For many years, the Blue Angels have spent the winter at El Centro, California, rehearsing their routine, developing new maneuvers, and training the new members of the squadron. Every March, NAS El Centro opens its gates and invites the public into the Blues’ winter home so that we may watch their very first show of the year, the debut of all that they have been spending the winter months perfecting.

  This year’s show started with a jump by the Royal Air Force parachute team, the Falcons. Unlike most military parachute teams from the US, the Falcons stay together as one large formation throughout their demo, typically in one long vertically-stacked line. The parachute demo ended with the landing of their RAF C-130J, which came down steeply and could be stopped in no time.

  Bill Cornick and Spencer Suderman flew dizzying maneuvers in their respective Pitts S2Cs, including precise rolls and neck-breaking hammerheads, inverted flight and tight loops, a dangerous-looking inverted flat spin, and even a double hammerhead from Suderman. The extreme power and agility of those tiny S2Cs was perfectly complemented by the impressive skill of their pilots.

  Four pilots performed gentler, more graceful aerobatics, in warbird trainers. Steve Cowell flew an AT-6, the last airworthy airplane of the ones flown by the legendary Tuskegee Airmen. John Collver flew the naval version of that classic North American trainer, the SNJ. Julie Clark put her shiny Beech T-34 through its paces, in a show that also included fireworks and scary high-sideslip hammerheads. And Steve Stavrakakis, once known for yanking a tiny Czech-built Zlin though the air now flew graceful aerobatics in a jungle-camouflaged IAR-823 trainer, previously used by the Romanian Air Force. The straight high-aspect-ratio wings, stubby noses, and simple rugged shapes of these elegant classic designs, accompanied of course by the deep purr of their large piston engines, made for airshow acts right out of the 1940s, familiarizing young spectators with the golden age of aviation, and bringing older veterans right back to it.

  The Thunder Delfins then turned up the volume, contributing plenty of jet noise in four L-29s. The four pilots showed great skill by making several passes in a variety of formations, and then by individually rolling their aircraft.

  Bill Reesman then brought out his shiny red MiG-17. The fighter’s raw power and speed blew the crowd away. The afterburning jet engine, emitting plenty of noise and a long flame out the back, pushed the fighter to amazing speeds and altitudes, and made it clear why this jet is known as “the world’s largest Zippo lighter”. Bill roared past the crowd in many different orientations, and then rocketed up into several barrel rolls and mile-high loops, trailing behind two thin lines of airshow smoke along the wingtip vortices.

  The crowd was then treated to several Harrier landings. Yuma had previously sent a Harrier to be flown through a demo in the airshow, but unfortunately that Harrier was grounded. So while we did not get to see the full Harrier demo, it was still neat to see Harriers fly by in formation, break for landing, then – most impressively – come to a hover and land vertically like helicopters.

  And then, it came time for the closing performances: The Marines flying Fat Albert performed their signature steep takeoff, high-speed passes, turns banked at almost 90 degrees, and abrupt combat landing, all showing that an empty C-130 has a lot of extra power and lift, and can be flown through many extreme maneuvers. To close the show, the six Blue Angels took to the air in their Hornets. Their act is so well known, it hardly requires describing. Starting this year, though, they have added yet another formation break to their thorough repertoire, in addition to the Fleur De Lis, the Bomb Burst, the individual break-to-land, etc. In the new formation break, five jets form an arch over the sixth, and then pull up into a widening formation reminiscent of the Snowbirds’ Maple Leaf maneuver. The crowd at El Centro this year can say we were the first to see this maneuver being performed in public.

  It’s always a great privilege to be there for the first show of the year of one of the big jet teams, enjoying the roar and speed as these beautiful jets are skillfully flown in tight formation, and not knowing what new trick the pilots might pull out of their sleeves. El Centro is the place to be if you’re a Blue Angels fan, year after year.