Blue Angels soar across Houston sky
League City native grew up watching his dad flying planes at Ellington Airport
The Blue Angels fly over Ellington Airport as they arrive Thursday for the Wings Over Houston airshow. The team’s leader, Navy Cmdr. Eric Doyle, will perform with his squad in his hometown for the first time this weekend.
A low carpet of morning clouds concealed much of the view for Navy Cmdr. Eric Doyle as his blueand-gold plane touched down at Ellington Airport.
But he was quite familiar with the ground below. It’s where he grew up.
Doyle flew into the Houston airfield Thursday alongside seven other pilots in anticipation of this weekend’s annual Wings Over Houston airshow. It’s his first time back home since taking over as the commanding officer of the Navy’s Blue Angels team of demonstration pilots, a role he stepped into after 21 years in the Navy.
The League City native’s love of flying grew from watching the iconic team make impossible maneuvers over his hometown.
“I spent a lot of time on this concrete watching the Wings show for years,” Doyle said. “I saw the Blue Angels for the first time here flying A-4s, and my dad flew here. It’s very special to be back in Houston with all the amazing performers.”
Doyle moved to Houston at age 8, when his father was stationed at Ellington Field with the Texas Air National Guard.
That’s when he first started attending Wings Over Houston, a show organized by nonprofit groups dedicated to preserving World War II-era aircraft. In addition to highlighting history, the event’s elite aerobatic pilots showcase the possibilities of modern aviation.
He said watching the Blue Angels — and his father — fly at Ellington Field in the ’80s was the chief inspiration for becoming a pilot in the Navy after graduating from Texas A&M University in 1996.
Familiar checkpoints
Deciding to join the Navy came as somewhat of a surprise to Doyle.
“It’s kind of funny — I applied to the Navy as a backup in case I didn’t get an Air Force slot, and then I ended up getting both,” he said. “I pitched Navy. Still, to this day, I couldn’t tell you exactly why that happened that way.”
While he opted for a different branch of the military than his father, he did adopt his dad’s call sign, “Popeye.”
During his years in the Navy, he often flew an F/A-18 Hornet, the same plane Blue Angels uses in its airshows.
Doyle and his team planned out their flights for this weekend by selecting landmarks around the Clear Lake area to serve as the perimeter for their shows. His mom’s house was just outside that zone.
“It’s interesting to see all the checkpoints around here and know them because I’ve touched them or been in those buildings or driven down I-45 or Highway 3,” Doyle said.
The show itself will bring the eight Hornets, led by Doyle in plane 1, as close together as 18 inches as they travel at hundreds of miles per hour. Blue Angel pilots are required to have logged at least 3,000 hours flying before joining, but extensive training during the winter lends an increased sense of trust.
“It’s kind of a subconscious trust that we know each other so well that we know how they’re going to fly, and they know how I’m going to fly,” Doyle said. “And that’s how we just slowly bring it in” from miles to inches apart.
A humbling experience
Every year, at least one headliner — either the Navy Blue Angels or Air Force Thunderbirds, another demonstration squad — finishes a day of aerobatic shows and static exhibition of antique planes.
Most Blue Angels officers volunteer for the team for just two years, and next year’s lineup isn’t yet settled, so this year may be Doyle’s only chance to fly over Houston in the blue-and-gold plane.
“There isn’t a day that goes by that I don’t look down at this blue flight suit and this beautiful blue airplane and feel humbled,” Doyle said. “It’s just a thrill.”