FARGO – The Fargo AirSho has come and gone, but StormTRACKER meteorologist Jesse Ritka shares her once-in-a-lifetime flying experience with the Blue Angels.
Even before the wheels lift off the runway, these pilots need to know about the weather.
“One challenge can be bad weather. Low cloud bases or low visibility make landing at airfields difficult,” explains Lt. Connor O’Donnell.
But luckily, that wasn’t a problem during the media flight on July 24. The takeoff maneuver alone produces about 5G, so my body felt about five times heavier than on the ground, but I very quickly got the feeling that I felt lighter than on the ground.
And to get an idea of how fast we were flying, we zoomed down to the clouds. Our speeds ranged from over 600 miles per hour down to about 140 miles per hour.
Just being a passenger is hard work as you fight the G-forces to keep blood pumping to your brain while trying not to pass out.
The other challenge in the air comes from outside the aircraft. Lt. Connor O’Donnell adds: “There are things we won’t go through, like hail, if we can avoid it. Of course, operational necessity will dictate those decisions. But if we’re just flying from A to B, we’ll avoid hail.”
I felt a bit like a hailstone flying up to the top of the clouds, spinning around and then sinking back down again… but the experience was a meteorologist’s dream.
But compared to the work of these pilots, forecasting is a much simpler task: the maneuvers they train and perform weekly require dedication, discipline and hard work.
“We really have the best of the best on this team, both professionally and personally. We are constantly on the move, so I am so grateful to be surrounded by positive people who believe in our mission and really take it seriously,” says Lt. Connor O’Donnell.
And I was grateful that I made it back to the ground without having to use the bags provided. It was quite a workout and quite a miracle to be among the clouds that I predicted daily.
You can see all the maneuvers they performed here.
