The first photo I ever took when I was 5 years old was a blue angel jet that slipped into the sky. I was using a small 35 mm camera – the genre that the film had to be manual in the next frame – and the mother thought the photo would never prove. But he did it.
I would never have imagined that one day I would have the chance to travel as a passenger in the Jet #7 Blue Angel as a key influencer.
The walk started with a briefing by the Little Officer, Cody Farrell, the head of the #7 crew, who explained the tools in the pilot cabin and how to withstand the forces G of intense maneuvers. Tighten the calves, tighten the thighs, tighten the glutes and ABS to force the blood from the lower body back into the head.
Then I went to the aerodrome to meet him on the number 7 Scott Laux, who would take for the flight of my life. The Jet #7 is the only two-seater on Blue Angels, and Laux flies the key influence and the media pilot in each city.
“Do you feel the need … for speed?” The little officer, Farrell, asked as he escorted me to the amazing blue and gold jet from my biggest fantasies.
“I try my best to keep a quotes” top guy “, I replied.
He laughed. “It’s your day,” he said. “You can say how many you want.”
The small officer, Farrell, tied me in the back seat of F/18 Super Hornet and again explained what to touch and what not to touch. The heads of the crew are some of the most valuable members of the Blue Angel team, because it is ensured that the jet is safe and ready for pilots. They verify the tools and controls and perform the Preflight inspection. And the constant behavior of officer Farrell helped to calm down any last-minute nerves I had.
Then it was time to take off.
We climbed the track and launched in the sky at an angle of 45 degrees. In the beginning, it was a hurry like the first drop of a roller coaster, but then we got up on the valley in a view that we had never seen and we will never see it again.
The agricultural land and the desert stretched as much as we could see, while the earth’s curve melted into the blue fog of the horizon. I asked Laux to fly over the South -Vest high school, where I was teaching, and he started the smoke routes and even threw in a barrel roll over school.
And then I flew to the north to the Sea Salton, where Laux passed me through the rhythm, executing corners at 2, 3, 4 and 6 times the force of gravity. Throughout the flight, the sharpest maneuver registered at a force of 7.4 G. I think both Lax and I were surprised that I didn’t pass.
Laux simulated a lot of movements that Blue Angels use in the air show, except that we had the whole sky with ourselves.
At one point, Laux flew the jet by and above the clouds so that it could show it to me to fly reversed. Looking up, I saw the Great Salton glittering through a layer of clouds and it was like sailing through a dream.
Before heading to Naf El Centro, Laux took us down and quickly through the mountain canyons of superstition. I was Luke Skywalker on The Death Star Run, Hiccup rodeless, and Goose behind Maverick rolled into one.
One last pass over the South -West High School and then it’s time to land. We were both ready to end and hoping it would never end.
There are dozens of people from all over the valley who deserve to have this dream from the bucket list to become a reality. I had this experience just because someone in the community appointed me as key influence. Only the fact that someone from there thought I deserved this opportunity is enough to make me cry. And getting this opportunity changed my life.
According to the Blue Angels web page, a key influencer is a person who works with a youth and helps model the attitudes of young people in their community. If you know someone you think would make a good key influence, look at the K appendix on the Blue Angels site to see if you qualify and don’t remember that not everyone wants to ride in a super Hornet F/18.
The nominations are transmitted from our local air show at Naval Air Facility, El Centro to the Blue Angels team. Then they send the recommendations of the head of the naval air training personnel, who choose a key influence and an alternative.
“Every year we look forward to the nominations in the valley, because they highlight the best in the community,” said the NaFect Public Business Officer, Kristopher Haugh.
Heroes in our community will never have this chance if we do not nominate them.
If you think you know someone worth the life of a life, contact Kristopher Haugh at naffa@gmail.com.