Why don’t the Blue Angels maintain a spare pilot?
With the number of practice hours required to safely fly a demonstration a spare pilot would not utilized. Each pilot must complete 120 training flights during winter training in order to perform a public demonstration safely. The teamwork required for the high-speed, low-altitude flying in the tight Blue Angels formation takes hundreds of hours to develop, a substitute pilot would get time in the formation. Why don’t the pilots wear G-suits? G-suits are designed with air bladders (pockets) which inflate and deflate to keep a pilots’ blood from pooling in the pilots’ legs while executing sharp, unpredicted combat maneuvers. Unlike combat flying, the Blue Angels demonstration pilots know the maneuvers. They will fly prior to execution, each pilot knows when one will be pulling gravitational forces. Knowing and anticipating the changes in gravitational forces allows the Blue Angels demonstration pilots to combat the G-forces with muscle contractions. In addition, the Boeing F/A-18’s cont
With the number of practice hours required to safely fly a demonstration a spare pilot could not be utilized effectively. Each pilot must complete 120 training flights during winter training in order to perform a public demonstration safely. The teamwork required for the high speed, low-altitude flying in the tight Blue Angel formation takes hundreds of hours to develop. A substitute pilot would not have enough time in the formation to do this safely.