posted
From this year's "Fleet Week" in San Francisco. There was a big hubub about whether or not to allow the Blue Angels to perform. I don't know if that had anything to do with these pics, but this is extraordinary, even for them.
Scroll down... there's pics of a low altitude high speed pass by lead solo (#5). In some of the shots, including a great blow-up to get a close-up, you can see the shockwave starting to form as he approaches the speed of sound. In another shot, the plane is nearly obscured because he has flown behind a *boat*.
I'm fairly enthusiastic about aviation and I've never seen anyone this low and fast simultaneously. Enjoy.
Posts: 3846 | Registered: Apr 2004
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posted
I saw a lower res version of the shockwave one earlier this week and didn't quite get it at the time. That is wild.
Posts: 11017 | Registered: Apr 2003
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posted
Dang, that's got to be loud. A jet plane passing you pretty much at eye level, maybe 50-100 feet away, over water.
Posts: 5957 | Registered: Oct 2001
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And I have to say, the Raptor is a thing of beauty. It might be the last new air superiority fighter we make, and if that's the case, we certainly went out with a bang.
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posted
Dude... those guys were flying as close as people drive cars in bumper to bumper traffic... but several hundred miles per hour! That's ridiculous! Paint me a gee-whiz fanboy...
Posts: 3295 | Registered: Jun 2004
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quote:Originally posted by ketchupqueen: Man, I thought this was gonna be kid pictures. I'm a little bit disappointed.
Well...SOMEone's kids are flying those jets, and if I were a parent of one of them, you can be darn sure I'd be pretty proud of them!
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posted
awesome pics. really amazing. how could those people on the boats not have anything to protect their ears? are they crazy?
Posts: 813 | Registered: Nov 1999
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posted
My uncle could die a happy man if he had been there.
As for myself not wearing ear protection would be part of the experience, like going to a rock concert and standing next to the speakers.
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I've seen them at an air show here in Alabama - the Blue Angels, that is - it was a horrible drive, lots of traffic, uncomfortable, sitting on the ground, major frustration, huge crowds.....and worth every second of inconvenience and every dime we spent to get there.
If you have a chance to see them, GO.
Posts: 14428 | Registered: Aug 2001
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posted
Those are very cool pics, Jim-Me. I was very impressed with the quality of the photographs! I'm guessing you already saw the video of that one jet streaking across the water around fourth of July? (hmmm, I don't remember who posted that - maybe it was you!)
Posts: 1423 | Registered: Sep 2003
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quote:Originally posted by advice for robots: Dang, that's got to be loud. A jet plane passing you pretty much at eye level, maybe 50-100 feet away, over water.
Not quite eye-level. According to Wikipedia, the F/A-18 Hornet is 56 feet long. You can extrapolate that the aircraft is about 20-30 feet off of the ground based on scale.
Still a remarkable feat, but hardly eye level.
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posted
Well, if you're standing in a big yacht, like some of those people were, I imagine it had to be going by at about eye level. Or 10 feet above you, maybe.
Posts: 5957 | Registered: Oct 2001
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posted
Wow, very impressive photos! The shockwaves are like glass!
I was in Golden Gate Park that weekend seeing the Flecktones at the Hardly Strictly Bluegress Festival and saw some pretty good aerial maneuvers on the way there. Far away, though.
Posts: 1810 | Registered: Jan 1999
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quote:I was in Golden Gate Park that weekend seeing the Flecktones at the Hardly Strictly Bluegress Festival
*jealous*
I have not been to NEARLY enough music festivals and events since I got married and started having kids.
Posts: 21182 | Registered: Sep 2004
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There were plenty of people with kids there. Some of them were probably even married, too. (Yes, even in San Francisco!) Get thee to a music festival!
Posts: 1810 | Registered: Jan 1999
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It would have been bad if he'd hit a boat... or the water, but that's more normal. Taking out somebody's mast: not so expected.![[Smile]](smile.gif)
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