Biloxi’s baseball coach isn’t big on flying, but he was a ‘rock star’ with the Blue Angels

Biloxi High School baseball coach Eddie Lofton admits that he doesn’t care much for flying, but his experience Friday morning aboard an F/A-18 with a U.S. Navy Blue Angels pilot still had him buzzing a couple of hours later.

“I’m very lucky to have the opportunity,” Lofton said Friday. “It was a once-in-a-lifetime experience that you should never pass up. I would tell anybody out there if they got asked: Sure, you’re going to be scared. But don’t pass out.”

Lofton was part of a small group awarded the opportunity to fly with the Blue Angels ahead of the Blues Over Biloxi Air Show set to take place on Saturday and Sunday.

In the days leading up to to Friday’s flight, Lofton was instructed to stay hydrated and get some jogging in. He followed instructions closely and that proved to be a great help.

“When I got dressed this morning, I was just ready to get it done,” Lofton said. “It’s kind of one of those deals that’s never on your bucket list, you never even dreamed it could possibly happen. Once it became (a reality), it was something that extremely cool and I was glad to be a part of.

“Going into the moment, I just wanted to get it done and get started. I knew that once I got in there, there’s no turning back. There was a lot of excitement, nervousness, kind of a mixture.”

Lt. Andre Webb served as the pilot, and he kept a steady stream of conversation going with Lofton throughout the flight.

“They want you to relax and just not fight it,” Lofton said. “If you do, that can cause you to pass out. Their expertise and their knowledge really made the difference.”

Shortly after the F/A-18 lifted off the ground from Keesler Air Force Base, Webb decided to go completely vertical.

“It was like, ‘OK, here’s the intensity,’ ” Lofton said. “It’s really the coolest thing right out of the gate to do that. Not only that, he turned it over and did a loop.”

The jet traveled over the mouth of the Mississippi River as part of the 45-minute trip as part of what Webb described as the “scenic route.”

At one point, Webb informed Lofton that he was going to fly upside down.

“He tells you to let go and you’re hanging there,” Lofton said. “You’d think you’d be 8 inches to a foot off the seat, but you’re really not because you’re buckled up so tight. Then all of a sudden he’s pushing up against it to get those G-forces back to a positive. It’s really cool because he turns you over and he goes completely vertical with you again. He gets you up to 6 ½ g’s at that point. That was the most intense move that we did as far as how I felt. I was on the verge of passing out. It was really neat.”

Lofton could rightly brag that he avoided losing consciousness during the flight.

“I was very close a couple of times on that one particular move,” he said. “Lt. Webb told me at that point, ‘You’re a rock star because most of the time when we do that move they have to pass out. I have to give them a few seconds to get their wits about them again.’

“It’s kind of a thing where they cater to you. If you get up there and you don’t feel real good, they’re not going to go to the next level. He kept asking me and I kept saying, ‘Until I throw up or pass out, you take me as far as you can take me.’ It’s a once-in-a-lifetime experience and to be able to experience that and be involved with it, I wasn’t going to pass up that opportunity to go the full distance.”

Lofton was still running on adrenaline at the time of his interview, but he was warned that he’d eventually feel the impact of going as fast as 7.2 g.

“They were telling me after about 2 or 3 hours, my body is really going to feel it,” he said. “It’s slowly getting there. Maybe the adrenaline goes away at that point. They told me to just stay hydrated the next 24 hours.

“You’re only up there 40-45 minutes, but you literally feel like you’ve just done a 2 ½ hour workout in the gym. It was intense.”

Blues Over Biloxi schedule

Here is the schedule for Saturday and Sunday, July 21-22. For information on parking and best places to view, click here.

9 a.m. — Gates open with free admission, and VIP area tickets go on sale

1 p.m. — Opening ceremonies each day, kick off the aerial activities:

• U.S. Air Force F-16 Viper East Demo. The Air Combat Command F-16 Demonstration Team performs precision aerial maneuvers in F-16 Fighting Falcons
  
  
• U.S. Air Force Heritage Flight (F-16 & P51). Performances show modern fighter and attack aircraft along with aircraft from World War II, Korea and Vietnam
  
  
• U.S. Air Force KC-135 flyby. The supertanker refuels planes in the air.
  
  
• U.S. Army UH-60 Black Hawk Helicopter flyby
  
  
• Lee Leet’s Tucano Demo. Former U.S. Air Force pilot Lee Leet of Louisville, Kentucky, performs in a Short Tucano plane.
  
  
• U.S. Coast Guard MH-65D Search & Rescue Helicopter Recovery demo
  
  
• AeroShell Aerobatic Team (Saturday only). The team of four T-6 Texan aircraft perform a series of loops, rolls and bomb bursts in close formation.
  
  
• U.S. Air Force Re-enlistment/Recognition Ceremony (Saturday only)
  
  
• U.S. Marine Corps Blue Angels C-130T, which carries spare parts, equipment and support personnel between shows, is highlighted.
  
  
• U.S. Navy Blue Angels close the show each day, flying at a high of 700 mph along the Biloxi beach to the lowest speed of 120 mph. The closest the diamonds will fly to each other is 18 inches during the Diamond 360. Their performance tentatively is scheduled to begin at 2:30 p.m. Saturday and 2:10 p.m. Sunday.
  
  

This story was originally published July 20, 2018 at 3:35 PM.