Since taking to the sky, the Blue Angels have flown 10 different aircraft models. Nicknamed Beetle Bomb, this sharp yellow plane acted as the Blue Angel’s adversary from 1946 to 1950. These reenactments were complete with an SNJ-5 Texan painted to look like a Japanese Mitsubishi A6M Zero.

In the early years, the Blue’s performances consisted of recreating World War II battles.

Once the papers were printed there was no going back the Blue Angels were cemented in aviation history.

To get around this small issue, the team dropped the catchy Blue Angels name to the press at one of their first shows. Why? Because their Chief of Staff and his son already had the Blue Lances in mind for the newly founded unit. It took a little bit of craftiness on their part. The first team named themselves after one of the largest and popular nightclubs in New York City at the time. The tale of how the Blue Angels got their current name is one that begs telling. K nown only as the Navy Flight Exhibition Team at their onset, the Blues were the second formal precision aviation team founded in global aviation history! The Blue Angels assisted the Navy in bolstering enlistment rates and generating public and political support for a larger allocation of the declining military budget. Admiral Chester Nimitz, Chief of Naval Operations, knew that the team would ensure that American aviation continued to garner public support in a post-war society. The Blue Angels were formed on April 24, 1946, at the peak of the USA’s victory high following World War II.

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