Our Seafair “secrets”

| Blue Angels | Not WS but we're mentioning it anyway

Love it or hate it, it’s here … the frenzied finale to Seattle’s biggest summer festival, Seafair. We had been debating whether to take up space here with our Blue Angels and hydro ~~obsessions~~ interest, given that it’s not WS-specific, but bless the reader who wrote us to suggest we do exactly that … so here goes.

SECRET #1 — Watch the Blue Angels take off from and land at the Museum of Flight, which is at Boeing Field, just a few miles east of West Seattle. You don’t have to pay MOF admission to go stand along their fence and do this, although we highly recommend the very affordable MOF membership — it’s a unique Seattle institution worth supporting. This is always stirring, particularly on the Friday-Saturday-Sunday occasions, when you can see the full pageantry of the “walkdown,” the synchronized crew checks, the jet engine smoke, the feel-it-in-your-bones takeoffs … anyway, you can read our tales from last year: day 1 here, day 3 here, day 4 here. The Angels will have two takeoffs and landings during practices tomorrow (Thursday), then one each for the “rehearsal” show on Friday and the real deal on Saturday/Sunday.

SECRET #2 — “Free Friday.”

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Blue Angels pilot killed

April 21, 2007 4:14 pm

| 2 COMMENTS

| Blue Angels | Not WS but we're mentioning it anyway

The Blue Angels become local news once a year around here during their Museum of Flight-based Seafair stay, and we’re major Blue Angels fans, so we are taking some space to say we are sorry to hear that a BA pilot died in a crash at a South Carolina airshow this afternoon. UPDATE: Other sites tracking this include BeaufortGazette.com and Bluffton Today.

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Blue Angels @ MOF, final day

August 6, 2006 7:18 pm

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| Blue Angels | Not WS but we're mentioning it anyway

We thought it was just an urban semi-legend, but no.

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Blue Angels @ MOF, day 3

August 5, 2006 5:42 pm

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| Blue Angels | Not WS but we're mentioning it anyway

Just one thing marred an otherwise lovely afternoon …

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“Makes your tummy tickle, doesn’t it?”

August 3, 2006 11:23 am

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| Blue Angels | Not WS but we're mentioning it anyway

So said a mom to a small child, watching (and feeling) four of the Blue Angels take off from Boeing Field/Museum of Flight for this morning’s practice. For those not interested in the BAs, we’ll jump the rest to another page …Read More

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1 down, 6 to go

August 1, 2006 6:22 pm

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| Blue Angels | Not WS but we're mentioning it anyway

I have already warned you that I am a bigtime Blue Angels fan. On the offhand chance you are too, let me be among the first to tell you that the first jet has arrived at the Museum of Flight — the West Seattle Blogger Posse (minus me) happened to be there late this morning, quite coincidentally, when it happened. They learned that the other six are coming in tomorrow. If you missed my earlier post, I’ll mention my two favorite “Blue Angels/Seafair semi-secrets” once again — (a) the Friday show over Lake Washington is considered a practice run (even though it’s the full official show), so you don’t have to pay a cent to go sit along the shore down near Genesee Park and watch the Angels (along with hydro practice runs); (b) also free, the Angels’ takeoffs and landings (and flybys) at the Museum of Flight and its end of Boeing Field. (Within the half-hour before the takeoff, it’s also cool to watch the synchronized ground maneuvers of the maintenance crew and the Angel pilots’ “walkdown.”

Last but not least … if the only thing Seafair weekend and the Blue Angels mean to you is “damn, the I-90 bridge is going to be shut down a few times for all that noise,” here’s the info link with days and times.

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