1 week Ago
AUGUSTA — The United States Navy Blue Angels performance was one of many flights that demonstrated aviation excellence during the Augusta Air Show on April 26 at Augusta Regional Airport. Augusta was the first stop of the Air Dot Show Tour , which puts on air shows across the county and is usually held in the area during Memorial Day weekend. The Blue Angels served as headliners for the show and did their iconic diamond formation and the flying of Fat Albert, which is a C-131 airplane.
In addition to the Blue Angels there were performances by the A-10 Thunderbolt II CAS demo team, Georgia State performers, air acrobat performers and a Vietnam war helicopter demo. The Blue Angels are a Navy demo-flight squadron that does flight demos across the country. The event also allowed people to look at A-10 Thunderbolt II from the Maryland Air National Guard.
Jason and Hope Sewall from Footville, Tenn., came to the air show because their grandson likes planes, especially the Blue Angels. “It’s his first time and he always wanted to see the Blue Angels,” Jason Sewall said.
“He was fascinated.” The couple said they have seen the Blue Angels before. They served in the military, and seeing military planes is a way of life.
“It’s an experience for everybody, young or old and there are so many things to keep people entertained,” Hope Sewall said. Edgefield resident Tom Milton had a Blue Angels hat on and said he saw them many times before deciding to bring his two granddaughters and his wife. “I love this and this is great fun,” he said.
He said the event is great for the community and a way to see other forms of aviation. “Who they are, what they respect and all the military people out here and they have given up a lot,” he said. Matthew Dunn, an Air Force veteran fire chief from Savannah, had a fire truck on display for people to see in addition to the air show.
Dunn said even though he is an Air Force guy, he said the Blue Angels are the best. Lt. Commander Conner O’Donnell with the Blue Angels saw them perform when he was a kid and was excited he could bring the same feeling he had to others with flight demonstrations.
He was flying the C-131 plane named Fat Albert. “The best part of the show in my opinion is Fat Albert, which will lead us off," O’Donnell said. “You get to see a C-130 do things that no other C-130 in the world does, which is really special.
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