Saturday, July 10, 2010, 5:50PM
High Five Tour Stop #22: Pensacola, FL
Pensacola, FL
We hit Pensacola in the early evening and headed down to Pensacola Beach a happening vacation town for some dinner. We ended up at a fantastic seafood restaurant called Flounders. The food was great and the atmosphere was even better. We sat outside next to the beach and watched the fishing boats come in during the sunset. It was an exceptional evening and one I wont be likely to forget.
We spend the night at the Navy Lodging at the Pensacola Naval Air Station and tried to get a good nights sleep. The next day would be a big one for us
Meeting the Blue Angels
The next morning we got up and headed out to the air strip to meet the Blue Angels and take some pictures next to the planes.
We had to be back on the airstrip a little while later but we had some time so the Colonel and I went to the National Naval Aviation Museum to look at some of the older model planes. The museum was great and we picked up some navy insignias for the mustang. Soon enough it was time to head back to the Blue Angels.
Flying On “Fat Albert Airlines”
This day was a rehearsal for the Pensacola Air Show and the Blue Angels had extended an invitation for the Colonel and I to fly along with them in their support craft they call Fat Albert.
Fat Albert is a USMC C-130T Hercules which they use to transport personnel and equipment between air shows. It’s a pretty large aircraft compared to the F/A-18 Hornets but it still has some tricks up it’s sleeves.
Most notably “Bert” performs a Jet-Fuel Assisted Take Off (or JATO) which uses rockets to help it gain speed and altitude quickly. During JATO the C-130 climbs into the air at a 45 degree angle (commercial airliners climb at a 7 degrees) at the end of the climb there is an 8 second window of weightlessness. This maneuver is designed to demonstrate how this aircraft would escape under fire from a hostile territory by building up to a high speed just a few hundred feet above the ground (500 feet for the demo) and then trading that for altitude in just a few seconds.
The flight was fantastic and getting to feel weightless was really cool. It was an honor to have flown with them! Thank you to all the members of “Fat Albert Airlines”
High Five Tour’s Next Stop: New Orleans, LA
