BLUE ANGELS: 2020

Since they first took to the skies in 1946, the U.S. Navy’s Blue Angels have thrilled millions of spectators at airshows around the world. Each new season presents a number of challenges for members of the Blue Angels; some planned, others unexpected. That the team has always risen to these challenges is a testament to their training and professionalism.

In 2020 the Blues were already addressing a number of known challenges. The season introduced a new ‘Boss’ to the team, CDR. Brian Kesselring. Kesselring assumed command understanding that the 2020 season would be the last for the venerable F/A-18 ‘Legacy’ Hornet, an aircraft the Blues had been flying since 1986. It would be his duty to shepherd the team through its transition to the larger, more powerful ‘Super Hornet’, ensuring that they would debut the new aircraft in the 2021 season. In addition, Kesselring would also oversee the introduction and integration of a new ‘Fat Albert’, the C-130 aircraft that served the team’s logistical needs. These two challenges alone were more than enough for any new ‘Boss’ to take on.

And then the world was plunged into the COVID19 pandemic.

BLUE ANGELS: 2020 will tell the story of the challenges, trials and accomplishments of CDR Kesselring and all of the Blue Angels as they were forced to reconfigure the 2020 airshow season in the face of a deadly, global pandemic. Through extensive photographs and interviews with team members, the book details the planning and execution of a totally new show format and schedule, all the while keeping on track to transition to their two new aircraft in time for the 2021 season. 

The book will follow the Blue Angels from November 2019's change of command through the 2021 season. Anticipated release of this book is Fall of 2023.