The Magazine

Blue Angels, Kansas, and more.

Jun 5, 2006, Vol. 11, No. 36 • By THE SCRAPBOOK
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Always Look on the Dark Side . . .

Pound for pound, there may be no more thrilling display of American military pageantry than the show put on several dozen times each year by the Navy's Blue Angels--the team of six F/A-18 Hornets that famously fly in a tight formation, with as little as 18 inches separating their wingtips, among other aerial feats.

Leave it to the New York Times to rain on the parade. Last week the Blue Angels decided to treat Manhattan's tower dwellers to a free show, as they practiced for an upcoming performance nearby. The Times pursed its lips in sour disapproval, running the following caption in local editions, beneath an admittedly dazzling photo: "Too Close for Comfort? The Navy's Blue Angels precision flying team made a close-quarters pass over the Upper East Side yesterday, a preview of their participation in the New York Air Show at Jones Beach on Sunday and Monday as part of Memorial Day observances. The sight of the fighters and their noise startled some residents, who recalled 9/11 in anxious phone calls."

A Scrapbook informant and Blue Angels fan who saw the Upper East Side fly-by begged to differ. He said he'd heard from friends, Columbia students and bankers, who said people lined the windows of their buildings and thought it was "the greatest thing they ever saw."

Dog Bites Man

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