3,000+ pics later...

[Boss_BlueAngels]

Well this weekend down in Hillsboro, Oregon certainly turned out to be a little bit more exciting than I ever wanted. It started with one airplane's drag chute (parachute that shoots out the back of the airplane to slow it down when landing) tearing away from the airplane without even inflating... must have been hairy... and then ended abruptly when that same jet had engine problems on takeoff, causing it to crash 3 minutes later killing the pilot.

Saturday was a great day, though. I shot 1,589 pictures on that day alone! It was great using my new Sigma 50-500mm lens, and am certianly in love with it and the results! Outstanding clarity, and it is just so nice to be able to close in on the aircraft so much you can see the patches on their uniforms!!

Needless to say, it'll be a while before I'm able to post the pics. Mostly due to the fact I get sick every time I look at them because of the events on Sunday. (that I also captured with pictures)

But yeah... got some great shots of the USAF A-10 demo, USN F/A-18, a stunt man climbing from a Stearman biplane to the skids of a HELICOPTER in formation with it! No strings, no parachute... just holding on with his hands! Man, that was INCREDIBLE!! And then one guy landing his airplane on a moving RV camper!!! Also, that same helicopter and biplane flew in formation together with the airplane going forward (obviously) 100mph, and the Helicopter was right off the wing going, um... BACKWARDS in formation with this same airplane, at 100mph! Wow, it was amazing!

So yeah, in the coming weeks I'll be teasing you with some of my favorites.

 

[Tiger4Jesus]

Whoa! Yeah, I heard about that crash! Did you actually get pictures of the crash? The airshow must have been pretty cool though!

 

[mnphysicist]

Its always a shock to see a plane crash, its a real sobering experience, and causes no small amount of late night what ifs.... and what went wrong, and how would I do things differently if I were the pilot. Each one seems to hit me the same way.... but in time, a guy manages to work through it.

In the 20 some crashes I've seen, I made sure to get back in the air right away, and to not let it rattle me. It seems somehow worse when you know the pilot, but each one is indeed a sad event.

Looking forward to the airshow pics, they are always cool.

 

[Boss_BlueAngels]

This is my third "accident" but my first major, fatal one. The other two were just nose-overs resulting in minor cuts.

And yes, I want to get back up in the air ASAP... I don't even care in what... will probably go up in the school's Champ or something.

Here are some pics of that aircraft that crashed

This was taken on Thursday when it arrived. Interestingly, the aircraft is supposed to use a drage parachute that comes out the back to help stop it on landing. But for some reason the chute never even opened, and just tore right off the airplane!

Here is it's fateful takeoff. By this point of the takeoff roll the pilot knew something was wrong. Every other aircraft was airbore well before reaching this distance down the runway... and this plane continued on much farther even from this point before being "muscled" into the air!

The very last picture of the a/c. As you can see, the pilot never even raised the landing gear!

It seemed like an eternity from the time I couldn't see the airplane to when I saw the cloud/fireball.

So there's that!

The next thread will be much happier, I promise! There was a ton of awesome things that went on at this airshow!!

Thanks for your comments mnphysicit, and Tiger4jesus!

 

[Tiger4Jesus]

Wow! Great pictures, but that is so sad! That pilot was very brave...