Lt. Rob Kurrle, a North Carolina native, has come to the Puget Sound area for Seafair. In the past few days he has toured the Pike Place Market and Safeco Field and visited Tukwila's Museum of Flight.

Now he's looking forward to the weekend air shows. While thousands of spectators jockey for the best view along the shores of Lake Washington, Kurrle will be overhead, pulling up to eight g's.

This is Kurrle's first year flying with the U.S. Navy's Blue Angels demonstration team, a job he calls "a dream come true."

Always interested in aviation, he entered flight school after graduating from college and spent time instructing Hornet fighter pilots before he joined the group. Like most Blue Angels pilots, he is in his early thirties.

On Thursday, the team touched down next to the Tukwila flight museum. In the afternoon, planning flights started. "It all begins with a basic kitchen timer," Kurrle said of the process, during which crewmembers identify landmarks and gauge the flying time between them.

"Every show site presents its own challenges," Kurrle continued, noting that Lake Washington's close proximity to Sea-Tac Airport makes staying within the designated five-mile airspace especially important.

In the air, the pilots will fly as fast as 700 miles per hour, slowing down to 350 miles per hour for some maneuvers. At some points, the planes will fly within 18 inches of each other; a feat that Kurrle says requires "a lot of trust," on the part of the pilots.

His favorite maneuver comes toward the end of the show, when the pilots fly in loops, break away, and quickly return to the center point, in this case a barge floating in Lake Washington.

"This is my adrenaline rush," Kurrle said. Between shows, he unwinds by reading and working out. Blue Angels pilots receive two weekends off each year.

Other crewmembers have more flexible schedules. AM2 (AW) Marc Cobb, a second-year member of the airframe shop team, is allowed some choice in the shows he works each year.

"We work on the entire jet," Cobb said. This includes keeping the hydraulic systems, landing gear, and flight controls in working order.

Cobb grew up hearing about the Blue Angels, and after a stint working on planes in the Navy, his senior officer recommended that he apply for a position with the demonstration team.

"It's like no other command I've ever worked," he said.

Both Kurrle and Cobb expressed pleasure at their opportunity to spend time in Seattle. Cobb said his buddies have told him, "Seattle's the place to go," and Kurrle praised the region's beautiful scenery and friendly inhabitants.

Even the planning flight had Kurrle excited.

"Man, I can't wait for today," he said.