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Blue Angels set to SOAR
The Navy’s Blue
Angels Flight
Demonstration Team
will begin to amaze fans at 8
a.m. on Wed., June 29 with
Circle & Arrival
Maneuvers, the first of
four appearances at
Pensacola Beach.
Civilian pilots and other military
aircraft can be seen at a full dress
rehearsal beginning at noon on Fri.,
July 1, followed by the main event,
the Pensacola Beach Air Show, at
noon on Sat., July 2.
The air show includes Julian
MacQueen flying his Grumman
Widgeon, Fred Cabanas in a Pitts
Special S2-C, Keith Wood with six
World War II aircraft, Gary Ward
flying his Giles G-202, and the worldfamous
Blue Angels flying Fat Albert
C-130) and F/A-18 A Hornets.
Julian MacQueen will get things
rolling with the Grumman Widgeon.
The Grumman Widgeon was a fast
amphibian designed for the “carriage
trade" of private fliers. The prototype
Widgeon flew for the first time in July
1940, but America's impending entry
into WW2 stalled plans for civilian
production. Widgeons are known for
doing yeoman service in the coastal
patrol under the insigne of the Civil
Air Patrol.
Fred R. Cabanas will dazzle air
show fans with tumbling maneuvers
and the wifferdill-maneuvers
commonly known as double
hammerheads, torque
rolls, and eyelevel
precision aerobatics- in his
PITTS S2-C. Going from speeds of 0
to 215 mph he is sure to be a crowd
pleaser. Cabanas has more than
20,000 hours of flying time and has
been featured in numerous movies
and television programs such as
MTV’s Road Rules and the Discovery
Channel. In 1992, the mayor of Key
West proclaimed Cabanas the
General of the Conch Republic Air
Force in 1992 after he sighted and
reported a defecting MIG flying in
U.S. airspace.
Keith Wood will be presenting an
aerial display of six World War II
planes including a North American
P51 Mustang, a Beachcraft C45
Expeditor, an SBD5 Douglas
Dauntless, a Nakajima Kate Torpedo
Bomber, a Harvard Mach 4 Advanced
Trainer, a 1943 North American and
SNJ5 Advanced Trainer. A dogfight
simulation between American and
Japanese aircraft will highlight the
show, complete with smoke kits to
create the illusion of wounded planes
being “shot down.”
Always a favorite, Gary Ward will
come back to Pensacola Beach to fly
in his Giles G-202, a two-seat, all
carbon fiber monoplane built
especially for aerobatics and designed
to handle more than ten Gs. It has a
wing- span of 22 feet, is 20 feet long,
and has an empty weight of 1,050
pounds. For a complete schedule of
Red, White & Blues Week activities,
(850) 932-1500.
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