![]() Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum is accessioning this aircraft into the collection. Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, VA, October 20, 2020. ![]() Navy Blue Angel F/A-18C Hornet, piloted by Cmdr. It was active with the team until the end of the 2020 season when all of the legacy models were retired in favor of the Super Hornet (the E and F models), approximately 33% larger than the Hornet. All told, the airplane served in eight different squadrons, seeing service in both Atlantic and Pacific oceans as well as the Mediterranean and Red seas before being turned over to the Blue Angels in 2015. It flew with the squadron during Operation Desert Storm, the First Gulf War in 1991 and then with VFA-83, helping to enforce the no-fly zone over southern Iraq in 1994. It was soon assigned to Strike Fighter Squadron (VFA) 86, the first East Coast squadron to receive the C model Hornet. It was one of the first C models built, delivered to the Navy in 1987. This F/A-18C is a legacy Hornet (models A/B/C/D) that replaced the Douglas A-4 Skyhawk as the Blue Angels’ aircraft at the end of the 1986 season. (Smithsonian Photo by Jim Preston) įor the Navy’s Flight Demonstration Team, the Blue Angels, the Hornet has been an excellent show aircraft with amazing longevity, serving for 34 of the team’s 75 years of existence-more than twice as long as any other aircraft type. This specific airplane flew with eight squadrons (including Strike Fighter Squadron (VFA) 86 during Operation Desert Storm, the First Gulf War, in 1991) before being turned over to the Blue Angels in 2015. It was retired by the Navy at the end of the 2020 season as the demonstration team moves to the larger Super Hornet. ![]() “We look forward to sharing this plane with our visitors at the Udvar-Hazy Center.” The U.S. ![]() “The museum’s collection of this important aircraft will allow us to tell stories of the Navy’s Flight Demonstration Team, as well as its time in combat,” said naval aviation curator Lauarence Burke. 18, in preparation for display at the museum’s Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, VA at a later date. The recently retired F/A-18C flew into Dulles, Nov. This is the first “Blue Angels” aircraft and the first F-18 the museum has acquired. The Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum welcomed the Blue Angels’ F/A-18C Hornet into the national collection. ![]()
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