Lt. Ryan Chamberlain said Tuesday spectators will see “exactly what it is that the fleet represents” when the Blue Angels perform at this summer’s Milwaukee Air & Water Show. Credit: Kristyna Wentz-Graff

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Not long after Navy Lt. Ryan Chamberlain joined the prestigious Blue Angels, the federal government grounded him and the rest of the flight demonstration team.

Victims of the federal sequestration, the Blue Angels pilots continued to fly the F/A-18 Hornets to maintain their pilot ratings but could not practice together.

"Certainly there were some downsides to it, but we tried to make the most of it," Chamberlain said Tuesday shortly after landing his blue and gold jet at Mitchell International Airport.

Chamberlain and Lt. Cmdr. Michael Cheng, the Blue Angels events coordinator and naval flight officer, flew from the group's home base in Pensacola, Fla., to Milwaukee to finalize plans for the Milwaukee Air & Water Show in June. It'll be the first appearance for the Blue Angels in Milwaukee since a 2010 show.

As the glass cowling of their plane lifted shortly after the aircraft was towed by members of the Wisconsin Air National Guard's 128th Air Refueling Wing, Cheng and Chamberlain hurriedly pulled on their leather jackets in the subzero temperatures.

Normally half the team changes each year, with veterans instructing the new pilots, but because of the sequestration the 2013 team will stay together this year and perform at events in 34 cities, including Milwaukee and La Crosse.

Last year, the Blue Angels performed only the first two of 33 shows on the team's schedule before the April 1 sequester went into effect.

After that, the team spent more time in Pensacola on charitable causes.

"I don't want to say it's a dream for every person who joins the Navy to become a Blue Angel, but it was an opportunity for a lot of us," said Cheng, 40, of San Francisco, who flew 73 combat missions in Afghanistan and Iraq. "We kind of felt, what bad timing it was that this happened. But at the same time, we could really focus our outreach within the Pensacola community."

All Blue Angels pilots come from the Navy and Marine fleet. Chamberlain, 28, of Bloomington, Ill., has logged more than 1,400 flight hours and 300 landings on aircraft carriers.

At last year's Milwaukee Air & Water Show, the Air Force's flight team, the Thunderbirds, was a no-show because of the sequestration.

The free air show is scheduled for June 21 and 22. Ticket information will be available later.

The Blue Angels are also scheduled to appear at the Deke Slayton Airfest 2014 in La Crosse on May 31 and June 1 and the Chicago Air & Water Show on Aug. 16 and 17.