Lynchburg air show features Navy's Blue Angels

The multimillion dollar fighter jets approached with furious precision, bulleted by in a diamond formation and then peeled off one by one with the boastful roar of a powerful country's military prowess. The spectacle might elicit a split-second chill from even the nation's staunchest pacifist. Six jets and six pilots of the U.S. Navy's Blue Angels arrived Thursday morning at the Lynchburg Regional Airport in advance of an air show scheduled for Saturday and Sunday at the airfield. They joined colleagues and another F/A-18 Hornet that had flown in earlier.

The jets rolled to a stop and their canopies opened. Out stepped the pilots -- broad shoulders and narrow waists, polished black boots, plumb-bob postures. Cmdr. Dave Koss, flight leader and commanding officer, graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1991. For the Blue Angels, he is Boss Koss. He has flown missions in support of both Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom, and Koss' decorations include the Bronze Star, two Air Medals with Combat V and many others. Koss said Thursday that his father, a naval aviator, frequently took him to air shows when he was young and that service with the Blue Angels became a lifelong goal. "I'm about seven months into it and I'm having the time of my life," Koss said. That said, Koss said that when his tour with the Angels ends he will welcome returning to forward deployments in support of troops on the ground. He said the pilots' fitness allows them to fly in air shows without wearing the G-suits that help fliers sustain powerful gravitational forces during maneuvers by keeping a pilot's blood from pooling in their legs. The Blue Angels will perform this year at 35 sites across the country. Organizers of the Lynchburg event said the demonstration squadron last flew there in 1982. During the Blue Angels air shows, the aircraft often fly within 18 inches of one another, reach altitudes as high as 15,000 feet and as low as 50 feet and fly at speeds of up to 700 mph. Koss said the team's role is twofold -- to boost recruitment efforts and represent Navy and Marine Corps aviation. And why "Blue Angels"? The original team picked the name in 1946 from a reference in The New Yorker magazine to the Blue Angel nightclub in New York City. The death-defying stunts do not always defy death. According to the Blue Angels website, 26 pilots have died during the team's performances, with the first death in 1946 and the most recent in 2007. Koss said safety is paramount. Also performing this weekend will be the Flying Circus Airshow, the Black Daggers -- the U.S. Army Special Operations Command Parachute Demonstration Team -- and others. For additional information or to purchase tickets, go to www.lynchburgairshow.com Lynchburg Regional Airshow of Dreams -- The Lynchburg Regional Airport will host the Lynchburg Regional Airshow on Saturday and Sunday, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. each day. -- Performers will include the U.S. Navy Blue Angels, the Flying Circus Airshow, the Black Daggers (the Army Special Operations Command Parachute Demonstration Team) and others. -- Free parking will be available on the campus of Liberty University. Shuttle buses will run between the university parking lot and the Lynchburg Regional Airport's general aviation area throughout the day. Inbound shuttles to the air show will stop at 3 p.m. and shuttles will not run during the Blue Angels performance. -- For additional information about the show and to review a complete list of spectator dos and don'ts, go to: www.lynchburgairshow.com