End of the Blues?

[The Inspector]

News reports suggest that amid all the 'churn-n-burn' over the budget may have put the funds for the Blue Angels in jeopardy.

[RickH]

Take out the high profile targets first instead of the real wasteful spending and giveaways ! Besides the Blues and TBirds have real squadron status and are supposed to be combat capable in something like 72 hours, right ?

[bluehawk15]

Take away something that shows the public what their tax dollars are going toward...training, equipment...these demo teams really do a lot to help the public appreciate our military. Not a good idea!

[The Inspector]

'The school funding levy is in jeopardy, so we will have to cut school athletics and afterschool activities' 'Transit ridership is down, so we'll need to raise fares 75 cents to make up for lost revenues'. ???

[Red Tail]

Highly doubtful. The Blues are the best recruiting tool the Navy has. Can't think of a better way to inspire a kid to join Naval aviation or just plain get involved in aviation. I think the Blues and Thunderbirds have nohing to worry about...

John

[gary1954]

I think the Blues and Thunderbirds have nohing to worry about...

John

The Germans probably thought the same thing at Normandy

[michaelharadon]

About 17 or 18 years ago I was visiting the restoration hangars at Pensacola when all of a sudden I thought I was hearing the start of Armageddon. I looked up and saw several green suits running down the taxi way towards the runway and I joined them.

The Thunderbirds were putting on the low level show to beat all low level shows until...the Blues got their turn. More of the flyingest flying to be seen anywhere...I'm imagining that there weren't any rules that day except, don't crash. Good day to be alive.

[gary1954]

that would have been Awesome to see, Great memory to carry with you.

[StangStung]

This kind of rumor seems to pop up every few years or so. It'll never happen.

What is much more likely to happen (if they get serious about cutting the bills) is they drop from the F-18s to something more fuel efficient. It happened to both the Blues (F-4s to A-4s) and the T-Birds (F-4s to T-38s) in the past. Look around the world. Most air forces uses smaller, more economical jets for their flight demo teams. Maybe there's something to that but I suspect the testosterone levels at the apex of power in either service would not allow them to do it willingly.

[Red Tail]

I think the Blues and Thunderbirds have nohing to worry about...

John

The Germans probably thought the same thing at Normandy

I guess posts like that are what get a person over the 1600 post number. Whatever.

[Garth]

For reference, back in the mid-1990s, and again in the last year or so, when PBS funding was threatened, PBS fired back that if their funding was cut they'd have to take Sesame Street off the air.

Which is incredibly stupid, because Sesame Street is a HUGE profit center for PBS - it's not only self-funding but also funds a lot of their other programming. Only a complete idiot would take Sesame Street off the air while allowing some 3rd rate British soap opera to continue running at 3 in the morning.

But their claims that they were about to do so got a LOT of people - very ignorant people I'd point out - riled up.

Same thing here, I think. Threaten the high visibility, popular budgetary items that produce real value (like recruitment) first, that way the things of lesser value aren't put in jeopardy.

[JDK]

I'm pleased to see some thinking responses down the thread to a manipulated media claim. Same has been claimed about the Red Arrows and the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight, and certainly there's a lot of resemblance among the formation teams to Sesame Street. Sorry, I meant as a headline act rather than than puppet egos in funny outfits...

As to the equipment, I can't think of any other national display team still using frontline combat jets rather than advanced trainers. As StangStung's said there's a lot of testosterone riding on that, but talking to people in the crowds at other displays, the main real benefit of fighter jets being the increased noise they make over less expensive-to-operate types.

Regards,

[bluehawk15]

Hmmmmm, I wonder what a T-45 would look like in blue and yellow?

[JDK]

Hmmmmm, I wonder what a T-45 would look like in blue and yellow?

It would show leadership in the economies the US clearly currently needs to make, even if (as I'd think best) it were a temporary change.

[RyanShort1]

Honestly, I've always like the Snowbirds in their trainers better, anyway. I don't see how the switch would be that detrimental.

Ryan