Blue Angles Take To The Skies

November 8, 1986, the Blue Angles celebrated their 40th anniversary year, the Blue Angels unveiled their present aircraft, the sleek McDonnell Douglas F/A-18 Hornet, the first dual-role fighter/attack aircraft now serving on the nation's front lines of defense. In June of 1946, Following World War II, Admiral Chester W. Nimitz, the Chief of Naval Operations, ordered the formation of a flight demonstration team to keep public interested in Naval Aviation.

Less than a year later the Blue Angels performed their first flight demonstration in  at Naval Air Station (NAS) Jacksonville, Florida, flying the Grumman F6F Hellcat.