McHenry County schools chief gets a lesson in precision flying with Blue Angels

The Blue Angels precision flying team on Friday gave McHenry County Regional Superintendent of Schools Diana Hartmann the flight of a lifetime on its C-130J Super Hercules support plane.

Affectionately known as “Fat Albert,” the Lockheed Martin transport plane goes where the Blue Angels go, carrying the Navy and Marine Corps flying team’s maintenance and support equipment.

Fat Albert warms up air show crowds with its own aerobatic maneuvers. Hartmann went along on a Friday flight, experiencing zero-gravity as the aircraft showed off steep climbs, dives and other maneuvers.

“Being weightless and pulling Gs is like nothing I’ve ever felt before,” Hartmann said in a news release. “Others on the flight turned a bit green, but it was all smiles for me.”

For Hartmann, the experience was a full-circle moment – and a taste of a career path she might have taken had fate not put her on an education track. Hartmann wanted to be a pilot in high school – she later named her oldest son Jett to remember that dream – but was on crutches for two years and was told by recruiters that she couldn’t enlist.

“Back in high school, I had to take no for answer – but I believe in making things happen for myself, and when this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity arose, I jumped on it,” she said.

Hartmann was nominated for a place on the flight by Naval Station Great Lakes in honor of her services to students. She began her education career in 1999, and in 2022 was elected by McHenry County voters to head the Regional Office of Education. Hartmann has announced plans to seek reelection in 2026.

Hartmann dedicated the flight to her father – a Navy veteran of the Korean War who himself went through Great Lakes – as well as to McHenry County’s students, to show them that they can achieve anything they set their minds to with work and perseverance.