The New Blue Angels Formation Moves Are Beautiful!

For over 70 years, the US Navy’s Blue Angels flight demonstration team has wowed audiences young and old across the nation with their shows, which feature high speeds, thrilling tight formations and hair-raising close calls. The six F/A-18 Hornets travel the country almost year round, flying in front of an estimated 11 million spectators annually as they put on more than 70 shows at 34 different locations between March and November.

While much of the show carries over from year to year, the squadron does often add in new formations and maneuvers to keep the audience on their feet. In the video below, a family out for the afternoon decided to stop and watch the Angels performing some of their new moves near their winter base in El Centro, California. The family is awestruck at the awesome power and precision of the pilots, who are some of the best in the world at what they do, as they fly in tight formation and pass by in maneuvers that put them within feet of each other at very high speeds.

The squadron pulls off a move that leaves their smoke trails looking very much like an octopus, or as the dad points out in the video, an Atari Logo. They also pull what’s called a wheelie all the way across the sky, although we’re pretty sure they have a different name for it, maybe something involving their angle of attack?

Regardless, cheesy dad jokes aside, this guy does a great job of capturing a few minutes of the show, so go ahead and hit that play button and check out this awesome footage. When you’re finished, head over to our Facebook page and tell us all about seeing the Blue Angels in person. I’ve never seen the Angels but did get to watch the Air Force’s Thunderbirds once and it too was an absolutely amazing sight to behold.