Blue Angel Number 5 Crew Chief Courtney Thompson Talks Prep, Precision, and Her First Trip to Cleveland
CLEVELAND, OH — Down on the flight line at Burke Lakefront Airport, the air vibrates with jet exhaust, the sharp whistle of APU starts, and the unmistakable hum of ground-crew focus. Before the U.S. Navy Blue Angels ever launch into their signature low-altitude passes over Lake Erie, an army of elite maintainers owns the tarmac. Among them is Aviation Electronics Technician Second Class (AW) Courtney Thompson, who serves as a dedicated Crew Chief for Blue Angel Number 5; the team’s Lead Solo jet.
For Thompson, a Ravenna, Michigan native, heading down to Northeast Ohio marks a brand-new stamp in her travel log. "I'm so excited to be down here in Ohio," Thompson told Cleveland 13 amidst the roar of pre-flight prep on the Burke apron. "I've never been to Cleveland so I'm excited for good food, maybe catch a baseball game."
Staging out of Burke Lakefront Airport gives the squadron a dramatic backstage view that few other airshow venues can match, wedged directly between urban towers and open water. "It's a very unique area in general," Thompson noted. "You have, you know, the city on one side, the lake on the other, this airport's, you know, right on the water side, and you don't see that everywhere."
While exploring downtown spots and checking out Progressive Field is on her off-duty checklist, on-duty hours require absolute, razor-sharp discipline. Number 5 is the Lead Solo aircraft, tasked with executing extreme high-speed opposing maneuvers, knife-edge passes, and maximum-performance climbs that push the F/A-18 Super Hornet to its operational limits. Keeping that multi-million-dollar airframe running flawlessly falls directly on Thompson and her fellow maintenance specialists.
As an Aviation Electronics Technician (AT), Thompson brings deep technical expertise in the Super Hornet’s complex avionics infrastructure—encompassing flight-critical communication links, navigation arrays, instrumentation, and power distribution systems. Becoming a Blue Angels crew chief requires exhaustive systems qualification, mastering everything from hydraulic pressure checks and engine turn-up operations to rapid daily turnaround inspections.
Before Lead Solo pilot Lieutenant Commander Amanda Lee steps onto the tarmac, Thompson has already spent hours verifying flight control surfaces, checking fluid tolerances, and running diagnostics across every digital bus in the cockpit. When the pilots arrive, Thompson and the crew step directly into public view, executing the synchronized ground-walk inspection ritual with military precision. She assists with the pilot strap-in, conducts the final exterior clearance walk, and officially signals the jet out of the box to take the runway.
For Thompson, having the city skyline on one wing and the vast expanse of Lake Erie on the other makes the intense work all the more rewarding. Throughout the entire holiday weekend, Cleveland 13 remains stationed right alongside Thompson and the rest of the ground crew, delivering viewers an exclusive look past the flight barriers and into the heart of the squadron that keeps the Blue Angels flying high.
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