News4JAX reporter Andrea Snody gets once-in-a-lifetime ride in Blue Angels cockpit

Jacksonville’s beloved Blue Angels are back. The U.S. Navy’s flight demonstration squadron is returning to Naval Air Station Jacksonville — the team’s birthplace — this weekend, giving spectators on the ground a front-row seat to the aerial acrobatics that have made the Blue Angels a Jacksonville tradition.RELATED: Blue Angels, Thunderbirds to headline free NAS Jacksonville air showBut I didn’t just watch from the ground. I got an up-close look from the back seat of one of the jets.Getting ready for takeoffBefore climbing into the cockpit, my photographer, Carlos, and I arrived at Naval Air Station Jacksonville for a safety briefing and a lesson in breathing techniques — a critical part of surviving high-G maneuvers at altitude.Lt. Cmdr. Ronny Hafeza, the Blue Angels’ No. 7 pilot, explained the value of flying alongside a first-timer.“In the instance between you and I, where, you know, you take someone who’s never been in this aircraft before, goes up in the jet, experiences all the ma