Seafair 2007... (Dialup beware)

[Boss_BlueAngels]

Wow, what a weekend! Things could not have gone better for photography. I was very pleased with most of my pictures for each day.

Thursday was a bit long as it was extremely hot just sitting out in the sun all day long. Thursday is the Blue Angels' (same goes for the other major demonstration teams such as the Thunderbirds and CAF Snowbirds) "circle and arrival" maneuvers day where they actually go up three times. The first flight consists of only the diamond (aircraft #1-4) where they split up and just fly circles around the area they will perform. They find different landmarks at 2-5-and 10 miles from show center so they can make their show as precisely timed as possible.

About 30-45 minutes later the Diamond lands and the two solo pilots (#5 and 6) go up and do the same thing. Their timing is required for the many opposing (head to head) maneuvers they do.

After they are done finding landmarks the whole team gets together for one final briefing and about one hour later they all go up for a full practice which consists of an entire rutine.

One really special thing about the Blue Angels is that they love to show off their dedicated support aircraft that is responsible for transporting their maintenance equipment and team to every airshow with the Blues. Their support aircraft is a USMC C-130 Hercules affectionatly known as "Fat Albert."

 

[Boss_BlueAngels]

For the other days I visited several other locations including one that was particularly fun. A boat out on Lake Washington! When the Blues come to Seattle they actually perform over Lake Washington-not over the airport like at a normal airshow. This can make things quite tricky when trying to view or photograph the airshow.

There is a cruise boat company that offeres trips out to the lake to view the Blue Angels and they always have the BEST spot for viewing. Our location placed us in a spot where the solo pilots would fly DIRECTLY over the boat for almost every pass. It is literally the closest you can get to these jets without being in them as they are flying a mere 100 feet over the water. Then take into account the boat is about 20 feet above the water!!

Here is a solo pilot flying over our boat at about 350kts (400 MPH)

This was the last part of the show when all six pilots join up for the Delta Formation. This was shot at 50 mm, and goes to show just how low these jets are!

Another part of the show included a privatly run formation group called the Patriots who are sponsored by Fry's electronics. As you can see. They fly Russian built L-29's.

And here is one of the Blue Angels as they taxi by after landing.

This is a Blue Angels trademark. The only jet demonstration team in the world to perform the Diamond Dirty Loop! This is a testiment to the enormous power and incredible handling of the Boeing F/A-18 Hornet. Here the jets fly the same 18-inch wingtip to canopy formation but this time they have the landing gear and tail hook extended (ie. "dirty").

I hope you guys enjoy the pictures! I'll be traveling down to Hillsboro, Oregon on Wednesday to watch the Blue Angels yet again! I just can't get enough of these guys! Lighting conditions down there are always MUCH better as the sun is to your back for the entire show.

PLUS there is a night show where Fat Albert (that big four-engined airplane) does what's called a JATO! Jet Assisted Take-Off, which is where they install 8 solid fuel rockets to the side of the aircraft. At a certain airspeed they ignite all 8 and the aircraft literally rockets into the air climbing at a 45 degree angle clear up to 1,100 feet in only a few seconds. It's a spectacular sight in daylight and absolutly magical at night when you can see the sparks flying EVERYWHERE! And the noise these rockets make is earth-shaking as well. Even louder than the F/A-18's in full afterburner!

As cool as it is for a show, it is to demonstrate what they do in actual combat situations where the aircraft needs to get off the ground hard and fast when operating from unimproved runways.

 

[Endzone]

Great job Boss. So much more enjoyable now. I know you lose some resolution when you scale down, but not much. Very nice work!

I'm dreading the I-5 closure next week. I hope you live in Everett or Lynwood. I'll be close to your place of employment tomorrow as I have an interview in Lynnwood.

God bless,
EZ

 

[MarkEvan]

Nice shots you got there Boss, I really like the one of the six planes in delta formation, very nice.

Mark

 

[Boss_BlueAngels]

Great job Boss. So much more enjoyable now. I know you lose some resolution when you scale down, but not much. Very nice work!

I'm dreading the I-5 closure next week. I hope you live in Everett or Lynwood. I'll be close to your place of employment tomorrow as I have an interview in Lynnwood.

God bless,
EZ

Thanks, I'm glad you like them. The color is a little funky on some of them... it's kinda tough to get it right when you have so many pictures that have so much back-lighting to them. The ones on my actual website look much better.
Yeah, you bet. I didn't realize those first ones in the other thread were so big until you mentioned it. Forgot to change the compression on those first ones. lol

Yeah, those I-5 closure's are going to be terrible. What a nightmare! Around noon today I'm heading down to Hillsboro Oregon to see the Blue Angels and it will be quite nice not having to deal with I-5 at all for the next several days. lol

Nice shots you got there Boss, I really like the one of the six planes in delta formation, very nice.

Mark

Thanks, Mark! I'm getting a 20x30 printed out of that Delta one you mentioned and will take it to this next airshow to have the pilots sign.

 

[~Mrs. A2J~]

Great pics as always!

 

[Endzone]

Yeah, it looks like you didn't have time to photshop them either. It's a lot of work to select the best pictures, then edit them, scale them down for internet posting, adn them upload them. It takes time. I just ran one pic of yours through a simple Olympus editor I have. It took all of about 15 seconds because it's so easy to use. What are you using? Canon 20D or digital reb?

 

[Andyman_1970]

Nice job boss, did you get any Harrier shots from that show?