Taking on the ‘G-monster’ at 11,000-feet plus with the U.S. Navy Blue Angels
It’s 2 p.m., and Lt. Andre Webb of the elite U.S. Navy Blue Angels aerobatic team taxis his F/A-18 Hornet onto the searing-hot runway at Abbotsford International Airport.
“Once we get to our flyway speed, 130 knots or so, we’ll start climbing away,” he explains from the front seat of the cockpit. “We’ll level off at 100 feet, accelerate to 300 knots, I’ll give you a ‘Ready, hit it,’ then we’ll just climb away at 45 degrees, nose high.” It all seems so matterof-fact to Webb, who has flown 2,300 hours in military aircraft, about half those in the Hornet.
But when he gets to “Hit it,” it seems as though I am being propelled straight to the moon. Then he does a roll and all I can do is smile broadly and think, “I might as well be in outer space.”
We fly at 340 knots to 11,500 feet and head for Mt. Baker in Washington state, flying close to the summit.
“Pretty cool looking up there and seeing all the glaciers, sitting on top of the mountain,” Webb remarks.
Our flight does not mimic a Blue Angels performance. Webb urges me to imagine other Blue Angels flying just two feet off the wing tips.
But make no mistake, this is much more than a scenic flight.
“We’re going to start pulling a little G here,” Webb warns.
During a pre-flight briefing, crew chief Anthony Batronis talked about “beating the G-monster.”
G forces can be so extreme that you can lose your cookies, your vision and ultimately your consciousness. Batronis showed me a breathing and muscle-tensing exercise designed to get the Gmonster before it gets me.
A person standing on the ground experiences 1- G force, compared with about 3-Gs for astronauts during rocket launch.
“We’re going to turn right here, for 90 degrees or so,” Webb says. “First, we’re going to pull two, then three, then four Gs.”
Then he levels off and asks how I’m doing — OK — so he accelerates to 400 knots and warns me that he’s going to punch directly to four Gs and beyond. “Keep after it, OK?”
The Abbotsford International Air Show takes flight this weekend, bringing an array of sights from the world of flight. Since 1970, Abbotsford has been designated as “Canada’s National Airshow,” and the city in the country takes their mission to produce the country’s best air show very seriously. No surprise, then, that the three-day festival is the community’s keystone annual event.
Here are five things to know about this weekend’s air show, which runs today, Saturday and Sunday at the Abbotsford International Airport:
1 The Blue Angels are back
The 2018 air show will feature the Canadian Forces Snowbirds, Canada’s military aerobatics team. The Snowbirds will perform each day — at 6 p.m. on Friday, and 5:45 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday. But they won’t be the only aerobatics group on the schedule: this year’s air show will also mark the return of the U.S. Navy Blue Angels, making their first appearance since 2003.
2 RCAF celebrates 60 years of Norad
The Royal Canadian Air Force doesn’t just send some planes to the air show: the RCAF selects a theme for each year for its CF-18 air demonstration team. 2018’s theme is the 60th anniversary of Norad. At this and other air shows around the country, the RCAF will be highlighting the importance of honouring the past, guarding the present, and protecting the future.
Capt. Stefan Porteous will be the pilot for the 2018 CF-18 Demonstration Team. Each evening, you’ll be able to see him piloting the McDonnell Douglas CF-18 Hornet, the aircraft Canada has deployed to nearly 3,000 possible threats to Canada and the United States since 2001. 3 Fireworks tonight
Everything gets going a little later today, the opening day at the air show. On Day 1, the gates open at 3 p.m., and close at 10:30 p.m., as opposed to Saturday and Sunday, when it runs from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.
That means that today, the air show has a night sky to work with, and they’re making the most of it. After watching the Blue Angels, the Hornet, the Snowbirds and the setting sun, you can close out the evening with a fireworks spectacle at 9:45 p.m.
4 Come for the planes, stay for the food
Here’s a very fun fact: in addition to being the Lower Mainland’s largest air show, the Abbotsford International Air Show is also the Fraser Valley’s largest food truck festival. Come for the aircraft, sure, but stay for the food. There will be more than 40 different food trucks and vendors on the grounds, including one called Mo Bacon, which serves “bacon and bacon accessories.”
5 Private planes are often the coolest
And finally, in addition to the aerial and static displays from the Canadian Armed Forces, the Abbotsford Air Show gives you the opportunity to see a variety of privately owned aircraft. These are often the coolest planes.
At least one individual will be showing off his Pitts Special, for instance, and if you’re an aviation nerd at all, this should excite you. The Pitts Special, a single-seat biplane designed in the 1940s, was the crown jewel of aerobatics through the 1960s and 1970s, and it was the plane flown by female aviation legend Betty Skelton, who set a number of speed records with her Pitts Special, the Little Stinker.