Blue Angels new Fat Albert

[RavenOne]

In my first neck of the woods, Marshall’s Aerospace converted former RAF C-130J into the Blue Angels new C-130J so by chance I drove by stopped to take photos of it making rare appearance outside for a photo shoot.

cheers

 

[Boxman]

"Royal Fat Albert"? "Royal Albert"?

 

[RavenOne]

And today i had the pleasure of seeing it make its maiden flight and first air so here are my photos from this morning.

cheers

 

[taildragger]

Can the J use jato rockets or are those gone from airshows forever?

 

[EwenS]

AIUI the J never had the requisite attachments so yes it is a thing of the past.

 

[Archibald]

And today i had the pleasure of seeing it make its maiden flight

Remind me of that joke by the "Zoo crew" (yes, that was their unofficial name, for good reasons) of Space Shuttle Discovery "maiden flight" in 1984. It was packed full with macho bull and testosterone fueled aviators... and thrown into the middle of them, the smart, intensely beautiful and much regretted Judith Resnik.

A baffled Resnik tersely noted "Why did they call it the maiden flight ? Makes no sense. None of the astronaut on this flight are maiden..."

 

[BillRo]

Can the J use jato rockets or are those gone from airshows forever?

Fat Albert used the last JATO bottles in inventory a few years ago.

 

[RavenOne]

Today wandered over to EGSC to see Fat Alberts second air test so here are my photos below from afternoon and early evening.

cheers

 

[taildragger]

Don't think the revised paint job is an improvement. My guess is that the all-white crown will return after crews spend a few seasons cooking inside it while parked on sunny airshow ramps.