“An opportunity opened up for aviation. I decided that I’d at least try it,” Burks said. “I just had so much fun. It’s great camaraderie, great people.”
He is now Maj. Brendan Burks, a Marine pilot from Auburn, Ala., who flies a C-130 Hercules transport plane as a regular performer with the Navy Blue Angels.
The precision flying team is on the road 270 to 300 days a year, performing in 35 air shows annually, including the 2010 Vectren Dayton Air Show scheduled July 17-18 at Dayton International Airport.
The act features choreographed flights of six blue and yellow Navy F/A 18 Hornet fighters plus the C-130, a squat aircraft nicknamed “Fat Albert.”
“My office is the cockpit of the C-130,” Burks said in a telephone interview. “We’re here to enhance Marine and Navy recruiting, and get people excited about aviation.”
When he got wings, Burks saw his world expand. He has flown to 26 countries. He has gotten to know the capabilities of the C-130, a workhorse military transport plane that can land in the desert or on dirt.
“Wherever the ground is hard enough, we can put it down,” he said.
A total of 130 sailors and Marines comprise the Blue Angels, among them 10 pilots.
The team flies Tuesday through Sunday every week from mid-March until mid-November.
There are a few Ohio natives in the group, including Andrenna Oliver of Dayton, who works for the team’s events unit, coordinating with the air show sites that the Blue Angels visit. Members of the unit work in a variety of support jobs, including maintenance, airframes and supply functions.
“It’s like putting on a Broadway show,” Burks said.
Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2242 or jnolan@coxohio.com.
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