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Blue Angels Pilot Flies ‘Fat Albert’ for 75th Anniversary

 Blue Angels C-130, also known as “Fat Albert,” at the Oakland International Airport on Oct. 7, 2021. (Ilene Eng/  Pezou)

OAKLAND, Calif.—This year is the 75th anniversary of the U.S. Navy Blue Angels squadron, which is performing airshows in San Francisco on the weekend of Oct. 8–10.

Blue Angels perform annual airshows in the Bay Area during Fleet Week before Columbus Day. Two new airplanes are debuting this year: the F/A-18 Super Hornet and the C-130, also known as “Fat Albert.”

Rick Rose, a major in the U.S. Marine Corps, flies Fat Albert for the Blue Angels. Rose is from Napa, California, and told NTD Television he has been flying since 2014 and joined the Blue Angels two years ago.

Major Rick Rose, who flies “Fat Albert,” at the Oakland International Airport on Oct. 7, 2021. (Ilene Eng/ Pezou)

“Fat Albert is kind of the Marine representation on the U.S. Navy Blue Angels squadron. So it’s a joint Marine-Navy squadron,” Rose said. “And then being a pilot to kind of represent that in addition to the C-130 community in the Marine Corps, it’s a very special community. It’s a small community, but what we do … the roles we play and the missions we do throughout the world are so important for Marines. But being a pilot on this aircraft is nothing short of an incredible experience every day.”

Even though the shows were cancelled last year due to the pandemic, Rose said they still practiced at their home base in Florida and at other Navy air stations.

Rose said he’s humbled to perform back home to show Northern California what they can do.

“Coming full circle, when I was a kid, watching the Blue Angels perform in the Bay Area was a special thing for me and I never thought in a million years I’d be now in the show performing, doing the same thing, inspiring future generations,” he said.

new F/A-18 Super Hornet at the Oakland International Airport on Oct. 7, 2021. (Ilene Eng/ Pezou)

Fat Albert does not have the typical sleek build of Blue Angels aircraft, and it can’t match their speed, but it is still capable of doing all the stunts. This is Fat Albert’s 50th anniversary, but it’s the year the J model debuts, with six-bladed propellers, upgraded engines, and avionics.

“For each show site, we’ll carry the whole complement of six pallets of maintenance cargo in addition to about 49 sailors and Marines that are back there,” Rose said. “So we’re the logistics and platform to carry everything we need in order to make the show happen, and so getting six jets in the air is kind of surface level of all the teamwork that goes into making this happen. And we carry the Marines and sailors that fix the jets and make sure that they’re putting on a good show for us.”

He said Fat Albert is a critical asset for the Marines. support team plays a big role in getting the aircraft off the ground and the show going.

Michael Donaldson, a Blue Angels power plant technician who works long hours together with the team to fix the planes, at the Oakland International Airport on Oct. 7, 2021. (Ilene Eng/ Pezou)

Michael Donaldson, a power plant technician with the Blue Angels, told NTD Television: “Challenges are probably going to be long working hours, gripes on the jet that are difficult to figure out. But when we all get together and put our brains together, we figure it out.”

Because it’s a hand-selected process to be part of the team and many want to join, Donaldson said it’s the best close-knit family and the teamwork is incredible.

Blue Angels will head to Colorado, Texas, and Georgia before returning to Florida.

Pezou : Blue Angels Pilot Flies ‘Fat Albert’ for 75th Anniversary