Magnificent Blue Angels at Scott AFB

</element><element id="paragraph-1" type="body"><![CDATA[There's a patriotic chill that overcomes you as the six McDonnell Douglas F/A-18 Hornets took off together from the runway at Scott AFB outside Mascoutah on Sunday, the hour-long finale of Scott's annual September air show.

It was a fitting end to the weekend memorial observances of the 2001 9/11 attack, and proof-positive that we are still the greatest nation on earth.

The $21 million aircraft are put into the hands of the Navy's best pilots, the top guns, and at one point during the show one of the fighter jets streaked over the trees and flew over the air base at a scant 200 feet over the crowd. Two others followed--one right side up and the other upside down.

At times, all six of the jets flew in formation. They are capable of flying at Mach II, and routinely fly at 700 mph. The aerobatics were unbelievable.

The Blue Angels are largely a recruitment tool and perform in dozens of air shows across the U.S. and in Europe each year.

At the end of World War II, the Chief of Naval Operations, Chester W. Nimitz, ordered the formation of a flight demonstration team to keep the public interested in Naval Aviation. The Blue Angels performed their first flight demonstration less than a year later in June 1946 at their home base, Naval Air Station (NAS) Jacksonville, Florida. LCDR Roy "Butch" Voris led the team, flying the Grumman F6F Hellcat.

By the end of the 1940s, the Blue Angels were flying their first jet aircraft, the Grumman F9F-2 Panther. In response to the demands placed on Naval Aviation in the Korean Conflict, the team reported to the aircraft carrier USS Princeton as the nucleus of Fighter Squadron 191 (VF-191), "Satan's Kittens," in 1950.

The ensuing 20 years saw the Blue Angels transition to two more aircraft, the Grumman F11F-1 Tiger (1957) and the McDonnell Douglas F-4J Phantom II (1969).

In December 1974, the Navy Flight Demonstration Team began flying the McDonnell Douglas A-4F Skyhawk II and was reorganized into the Navy Flight Demonstration Squadron.

On Nov. 8, 1986, the Blue Angels completed their 40th anniversary year when they unveiled their present aircraft, the McDonnell Douglas F/A-18 Hornet, the first dual-role fighter/attack aircraft, which is still serving on the nation's front lines of defense.

The 2009 show season brought out more than 8 million spectators. Since 1946, the Blue Angels have performed for more than 463 million fans.