Uploaded July 2026 | Updated September 2026, 1 week ago
WE WENT ON NAS PENSACOLA TO WATCH THE BLUE ANGELS PRACTICE - WE GOT STUCK IN TRAFFIC - BUT I HAD MY SCANNERS ROLLING TO HEAR THE RADIO CALLS!
A Blue Angels practice at NAS Pensacola is always a popular event. Apparently it's even more popular on the week leading into the 4th of July weekend.
We planned our arrival based on information provided by local resources here on Facebook and a group that tracks Blue Angel practices. We planned to be in the Naval Aviation Museum parking lot about 30 minutes before showtime.
When we were in stopped traffic about a mile from the NAS Pensacola West Gate at 9:30, we figured it would be tight to get to the parking lot and flight line before the practice started at 10:30.
10am came and went. We were still creeping along. 10:30 came - and we hadn't even made it to the security gate.
I fired up my scanners and we listened in as the Blue Angels took to the air.
We continued to inch forward with hundreds of others in the same predicament. The major holdup was the intersection a few hundred yards from the checkpoint with traffic jockeying to get on base from all three directions.
Once we cleared the checkpoint it was a pretty quick 3 miles to the parking lot at the Naval Aviation Museum where we parked the car at precisely 11am.
We watched the final 30 minutes of practice after a quick walk out to the flightline where probably more than a thousand people watched and oohed and ahhed at the formations and aerial maneuvering of this elite team of skilled fighter pilots.
What an adventure.
One final note - Once we got to the flightline, I left my scanner in the car on a recorder that I then matched to the video from my cell phone after the fact. I'm not sure I would've cleared final security to the flight line with a scanner radio.
WE WENT ON NAS PENSACOLA TO WATCH THE BLUE ANGELS PRACTICE - WE GOT STUCK IN TRAFFIC - BUT I HAD MY SCANNERS ROLLING TO HEAR THE RADIO CALLS!
A Blue Angels practice at NAS Pensacola is always a popular event. Apparently it's even more popular on the week leading into the 4th of July weekend.
We planned our arrival based on information provided by local resources here on Facebook and a group that tracks Blue Angel practices. We planned to be in the Naval Aviation Museum parking lot about 30 minutes before showtime.
When we were in stopped traffic about a mile from the NAS Pensacola West Gate at 9:30, we figured it would be tight to get to the parking lot and flight line before the practice started at 10:30.
10am came and went. We were still creeping along. 10:30 came - and we hadn't even made it to the security gate.
I fired up my scanners and we listened in as the Blue Angels took to the air.
We continued to inch forward with hundreds of others in the same predicament. The major holdup was the intersection a few hundred yards from the checkpoint with traffic jockeying to get on base from all three directions.
Once we cleared the checkpoint it was a pretty quick 3 miles to the parking lot at the Naval Aviation Museum where we parked the car at precisely 11am.
We watched the final 30 minutes of practice after a quick walk out to the flightline where probably more than a thousand people watched and oohed and ahhed at the formations and aerial maneuvering of this elite team of skilled fighter pilots.
What an adventure.
One final note - Once we got to the flightline, I left my scanner in the car on a recorder that I then matched to the video from my cell phone after the fact. I'm not sure I would've cleared final security to the flight line with a scanner radio.
