Blue Angels to Debut Super Hornets in Army-Navy Game Flyover

Dec 11

Photo by Petty Officer 2nd Class Cody Hendrix

The United States Navy Blue Angels are set to make their first public appearance in the Boeing F/A-18 Super Hornet this weekend for the 121st Army-Navy game. The team will be conducting a flyover of the U.S. Military Academy’s Michie Stadium in West Point, New York, host of the Army-Navy game for the first time since 1943. Kickoff is set for Saturday, December 12th at 3:00 PM, with students from both the United States Military Academy and the United States Naval Academy in attendance. President Trump will also be attending Saturday’s game, but no other fans will be allowed in the stadium due to COVID-19.

The United States Navy Blue Angels officially marked their transition to the Boeing F/A-18 Super Hornet on November 4th with one last flight over Pensacola Beach in their Legacy Hornets. Since then, the 2021 demonstration pilots have been completing the transition process to the bigger, louder, and more powerful Super Hornets. This includes training in the Manned Flight Simulator at Naval Air Station Patuxent River as well as practice flights over Naval Air Station Pensacola and the Gulf of Mexico.

While the 2021 demonstration pilots have been flying the newly-painted Super Hornets, most flights have been separated between the diamond pilots and solo pilots. Therefore, Saturday is expected to be one of the first times six blue and gold Super Hornets are in the same formation, and they’ll do it in front of a national audience and their Commander in Chief.

While training is already underway for the 2021 Blue Angels team, they’ll ramp it up to full force after the new year when they head west to Naval Air Facility El Centro, California for 2021 winter training. Not only will this winter training season mark the beginning of the 2021 season, but it will also be the first time the team’s been on the road together since winter training 2020, as COVID-19 forced the cancellation of the entire 2020 show season.

Just this past week, the Blue Angels released a revised 2021 show schedule at the International Council of Air Show’s annual convention. The team is scheduled to kick off their 75th anniversary season at the birthplace of the Blue Angels, Naval Air Station Jacksonville, Florida on April 10-11, 2021. This comes a month later than the team’s usual start date of early March in order to allow sufficient time for the team to complete its transition to the F/A-18 Super Hornet.

For the latest updates regarding Saturday’s Army-Navy game flyover and the Blue Angels’ Super Hornet transition, stay tuned to our website, social media, and mobile app.