SFist Interviews: Blue Angels Pilot Lt. Mark Swinger
Lt. Mark Swinger
by Amy Crocker
No, the sky is not falling on your head. And no, the wrath of Thor is not upon us. The great booms echoing in the San Francisco sky come not from the vengeful thunder god, but rather from Blue Angels. The Navy flight demonstration team will be capping off a five-week west coast tour with two air shows over San Francisco bay this weekend. They have been practicing their loops, dives and tandem swirls since their arrival on Tuesday as part of Fleet Week. Aside from practices, the official show lasts 40 minutes, or about how long it takes a 1986 Boeing F/A-18 Hornet to run out of gas. The choreography hasn’t changed much since the Blue Angels formed in 1946, yet it remains consistently controversial.
Lt. Mark Swinger is in his second year as a Blue Angel, one of six pilots in the show. SFist spoke with him about banning the Blue Angels, airplane fuel efficiency, getting rejected for seasonal allergies, and why he could never be an astronaut.
SFist: What does San Francisco look like from upside down in a Blue Angel plane?
Lt. Mark Swinger: It’s awesome from the air. I mean, it’s amazing from the ground, too. Having the opportunity to fly over Fisherman’s Wharf and Alcatraz is really cool.
SF: Can you see the landmarks when you’re flying formations?
MS: Yep, we keep a fairly low altitude over the water. There are only a few cities where we’ll do a show like this, on the water with a city in the background. Seattle’s one of them, and Chicago. It’s great venue.
SF: You guys are staying in Fisherman’s Wharf. What have you done in the city so far?
MS: I played some golf over at Lake Merced. I’m going to go to Alcatraz on Sunday. I’m going to talk at high schools [Friday.]
SF: You selling them the military?
MS: That’s not how I look at it. The military is not for everyone and I realize that. It’s more talking to kids about doing something they think they can’t. I have a rejection letter from the Navy, dated my birthday 2000 when I was trying to get in, saying you’re not eligible for the flight program because of your sinuses.
SF: You can get rejected for that?
MS: Any medical issues. I had really bad seasonal allergies. A lot of people joke that they lie on their medical forms, which is what I should have done. It turned out not to be an issue. It’s just the initial guy was like, “Yeah you can’t fly.” And I said, “Well are you going to look at the paperwork or just say no.” You gotta keep going to the right person till you get the answer you want. That’s what I convey to them.
SF: Did you go into the Navy right after high school?
MS: I wasn’t ready to commit to that. I went to the University of Delaware, history major. I considered maybe going to law school, but I thought, well I could try flying, that sounds fun.
I got my wings in 2002. I did a couple deployments: one off the west coast to the Pacific, one off the east coast to the Persian Gulf, flying over Iraq.
SF: How did you get to be a Blue Angel?
MS: There’s an application process. You need 1200 hours of flight time. Usually about five or six years after you get yours wings is when you have time to apply. But you can’t be too senior either. There’s a small window. We usually get about 30 pilots a year for about two or three spots. A lot of guys apply more than once.
It’s a character interview. We’re on the road for 300 days of the year so you’ve got to be able to get along with each other.
SF: Are Blue Angels pretty respected within the Navy?
MS: When I was on the other side I always made fun of the Blue Angels because of these tight blue flight suits. We’re just air show guys.
SF: What extra training do the Blue Angels get?
MS: The training starts in November; the show season starts in March. We start flying far apart and get closer once we are consistent. We’re much closer now than we were in March. We’re as close as we can be right now.
SF: The Blue Angels fly F/A-18 Hornets. Are these planes pretty top-of-the-line?
MS: These airplanes were probably built about 1984. They’re the oldest F-18s the Navy has. The new ones have radars and software and computers and stuff. We don’t need that in the show. The guys in Afghanistan, they get all the new stuff.
SF: You guys must use a lot fuel for these shows.
MS: These jets are a little more efficient because we don’t have anything hanging on then. Normally in the fleet, you have gas tanks, bombs, missiles - lots of drag. And that slows you down, requires more power and more gas to get you going.
SF: So you fly the Number Four plane, what does that mean?
MS: Number Four is always a second year guy. I’m the back of the diamond formation. During the show, I’m kind of keeping an eye on everybody. Anytime we do a loop, I’m making sure we’re not going to get too low at the bottom. Number One is watching the same thing but I’m the back up. Two and Three are literally staring at Number One the whole time so they’re not paying attention to anything else.
SF: What the coolest maneuver you can do?
MS: I’ll fly upside down off Number One in formation. I’m about six feet away from him 200 feet in the air. So that’s pretty weird. If you do that normally you get fired, so it’s cool to do that here.
SF: Is it hard to keep your lunch down during tricks like that?
MS: When you’re not in control of things it’s a lot harder, like if I have to fly in the back seat when someone else is flying…I mean I’m ok. It’s easier when you know exactly what’s coming. But if it gets bumpy and hot it can be a tough ride.
SF: Is there a special radio code if you get sick?
MS: You don’t tell anybody that.
SF: Does the queasiness training prepare you for a next step, like maybe becoming an astronaut?
MS: I’m not smart enough to be an astronaut. That would be cool but I don’t have the engineering background.
SF: So if not space, what comes next for a Blue Angels pilot?
MS: Going back to the regular navy, flying off of aircraft carriers, which is where we all came from. You only fly in the show for two years. They’re kicking me out the door in November. It’s like a normal set of military orders. Just when you figure your job out, they kick you out.
SF: What do you think of the movement by Board of Supervisors member Chris Daly to ban the Blue Angels in San Francisco?
MS: Everybody’s got their opinion. I’m sorry we’re making a lot of noise, but we’ll be gone soon. It’s a week a year.
SF: So what do you think is the purpose of a Blue Angels show?
MS: A lot of people don’t have the opportunity to see what their military can do and a lot of people look at the Blues as a way to deliver that to American pubic. Hopefully they feel safe; if our guys can do that, they can do whatever.
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