California Blue Angels Air Shows:

March 10, 2012, Blue Angels Air Show on the El Centro Air Facility
October 6-7, 2012 in San Francisco  Fleet Week, see: fleetweek.us
October 12-14 in Miramar, CA

California's Naval Air Facility (NAF) El Centro is the wintering home of the Navy Blue Angels squadron and fleet of F/A-18 A Hornet aircraft. Blue Angels is  a select Navy  squadron formed in 1946 after WWII for public relations efforts to continue recruitment of the nation's finest flyers.   Flight demonstration exhibits take place throughout the U.S., with three such exhibitions held in California, one in March and two in the Bay Area in the fall.

Blue Angels NAF El Centro Events 2012:

• Blue Angels 10K Fun Run at Blue Angel Park, Naval Air Facility El Centro on Feb. 25.
• 15th Annual Entertainment & Food Festival on March 9, 2o12 at NAF El Centro Hangar 6. Sample food from local Imperial Valley Restaurants, listen to live entertainment and enjoy fireworks and more. Admission is free. Event begins at 5:30 pm.
• Pre-Air Show Party at the Sun Downer Club March 9, 2012, call (760) 339-2380 for info.
• Blue Angels El Centro Air Show at El Centro NAF March 10, 2012. See: mwrtoday.com/elcentroairshow

The closest the diamond will fly to each other is 18 inches during the Diamond 360 maneuver shown in photo.

Blue Angels NAF El Centro Entertainment March :

• Graceful aerobatic maneuvers of the four-plane Diamond Formation, in concert with the fast-paced, high-performance maneuvers of its two Solo Pilots.
• Pinnacle of precision flying in maneuvers locked as a unit in the renowned, six-jet Delta Formation.
• United States Navy Parachute Team - Leap Frogs 15-man team comprised entirely of U.S. Navy SEAL and SWCC commandos. Each member comes to the team for a three-year tour from one of the two Naval Special Warfare Groups located on the east and west coasts. 14 jumpers leap out of an aircraft at an altitude of 12,500 feet. During free fall, jumpers reach speeds of 120 mph and can accelerate up to 180 mph by pulling their arms to their sides and straightening their legs into what is called a "track." The jumpers typically open their parachutes at around 5,000 feet by releasing a smaller pilot chute which deploys their main blue-and-gold canopy. After deploying their chutes, the Leap Frogs fly their canopies together to build dramatic canopy-relative work formations.
• The Aerobatic Racing Challenge Series (ARC Series) is a new and innovative racing format featuring pilots with high-performance aerobatic aircraft competing against each other on a vertical race course. As a featured Air Show event, pilots race through an aerobatic sequence in a side-by-side dual that challenges each pilot to fly the maneuvers as quickly as possible. The winner is determined by successfully completing all the assigned maneuvers in the least amount of time without acquiring penalties. Rule infractions or incomplete maneuvers will incur penalties that are added to the pilot's overall time.
• F/A-18 F "Rhino": VFA-122 Demo - The Tactical Demonstration, or "Tac Demo" team flies a two-seat F/A-18F as close to the the "edge of the envelope" as safety and prudence allows.
• C-2 Greyhound - The high-wing, twin-engine aircraft is designed for Carrier On-board Delivery (COD) operations, and it can carry 10,000 lbs. of cargo, mail or passengers more than 1,000 nautical miles.
• Search And Rescue (SAR) Demo, Fallon Longhorns
• Many pilots, including Spencer Suderman, who performs the incredible Double Hammerhead, a maneuver so difficult that only a handful of pilots will even attempt it in public.
• Metal Mulisha Demo Team extreme freestyle demonstration and jaw-dropping stunts.