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McDonnell Douglas gave Warner Bros. decade-old stock footage of the Blue Angels flying the iconic A-4F Skyhawk II and Warner Bros decided that Van Halen’s soaring track “Dreams” was a perfect match.

The cool clip in this post features the original, famed Van Halen music video for Dreams with the Blue Angels in the A-4 Skyhawks.

Warner Bros decided to produce the video in 1986 after one of their executives had seen Top Gun and thought the movie would have been even better with a rock soundtrack (he must have thought that “Danger Zone” by Kenny Loggins was a bit too twee). Using the movie as inspiration, Warner Bros produced a video featuring the US Navy’s Blue Angels and then released it to coincide with the Independence Day holiday.

McDonnell Douglas gave Warner Bros. decade-old stock footage of the Blue Angels flying the iconic A-4F Skyhawk II and Warner Bros decided that Van Halen’s soaring track “Dreams” was a perfect match. The band gave their approval. The Navy was also pleased to assist the effort because the video would help commemorate the Blue Angel’s 40th anniversary. Once all parties were in agreement, the quick-cut video of the Blue Angles executing their signature maneuvers was edited in three days.

The clip was originally intended to be aired exclusively on MTV during the July Liberty Weekend (which was a special celebration of the restoration and centenary of the Statue of Liberty), but the massive response it generated during the July Liberty Weekend took Warner Bros, Van Halen, and the Navy by surprise. MTV was deluged with phone calls from viewers who wanted to know more about the Blue Angels and where they could get copies of the video.

The US Navy was thrilled. According to an interesting piece that appeared on the U.S. Naval Institute’s Naval History Blog “On the heels of the two-hour recruiting commercial that was Top Gun, they now had an electrifying music video by one of the nation’s most popular rock bands being viewed by millions of teenage boys. Navy Recruiting Command was reaching its target audience, and it had cost them nothing. In fact, everyone involved reaped rewards. MTV had a buzzworthy video, Van Halen notched another hit single in “Dreams” (peaking at #22 on the charts) while being able to stand firm on not paying for the video, and Warner Bros. racked up more album sales due to their inexpensive promo. For these reasons, all parties agreed to extend the use of the video indefinitely.”

The same year that the video for “Dreams” was released, the Blue Angels replaced their A-4 Skyhawks with F/A-18 Hornets.

 2,960 A-4 Skyhawks were produced between 1954 and 1979. Built small to be cost-effective and so that more of them could be accommodated on a carrier, the lightweight, high-speed bombers were affectionately nicknamed “Heinemann’s Hot Rod” (after Douglas designer Ed Heinemann), the Bantam Bomber, Mighty Mite, and Scooter. Skyhawks provided the U.S. Navy and Marines and friendly nations with maneuverable, yet powerful, attack bombers that had great altitude and range capabilities, plus an unusual flexibility in armament capacity.

The Navy’s Blue Angels flight demonstration squadron flew the A-4F Skyhawk II from 1974 to 1986. 

Video credit: Michael Huggins

Photo by KllausBR via YouTube

Maj. Michelle Curran is the Lead Solo Pilot for the U.S. Air Force Air Demonstration Squadron, flying the No. 5 jet.

A massive bird stroke Thunderbirds Lead Solo Maj. Michelle Curran’s F-16C Fighting Falcon during a team practice flight demonstration in Colombia, South America, on Jul. 12, 2019.

Curran said on her Instagram account:

‘I was recently asked about scary moments in the jet. Here’s the story of one of them. Last year during our Friday practice in Colombia I had a fairly major bird strike. The second photo shows the large bird on my GoPro right before impact. I was behind the show line at around 2000’ and 450kts rejoining with #5 for the solo rejoin to the delta. There was no chance for me to see and avoid this bird. I saw a big flash of black go under my nose and heard and felt the impact. I immediately requested to terminate the practice and land. The jet handled normally and the engine didn’t falter. My crew chief SSgt. Dylan Stefani came up the ladder after I shut down with a bit of shock on his face and informed me I had “two giant holes” in my jet. We were all in disbelief that a bird could punch holes clean out of the aircraft. The metal pieces were actually later found inside the jet…

‘Here’s where the really impressive part started. Our USAF Thunderbird maintainers got to work! We initially assumed the jet repair would be lengthy and we’d have to leave it behind when we left 3 days later. However, they pulled out the stops and worked with the Fuerza Aérea Colombiana (FAC, Colombian Air Force) to get sheet metal and patch the holes. They also found feathers in the engine and had to do a full engine swap. Everyone burned the midnight oil and I flew two shows in a spare jet. The work and networking that happened with minimal resources was amazing. 3 days later we flew my jet back to the States with no issues. We might get all the attention, but the team behind us works miracles to make the shows happen.’

Maj. Michelle Curran is the Lead Solo Pilot for the U.S. Air Force Air Demonstration Squadron, flying the No. 5 jet. She majored in Criminal Justice at the University of St. Thomas and earned her commission in 2009 through Air Force ROTC. Prior to joining the Thunderbirds, she served as an F-16 instructor pilot at NAS JRB Fort Worth, Texas. She has logged more than 1,300 flight hours as an Air Force pilot, with more than 160 combat hours over Afghanistan in support of Operation Freedom’s Sentinel and Operation Resolute Support. She is in her second season with the team and hails from Medford, WI.

Photo by U.S. Air Force

Kiwi A-4 Skyhawks were the only aerobatic team in the world to perform plugged-in barrel rolls.

Filmed in the early 80’ the cool video in this post features Royal New Zealand Air Force (RNZAF) A-4K Skyhawk fighter bombers performing a plugged-in barrel roll during an air show.

As Jason Boyle and Cribble Gribble told #AW#, the featured image in this post instead shows “75 Sqn A4-K and TA-4K taken in the early 80’s as our Skyhawks are still painted in their southeast Asia camouflage. It’s taken over the South Island of New Zealand during an air show or air show practice where they performed a plugged barrel roll.

“Noteworthy if you observe the tanker is carrying 2 empty practiced multiple bomb tracks (PMBR).IIRC, these were never carried empty from go i.e. the aeroplane had dropped some practice bombs earlier in the sortie.”

These aircraft were the only aerobatic team in the world to perform plugged-in barrel rolls.

In 1970, 10 A-4K single-seat aircraft and 4 TA-4K were delivered to the RNZAF, joining 75 Squadron. These were joined by 8 A-4G Skyhawk and 2 TA-4Gs from the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) in 1984, which allowed a second Skyhawk-equipped squadron, 2 Squadron, to form. 

In 1986, Project Kahu was launched to upgrade New Zealand’s Skyhawks with new avionics, including AN/APG-66NZ radar based on that used by the F-16, and weapons, as a lower-cost alternative to buying new replacements. All 10 ex-RAN and the 12 surviving original RNZAF aircraft were converted to the A-4K Kahu standard.

In 2001 the three Air Combat Force squadrons (Nos 2, 14, and 75) were disbanded and the Skyhawks were put into storage awaiting sale. They were maintained, with occasional servicing flights, and then moved to RNZAF Base Woodbourne, where they were preserved in protective latex. 

Draken International signed an agreement with the New Zealand government in 2012 to purchase eight A-4Ks and associated equipment for its adversary training services. Six were former RAN A-4G airframes which as carrier aircraft had logged significantly fewer flying hours. These were subsequently relocated to the U.S. at Draken’s Lakeland Linder International Airport facility in Lakeland, Florida. The other A-4K aircraft were given to museums in New Zealand and Australia.

Photo by Royal New Zealand Air Force