Blue Angels Pensacola Beach show inspired thousands during flawless rehearsal

The picture perfect Blue Angels Pensacola Beach Air Show dress rehearsal was flawless Friday, showering tens of thousands of people packed onto Casino Beach with a sense of pride.

Beachgoers were treated to a triple-digit heat index Friday, according to the National Weather Service, but if you asked anyone sitting in the glowing white sands they'd probably tell you they don't care. After all, the Blue Angels were flying.

Although there was no official heat advisory, two people set to watch the Blue Angels had their day cut short after suffering a "medical event," sending them to the hospital for further treatment, according to Escambia County spokesperson Andie Gibson. A third person suffered a medical emergency, but was not transported to a hospital.

Gibson said they are unaware if the medical events were related to the heat, but couldn’t share any further information about the calls because of medical privacy laws.

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Despite the heat, early risers were welcomed by below-average traffic, and an unusual number of open parking spots. In 2022, the parking lot was closed on Friday at 6:30 a.m., according to the Gulf Breeze Police Department. This year, if you got to the parking lot after 7:45 a.m. then you were out of luck and met with a "parking lot closed" sign.

That why seasoned Blue Angels veteran Jack Petresky, 86, hit the sand early at 5 a.m. where he began searching for lost treasures.

“I’ve been metal detecting out here since 2016, and I’ve been coming to this beach since the ‘60s,” Petresky said.

Every year he makes sure to come out during the Blue Angels show to see how much stuff he can find that the thousands of Blues onlookers may have dropped.

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In the past he’s found a $260 watch and a platinum ring worth $1,000, he said.

“You never know what you’ll find here,” he said.

As the morning grew warmer, many of the prospective onlookers began to settle down under their tents.

Some even posted their own American and Blue Angels flags, like friends Jim Orm, Ken Steele and Bill Street. While Orm and Steele have lived in Pensacola for decades and have seen the Blues fly for years, they had to bring their friend who hadn’t experienced the show from the white sands of Casino Beach.

“Bill hasn’t seen them up close and personal, so we had to bring him,” Steele said.

Street has seen the Blue Angels Air Show multiple times in his home state of Maryland, but Friday’s air show was a first for him in Pensacola.

“I expect it to be fantastic,” Street said.

Warrington man Jimmy Helton also donned the two flags while he waited on the white-sand beach to see the Blues fly.

Helton grew up in Warrington and moved to Texas 12 years ago and has came back three to four times to make sure he catches another glimpse of the show. Now he has moved back to the Pensacola area and will never miss another opportunity to be back here on the beach.

“I was here yesterday at 5 (a.m.) and I pulled into the parking lot this morning at about 4 (a.m.) and it was already half full,” Helton said on Friday. “ And my wife tells me I'm crazy, but I call it dedication myself. I might be a little crazy, but that's part of it.”

Sitting by himself on the beach with his tent, two U.S. and Blue Angels flags attached to it, he compares the air shows in Texas to Pensacola. The main difference is the crowd, the energy, and the beautiful Pensacola beach.

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For him the Blue Angels is about freedom and there is no one better at it than the Blue Angels.

“I don't miss the Blues, man and now that I'm back home again, I'm going to see them every chance I get,” Helton said. “I’m already planning for the November show with a buddy of mine in Texas already this morning. I told him to bring his butt on down.”

Aside from the annual awe of watching skillful pilots fly jets inches from one another, Friday meant something extra special to Georgia natives Keegan and Heather Doty.

They come to Pensacola Beach every year and celebrate their Fourth of July wedding anniversary with a beach vacation on our white sands. The two had no idea the Blue Angels were flying until the planes zipped over their heads Thursday. After that they had to see it for themselves.

Both are Top Gun movie fans and want to see the real masters of the sky zipping and maneuvering with ease.

“I think other than just pro-USA, I think it shows you can do anything you want. If you want to do that, you can go for it,” Keegan Doty said.

Siblings Barb Smith and Michael Phillips feel the same sense of pride in the U.S., which is why Smith travels from Sevierville, Tennessee, and Phillips travels from Crystal River, Florida, just to see the Blues fly.

“Red, white and the Blues?” Smith asked. “Hell yeah!”

As the day drew to a close, onlookers saw in the distance the famous C-130J aircraft affectionately known as Fat Albert begin its trek near Casino Beach, signaling the start of the Blue Angels Airshow.

After some waited since 4 a.m., beachgoers witnessed 45 minutes of Super Hornet F/A-18 E/F jets perform spectacular aeronautic maneuvers like the Diamond Dirty Loop, the Double Farvel, the Vertical Pitch, the Fleur-de-Lis, the Opposing Knife-Edge pass and the crowd-favorite Sneak Pass.

As the show wrapped up and they began the trek to their cars, discussion of next year's show was already top of mind.

This article originally appeared on Pensacola News Journal: Blue Angels Pensacola Beach Airshow Friday brings thousands to beach