The Blue Angels is produced by Glenn Powell, one of the stars of Top Gun: Maverick, giving him his own experience filming intense aerial stunts. The documentary reveals some interesting historical and technical facts about the Blue Angels, such as how the team was founded and that the planes fly as close as 18 inches to each other at certain points. However, there is still more to uncover about the unique history of the Blue Angels.

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The Blue Angels Is The Second-Oldest Flight Demonstration Squadron In The World

The Blue Angels are only more recent than one French demonstration squadron.

The Amazon documentary luckily talks about the history of the Blue Angels: The team was established by Chief of Naval Operations Admiral Chester Nimitz just after the end of World War II. However, The Blue Angels doesn’t mention that the Blue Angels are the second-oldest military flight demonstration team in the world. The oldest is the French team Patrouille de France, which was formed in 1931. However, because the focus of the documentary is the U.S. demonstration team, it makes some sense that they did not dedicate time to this fact.

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The Blue Angels Planes’ Smoke Trails Help With Safety

The smoke trails left behind as the Blue Angels fly have a purpose.

Throughout the documentary, audiences are treated to impressive shots of the Blue Angels in their signature delta formation with trails of smoke left behind them. It is a recognizable feature of most air shows, but in the case of the Blue Angels, the smoke is non-hazardous, created with biodegradable, paraffin-based oil (via pearharboraviationmuseum.org). The smoke trails also help the pilots see each other if they are flying in opposite directions or if the weather conditions are not already crystal clear. Therefore, the smoke trails are not only environmentally friendly, but in the interest of the pilots’ safety.

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The F/A-18 Hornet Was The Blue Angels Aircraft For Decades

This Hornet is the longest-used demonstration aircraft in Blue Angels history.

For more than 30 years, the Boeing F/A-18 Hornet was the preferred aircraft of the Blue Angels team, used for all their air shows (Pearl Harbor). The Blue Angels started using this aircraft in 1986, upon the team’s 40th anniversary (having been established in 1946). This makes it the Blue Angels’ longest-serving demonstration aircraft. The plane was first rolled out in 1978 and was tested and used by other units in the U.S. Navy before it was adopted by the Blue Angels. The F/A-18 Hornet was designed to be a highly versatile aircraft that is carrier-capable and can hold various weaponry.

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There Have Been 272 Pilots In The Blue Angels

In more than 70 years, less than 300 pilots have been Blue Angels.

The Blue Angels notes in the beginning subtitles that of the U.S. Navy’s 3,700 pilots, only six are official Blue Angels demonstration pilots at any given time. Therefore, relatively few pilots would have ever been given this title in military history, even with seven decades of the team being active. There have been 272 Blue Angels demonstration pilots to date, with each pilot typically serving two years before they are replaced. The Blue Angels team then goes through an extensive selection process where every new pilot must be voted in unanimously, as detailed in the documentary.

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Lt. Mary Russell Was The First Woman To Serve On The Blue Angels

The first female Blue Angels demonstration pilot would come many years later.

The Blue Angels highlights the recent milestone of the induction of Lt. Amanda Lee, who became the first female demonstration pilot on the Blue Angels team in 2023. However, women have been a part of the larger team for years; the documentary shows female officers who serve the Blue Angels team in other capacities. The first woman to become a part of the Blue Angels in 1968 was Lt. Mary Russell, who served as the Assistant Public Affairs Officer. The role of Public Affairs Officer is currently held by Lt. Ben Bushong.

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The Blue Angels Are Named After A New York Nightclub

The origin story of the name “Blue Angels” is not included in Amazon’s documentary.

The Blue Angels are formally called the U.S. Navy Flight Demonstration Squadron but are generally referred to as the Blue Angels by its members and the public. All the Blue Angels team members have the name written on their uniforms, as seen in the documentary. According to the Blue Angels website, the name was suggested by Right Wing Pilot Lt. Maurice “Wick” Wickendoll. Wickendoll saw the name “Blue Angel” in an advertisement in New Yorker Magazine and suggested it to his superiors, and it has been a part of the team’s brand ever since.

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There Are 17 Blue Angels Officers In Total

Including the six pilots, there are a total of 17 officers on the Blue Angels team.

The Blue Angels documentary does not completely explain the structure of the Blue Angels’ team, beyond the six pilots and some of the support officers. According to the Blue Angels website, “Each year the team typically selects three tactical (fighter or fighter/attack) jet pilots, two support officers and one Marine Corps C-130 pilot.” The Flight Leader (currently Cdr. Alexander Armatas) also serves as the Blue Angels’ commanding officer. The total of 17 officers was established in 2014 when an executive officer position was added to the rotation (a position currently held by Cdr. Bryce Aubuchon).

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The Blue Angels’ Home Base Has Traditionally Been In Florida

The Blue Angels have changed their home base over the years.

When they were first established, the Blue Angels’ home base was Naval Air Station Jacksonville, Florida (Blue Angels website). Although this has since changed, the location still holds significance; it is where the Blue Angels first used the new Super Hornet aircraft in an air show in 2021. In the 1950s, the Blue Angels relocated to their current base at Naval Air Station Pensacola, Florida. The documentary shows how the Blue Angels have winter training in El Centro, California, a practice that also began in the 1950s. They temporarily held winter training in Arizona from 1963 to 1966.

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The Blue Angels Occasionally Take Civilians On Flights

One of the Blue Angels’ planes is suited for passengers.

Generally speaking, the Blue Angels demonstration pilots cannot take civilian passengers on flights because of the physicality needed to endure the flight itself, as well as the structure of the aircraft. However, they can take passengers in one of the backup planes. The Blue Angels No. 7 is a two-seat F/A-18F Hornet that is typically flown by the team’s Narrator (currently Lt. Connor O’Donnell). For instance, in April 2024, High School Robotics and STEM teacher Catherine Kenny was optioned to fly with the Blue Angels as part of the Blue Angels’ show in Montgomery, Alabama (via waka.com).

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The Blue Angels Reached 1,000 Air Shows In 1963

The Blue Angels reached this milestone in roughly 20 years.

After 17 active years, the Blue Angels performed their 1,000th air show in Lemoore, California, on July 4th, 1963. The Blue Angels currently perform in around 60 shows per year; at this rate, they would have totaled 1,020 shows in 17 years, meaning that they were performing at roughly the same frequency when they began as they do now. The Blue Angels gained more fans over time as they became more widely known, eventually resulting in the massive crowds that come to see them perform today. By now, the Blue Angels have performed in thousands more air shows.

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The Blue Angels Conducted Flights During COVID-19

The Blue Angels flew over several U.S. cities as a tribute to healthcare workers.

Even at an outdoor venue, holding regular air shows during lockdown would have been risking spreading the COVID-19 virus. However, the Blue Angels continued to train and fly during the worst of the pandemic. This included making flights over major U.S. cities as a tribute to the healthcare workers still going to their jobs throughout 2020. In May 2020, the team flew over the Dallas-Fort Worth area to “honor health care workers and first responders on the front line of the fight against COVID-19” (via NBC). Like many others, the Blue Angels found a way to show support during lockdown.

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Maj. Katie Higgins Cook Was The First Woman To Be A Blue Angels Pilot

Lt. Amanda Lee would become the first regular demonstration pilot.

Additionally, Lt. Lee was technically not the first female pilot for the Blue Angels, although she was the first demonstration pilot who regularly performed the role. Katie Higgins Cook (current rank of Marine Major) was named a Blue Angels pilot in 2015, in a lower-ranking role than Lee. Higgins’ primary role was to fly the support aircraft “Fat Albert” during airshows. The importance of this particular aircraft is discussed at length in The Blue Angels. After serving as a member of the Blue Angels team for the 2015 and 2016 seasons, Higgins married Dusty Cook, another former Blue Angels pilot.

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The Blue Angels Have Performed For 500 Million People

Many spectators have come to watch the Blue Angels’ air shows since the team’s inception.

Also according to the Blue Angels website, “Since 1946, the Blue Angels have performed for nearly 500 million fans.” The Blue Angels typically perform in 60 air shows annually across the U.S., with a couple of shows in Canada. The Blue Angels have performed elsewhere: All within the 1960s, they went on two European tours, a Caribbean Island tour, and performed in Mexico City. Current air shows may have crowds of hundreds of thousands of people. A recent show at Maxwell Air Force Base in Alabama had a crowd of 135,000, reportedly the most successful show ever held at this location (via waka.com).

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The Blue Angels Now Use Super Hornet Aircrafts

The Super Hornet became the Blue Angels’ demonstration aircraft in 2021.

According to the Pearl Harbor Aviation Museum, “The Super Hornet is 25 percent larger, can fly 40 percent further, remain on station 80 percent longer, and carry more weapons than its predecessors. The Super Hornet F/A-18 E/F models have deployed with battle groups since 2001.” The new and improved aircraft became the official demonstration aircraft of the Blue Angels in November 2020, unveiled to the public at the team’s first air show in 2021 held in Jacksonville, Florida. The Super Hornet’s predecessor lasted more than 30 years; it will be interesting to see how long the Blue Angels use this plane.

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The Blue Angels Do Not Fly In Combat (But Can Be Made Combat-Ready)

The Blue Angels are strictly a demonstration team, except in emergency circumstances.

The Blue Angels’ primary purpose is to perform aerial displays to support the military by representing them to the American public, and are not a combat unit (via uso.org). However, Blue Angels pilots have been combat pilots. The Blue Angels briefly disbanded when the whole team volunteered for combat at the beginning of the Korean War. Additionally, the Blue Angels’ planes are carrier-capable and could be taken into combat if necessary. The Blue Angels misses out on many details, one of the most important of which is the exact nature of the flight squadron’s role in extreme circumstances.

Source: pearharboraviationmuseum.org, blueangels.navy.mil, NBC, waka.com, uso.org