Jim Macdonald raised this story today, found in the Jackson Hole News & Guide. "Angels draw crowds, roar over Jackson Hole"
The Blue Angles buzzed through Jackson Hole yesterday so that they could capture some promotional photographs of the squad with the Grand Teton Mountain range as a backdrop. Quoted from the article:
The squad had been scheduled to fly over the valley at 11:50 a.m. but weather delayed the visit. Clouds shrouded the mountains, which the Navy hoped to use as a backdrop for a promotional photograph. A photography jet accompanied the squadron.
Further in the article, as it relates to the park.
Some had worried the squad would be an unnecessary intrusion over Grand Teton National Park, where regulations recommend no flying within 2,000 feet of the ground.
Bishop said he didn’t think the jets were offensive and the pilots did not push the throttles on their 16,000-pound-thrust engines.
We've already had a couple of comments about this story this morning. One fellow described the sound of the jets as the sound of freedom, a sound he'd love to hear while hiking in the parks. I happen to think that while the military plays an important function in our government, the intrusion of military jets into the quite nature of National Parks is unnecessary. How do you feel?
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Comments
LOL...you libs are so funny!!
Fact is, the Blues will fly anywhere they damn well please because MOST Americans (ones who aren't whacked-out enviros) know that THUNDER makes a helluva lot more noise than jets...the lil animals will be just fine...LOL!!!
So...get over it...we patriots love to see our military perform and think it'a a dang fine use of our tax dollars (that's why air shows continue to attract huge crowds)...nuthin is more awesome than seein a fighter comin' in low and fast over a ridgeline in the backcountry! I watched 2 bighorn look up and not even flinch when an F/A-18 flew low at ~ 100 ft over the Inyo National Forest.
Oh, and Frank...pssst...the Blue Angels have an impeccable safety record...never have had an accident while performing a show since 1946 until the one this year...I would say narcissistic "wow, look at me" climbers die much more often...so wise up and move to Canada...(your writing reflects your disdain for America)...I'll gladly pay your one-way moving expenses.
Staci, not a "impeccable record" and sorry to say...with sadness. April21, 2007, Lt. Commander Kevin Davis was killed when his F/A-18 crashed in a wooded residentail area near Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort , S.C., and another crash in 1999 near Pensacola, Florida. In the sixty year history of the Blue Angels there has been 29 fatalities involving there flight program. Most unfortunate, but the nature of there extremely dangerous work. So, check the records Staci and it's avaiable to the general public. Now, zip the trash talk!
Don't even bite on that one Frank. What Staci totally misunderstands is that true patriotism is love of country not love of the government, but what do you expect from repeated generations that have been meticulously indoctrinated by mandatory attendance in government run schools? We as a society will reap what we sow.
Again I return to the sage of Baltimore H.L. Mencken: "The whole aim of practical politics is to keep the populace alarmed (and hence clamorous to be led to safety) by menacing it with an endless series of hobgoblins, all of them imaginary."
Snowbird06
Staci, for your information, the Blue Angels do not have a "impeccable flight record"...sorry to say...with much sadness. On April 21, 2007 Lt. Cmdr. Kevin Davis was killed while flying his Blue Angel F/A-18 that crashed near a wooded residential area not far from Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort, S.C., and in 1999 there was another Blue Angel crash in Georgia. Since the sixty year history of the Blue Angels there has been 28 fatalities involving there flight program. Most unfortunate, but it symbolizes the extreme danger and nature of their work. So, please get the facts straight and zip up the trash talk.
| "...consider that the Navy's budget (not including the Marines) for the Blue Angels (about $20 million a year) and the cost of the planes themselves ($22 million EACH) are used for "recruitment" purposes. That money could fund several Yosemites and Grand Canyons."
*******
Have you stopped to consider that without our military, we wouldn't have any Yosemites or Grand Canyons to enjoy? What is your freedom worth? How much do you think it should cost? At any rate, national parks like Yosemite and the Grand Canyon have become so commercialized that I doubt one could walk more than a mile in solitude without bumping into someone else along the trail.
When you take hikes in the wilderness, you like to take pictures saying "I was here"... why shouldn't the military have the same right? Last time I checked, the people serving in the military are citizens too.
Don't tell me that there are people out there that DON'T bend the law every once in awhile to suit their needs or purpose. For example... late for an appointment, speeding, stopped by a law enforcement officer... "but officer! "... : )
Don't tell me that's different... the LAW is the LAW.
My vote goes for letting the Blue Angels in and kicking the airport OUT.
A fairly happy ending to this story as far as I'm concerned (though they managed one shot that they might use, but not what they wanted).
See
Clouds thwart Angels in Teton photo shoot
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