I saw the Blue Angels Pensacola Beach Air Show from the back of Fat Albert. What it was like

When I received an email in May that I had been nominated to fly with the Blue Angels’ beloved Fat Albert, I was ecstatic yet nervous. Only two years had passed since I first conquered my fear of rollercoasters and now I was being asked to take part in a gravity-defying experience these pilots have trained for years to prepare.

Never mind that my role in the ride (simply existing in the experience) was only a small fraction of the pressure that those in the cockpit undergo regularly, I was flooded with those contrasting emotions even as I made my way up the tarmac to greet Fat Albert face-to-face.

My flight on Friday wasn’t the first time I had gotten a chance to get up close and personal with the Blue Angels. In the eight years I’ve worked with the News Journal and being the son of a retired U.S. Navy Chief Petty Officer, I’ve had multiple opportunities to see the jets in person. Seeing the new C-130J Super Hercules Fat Albert and the new F/A-18E/F Super Hornets felt different this time.

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Chatting with the Fat Albert pilots one-on-one, getting briefed on the flight by Capt. Jackson Streiff as if I was just another member of the crew — it all felt reminiscent of those moments you have when you realize you’re dreaming just before you wake.

Nothing I write today could adequately describe the magic I felt after I abandoned those fears on the ground as Fat Albert’s Rolls Royce AE-2100 engines roared to life and launched us into the sky toward Pensacola Beach for the Blue Angels beach show.

Fat Albert is true to its name in appearance alone. Despite the C-130J’s 132-foot wingspan and weighing over 100,000 tons, this plane can book it.

Within what felt like seconds, we were off the ground and high in the sky. Moments after taking off, I felt a completely foreign feeling — complete weightlessness.

While I was fiddling with my phone’s camera settings and trying to figure out how to take compelling video as I was strapped to my seat, Fat Albert had already performed its first zero-G maneuver.

As I was lifted completely out of my seat, my legs flailing in front of me, I found myself sharing the same goofy grin as the rest of my cohorts.

“Did you get that?,” the person next to me shouted afterward. I did not “get that.” At least not yet. In between the fiddling and the unexpectedness of the experience, the only thing I could think of was how absolutely amazing — albeit a little helpless — Zero G felt.

Zero G wasn’t the only awe-inspiring feeling flying with Fat Albert invokes. The sheer pressure the plane creates as it twists through the air in nearly unbelievable ways was another thing I wasn’t prepared for. It’s so intense at times that I remember once trying to get up to reposition myself and simply being unable to get myself up. Flying in that position seems unfathomable.

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The view from inside Fat Albert leaves a little to be desired, though I’m not sure catering to media flights is high on the Navy’s priority list. Still, the views I did manage to get were incredible. At times, the view from the left side of the plane made it seem like we were skirting just over the Gulf of Mexico while the right side showed nothing but clouds — not something you want to see on a commercial flight.

During other times, we could peer through the window and see the thousands of people peppered along Pensacola Beach and the hundreds of boats that gathered to watch the Blues fly.

In the third act of the flight, I finally got my chance to successfully capture Fat Albert’s infamous Zero G maneuver, putting the cherry on top of the perfect cake.

After living in Pensacola for two decades and growing up on military bases, it's easy to take some experiences for granted. Getting the chance to fly with the Fat Albert crew gave me a fantastic new perspective to appreciate and a once-in-a-lifetime experience I won't soon forget.

Brandon Girod is a digital content coach with the Pensacola News Journal.

This article originally appeared on Pensacola News Journal: Blue Angels' Fat Albert Zero G moves are no joke. Here's my experience