The U.S. Navy Blue Angels rehearsed their show on Friday afternoon for this weekend’s Vero Beach Air Show. Having photographed their Thursday rehearsal, I was a little better prepared to catch the action this time having now a little foreknowledge of what to expect. I tried to select images for this post that complement the images from Thursday to present different views of the show.

Fat Albert, the gear-hauling C-130, started off today’s rehearsal.

As the plane landed a waving crewmember popped out with an American flag to greet the crowd.


Four Blue Angel F/A-18 Hornets lift off in formation to start the show.


An individual F/A-18 Hornet lifts off straight into a steep climb.

Four packed close together.

Two jets passing in close proximity.

Condensation trails streamed from this jet during a fast climb.

Another close pass between two swiftly moving jets.




This is an interesting maneuver. Two jets drag their tails in almost a hover as they move slowly along the runway.

All six jets doing some tight formation flying.

More condensation forming during a fast turn.

A few of the U.S. Navy ground crew came out waving flags as the Blue Angels made their final run over the airfield before coming in to land.