With a thunderous bang, the jets of the Navy’s Blue Angels could be heard zooming over the Sacramento State campus last weekend. The Angels were in the air for their annual show held at Mather Air Force Base.

Before the event Lt. Commander Paul Brantuas was available to answer questions.

Click here to watch the interview with Brantuas.

When asked what the requirements are for becoming a Blue Angel, Brantuas said, “You have to have 1,250 tactical hours in a fighter jet to fly as a demo pilot, to fly one of the six jets. But we also have maintenance officers, an administrative officer, a public affairs officer and a supply officer and we have three C-130 pilots ? so we have a total of 16 officers and about 100 enlisted personnel.”

He said anyone can apply online at the Blue Angels’ website whether it’s for a position as a maintenance crew member or as one of the pilots.

At the event, Brantuas spoke about the formation the squadron flies in.

“The way it works is we have a diamond formation. We have a boss in the number one jet and the right wingman on the right side of the boss. The left wingman, number three, is on the left side of the boss and the slot pilot flies behind and underneath the boss. When the soloists join up, number five and number six, they join up into that diamond and make a delta formation. Number five is on the left side and number six is on the right.”

Brantus also talked about pilot formation and speed.

“The fastest we go, the solos will do what we call a sneak pass and it’s sub-sonic and it’s about .98 Mach. On sea level that’s between 650 and 700 mph,” he said.

Luke Soin can be reached at [email protected]