Blue Angels have touched down in Beaufort. Show features first female fighter jet pilot

With a roar and an aerial maneuver called a “pitch up break,” six Blue Angels fighter jets arrived Thursday morning at Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort in advance of this weekend’s air show that’s expected to attract more than 100,000 visitors.

The seven fighter jets and their pilots — the first jet arrived Wednesday — are the star attractions at the MCAS Air Show and Lt. Amanda Lee, the first female fighter jet pilot in the flight demonstration squadron, is now part of the team. Gates open at 9:30 a.m. for the Air Show, which is from 11 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, with the Blue Angels performing each day at 3 p.m.

But the Blue Angels team is actually much larger than the pilots and includes personnel who move the equipment and take care of the jets and the pilots.

AT1 Jonathan Miller, for example, an avionics technician from Lakeview, South Carolina, has been a member of the team for four years, working on the jets.

“Oh I love it,” said Miller when asked about being on the Blue Angels team. “It’s exhilarating.”

With shows across the country, the job requires a lot of traveling, but Miller enjoys meeting new people including base command and personnel and representing the Navy and Marines when he works the crowds talking to kids and veterans.

The F-18s flown in the Blue Angels shows are actually the oldest in the fleet, although many people think they are brand new, Miller says.

“And we get to take care of ’em,” Miller said of the senior maintenance personnel who keep the jets in top form during the shows.

During the fastest maneuver, the No. 5 and No. 6 jets will approach 700 mph, Miller said. During the slowest maneuver, the jets will fly at 140 mph.

Capt. Jackson Streiff is the pilot of the C-130 named “Fat Albert” that transports 35,000 pounds of cargo and 45 personnel to and from 32 Blue Angels shows across the country. The big aircraft also leads off the Blue Angels show with a flight demonstration featuring low altitude tactics.

“The airplane can move pretty good for how big it is,” Streiff said of the C-130, which can reach 370 mph.

It’s a new show in a new city every weekend, Streiff said. “It’s always exciting to come to a new place.”

This year’s MCAS Beaufort Air Show comes on the 50th anniversary of women flying in the Navy.

And Lt. Lee, one of the Blue Angels pilots who will be part of this weekend’s demonstration in Beaufort, made history herself when she joined the Blue Angels in 2022 at the No. 3 left wing position for 2023-2024 seasons.

Although Marine Maj. Katie Higgins, who piloted the team’s C-130 “Fat Albert” for two seasons, beginning in 2014, was the squadron’s first female pilot, Lee is the team’s first fighter jet pilot.

On Sunday, Patricia Denkler plans to be in the audience at the Air Show. Denkler, who has lived in Beaufort for 35 years, has a personal interest in the history of women aviators in the Navy and Lee’s role in it.

In 1981, Lt. Denkler became the first U.S. Navy woman to carrier qualify in a jet aircraft when she landed a TA-4J Skyhawk on the aircraft carrier USS Lexington.

“Lt. Amanda Lee personifies leadership — an inspirational role model for many,” Denkler told the Beaufort Gazette and Island Packet. “She represents the culmination of the 50 years of women flying in the Navy led by the first six women in 1973.”

The “First Six” were: Lt. Cmdr. Barbara Allen Rainey, Captain Rosemary Bryant Mariner, Capt. Jane Skiles O’dea, Capt. JoEllen Drag-Oslund, Capt. Judith Neuffer and Capt. Ana Marie Scott. In March 1973, eight women were accepted in U.S. Navy flight training in Pensacola and those six would go on to earn their wings. Mariner would become the first woman to fly a tactical fighter jet in the U.S. Navy.

In 2019, Lee, the Blue Angels pilot, participated in the first ever all-female “missing man” flyover formation in Maynardville, Tenn. at the funeral of Mariner. Beaufort’s Denkler, who was at Mariner’s funeral and witnessed the flyover, hopes to get the chance to talk with Lee on Sunday.

“She’s a shining star,” Denkler said.

Formed in 1946, the Blue Angels showcase the pride and professionalism of the Navy and Marine Corps through aerobatic flight demonstrations and community outreach.

Staff Sgt. Kayla D. Rivera, productions and operations chief in MCAS’ Communication Strategy and Operations Office, said at least 100,000 visitors are expected at this weekend’s air show. All of the VIP tickets, which guarantee premium seating, have been sold out, but general admission is free, and no tickets are required.

“Four years is a long time not to have an air show,” Rivera said at the MCAS Beaufort airfield Thursday, moments before six of the seven Blue Angels fighters arrived. “We are expecting a big crowd.”

Parking is available on a first come, first served basis. Bring your own chairs and blankets to enjoy the show.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the last Blue Angels air show in Beaufort was in 2019.

This weekend’s schedule also includes several aerial performances from other groups, helicopter rides and aircraft exhibits.

Check out beaufortairshow.com for more information.